Episode 184 - Tight and Loose Goals

Summary

This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences. Could setting tighter goals make us more happy?

Transcript

Welcome to episode 184 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences.

People vary markedly in the way they set goals and where they focus their goals. In general though, tighter and clearer goals tend to be more effective than loose and general goals. A tight goal of exercising for 30 minutes each day is likely to be more effective than a loose goal of wanting to become more resilient. A tight goal of practicing giving presentations in weekly team meetings is likely better than a loose goal of wanting to become a better communicator. But the kinds of goals we set can vary over time and with our personality preferences.

A 2020 study by researchers at the University of California tracked the goals of participants from when they started college to 20 years later. They also looked at the personality preferences of participants, the impact these had on the goals set, and how personality changed over time.

The study found that personality changes impacted the kinds of goals people set. For example, participants whose levels of agreeableness, kindness and compassion increased placed more emphasis on family, relationship and social goals over time. Similarly, those who increased in responsibility, organisation and self-control placed more value on economic and family goals over time. This can help explain why our views of success vary so much - we value different things and set different goals.

The researchers also found that people placed less emphasis on goals as they headed into middle-age, and believed this was due to people being more selective in the focus on goals while also having achieved some of the major goals they set in the preceding 20 years. Interestingly, research also suggests happiness tends to reduce from a peak in our late teenage years, to a low point around 47, before increasing steadily into old age. The mid-forties often feature the greatest competing demands around relationships, parenting, career and health. It is however interesting that the period where we have fewer clear goals appears to coincide with the period when we are least happy. We can end up being so busy that we lose focus on what is most important. We end up focusing on survival rather than planning for the future.

As a leader, it's important to understand that different members of your team may have different approaches to goal setting based on their personality types. By understanding these differences, you can tailor your approach to goal setting to best suit each individual. For those with a strong sense of conscientiousness, it's important to provide clear guidelines and deadlines when setting goals. These individuals thrive on structure and specificity, so providing a clear roadmap and measurable outcomes can help them stay focused and motivated. On the other hand, individuals with high levels of openness may benefit from more flexible and creative goal setting. These individuals tend to be more innovative and enjoy exploring new ideas and possibilities. By providing a broader vision for the goals and allowing for more creativity in how they are achieved, you can tap into their strengths and keep them engaged.

So this week I encourage you to take another look at your goals. How clear and tight are they? What areas of your life do they focus on? Are there goals you need to let go, or new goals you need to set? Spend some time dreaming about what the future could hold, then use goals to mark clear waypoints towards the life you want.

References

Olivia E. Atherton, Emily Grijalva, Brent W. Roberts, Richard W. Robins. Stability and Change in Personality Traits and Major Life Goals From College to Midlife. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2020; 014616722094936

Blanchflower, David G. Is Happiness U-shaped Everywhere?  Age and Subjective Well-being in 132 Countries. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series No. 26641 January 2020.

Episode 183 - Break It to Fix It

Summary

When looking for ways to improve and make progress, it is sometimes helpful to explore what could be the most negative outcome and what we can learn from that. This week we look at the benefits of thinking about how to break something in order to make it even better.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 183 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we look at the benefits of thinking about how to break something in order to make it even better.

I was recently watching a documentary about SpaceX, the manufacturer and launcher of rockets, including the largest and most powerful ever made. In the documentary called “Return to Space” they reflected on the contrasting approaches to experimentation and progress used by SpaceX and NASA. The documentary explained that NASA focuses on getting things as right as possible on paper first before committing to a launch. This leads to an inherent conservative risk-aversion. Success from a NASA perspective is a rocket flight that’s perfect first time even if that takes a long time to get to. SpaceX in contrast has seen some of the most spectacular and dramatic rocket explosions ever. Instead of being disappointed by these or even viewing them as failures, each explosion was seen as an opportunity to gather data and learn fast. Elon Musk even declared their latest Star Ship launch as having a 50% chance of success. He said in an interview "I'm not saying it will get to orbit, but I am guaranteeing excitement”. Star Ship exploded prior to reaching orbit. Interestingly though, SpaceX’s other rockets now have an enviable level of safety and reliability. By breaking it, SpaceX are learning how to fix it. 

So what does this mean for the rest of us leaders who aren’t in the space race? Whether it’s a physical product, a service, or a process, I believe there are several lessons we can learn and apply.

1. Conduct a pre-mortem. A post-mortem is something we undertake after a negative event to find out what went wrong. A pre-mortem flips this process to consider what could go wrong in advance. In a pre-mortem we look at potential negative outcomes and work back to what might cause these, and therefore what we might do differently. This makes it far easier for people to speak up and air concerns.

2. Check your culture. Organisations have different attitudes towards risk and failure. If you are in a risk-averse organisational culture, it’s helpful to consider how you can fail safely. Safe-fail experiments are a great way to stress-test what you’re building.

3. Encourage people to be open about risks and failure. Often times people will attempt to downplay risks and cover up failures. Promoting sharing of these as learning opportunities can help people to be more forthcoming and honest. 

4. Focus on the system, not the people. When things go wrong, it’s easy to point the blame at individuals. Instead we should start with the system. This will encourage honest reflections and openness rather than fear of retribution. 

I hope you found this helpful. Consider how you might fail-forward in your context. Have a great week.

Bonus Episode - Clifford Morgan - The Coaching Leader

In this interview I speak with Clifford Morgan, author of the new book "The Coaching Leader - Essential Skills to Enhance Your Leadership and Develop Your People Every Day". 

We discuss:

• Challenges leaders are facing today

• The benefits of leaders taking on a coaching approach

• What it takes to be a great coach

• Some lessons from Cliff's military background

You can learn more about Cliff, his book and other resources at: https://cliffordmorgan.com.au/

Episode 182 - Make Sure Your Appreciation is Appreciated

Summary

Appreciation is an under-utilised method for engaging and motivating our people. This week we explore the most appreciated ways of showing appreciation.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 182 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore the most appreciated ways of showing appreciation.

There are many ways we can show appreciation, however research demonstrates that employees favour some approaches over others. Before we explore these, it’s important to think about what we are appreciating.

Appreciation can largely be based on either effort or results. As leaders we will tend to favour one of these over the other. For me, I tend to place more emphasis on recognising effort. Some people really appreciate having their efforts recognised on the way towards a result, so this approach works well for them. However, others would prefer to be recognised for what they have delivered. They may even dislike being recognised for their efforts. So any form of appreciation starts with a conversation. You should explore how people have liked being appreciated in the past. 

Research into the ways people prefer to be appreciated highlights words of affirmation as the most frequently chosen, with just over 45% selecting this as their most preferred method. This could include verbal or written appreciation. There weren’t major gender differences in how people prefer to be appreciated. Interestingly, the least preferred approach was gifts, coming in around 5%. 

It can sometimes be easy to just give someone a gift or other token recognition, but this is likely to fall flat if it’s not paired with words of appreciation. Providing regular specific appreciation and positive feedback is a great way for motivating your people. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Take some time to talk to others about how they like to be appreciated and build that in to your approach.

Have a great week. 

Reference

White, P. (2017), "How do employees want to be shown appreciation? Results from 100,000 employees", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 197-199. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2017-0037

Episode 181 - Solitude and Socialising

Summary

As human beings we face a tension between solitude and socialising. This week we explore practical ways to strike the right balance for you. 

Transcript

Welcome to episode 181 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explode practical ways to strike the right balance between solitude and socialising. 

As human beings we face a tension between solitude and socialising. A recent study found that in older adults, while socialising is important for mental and physical well being, times of solitude are also important to help people recharge. The authors provide a helpful analogy of solitude and socialising as opposite ends of a see saw. We need both, and we need to oscillate back and forth. 

Socialising helps foster a sense of belonging and connection with others, allows us to consider new perspectives, and builds relationships. In contrast, loneliness not only impacts our mental health, but also our physical health. 

Solitude allows us to reflect and consolidate our experiences. This can help build our understanding of ourselves and our effectiveness. As the earlier study flagged, solitude can also allow us to recharge and refresh from the demands of socialising. 

We need to be strategic in our application of both solitude and socialising. Here are some thoughts to consider:

1. How do you spend your time now? Take a look at your calendar and gain a rough idea of your balance between solitude and socialising. 

2. Assess your current levels of satisfaction with this balance. Our needs can shift over time. What worked for us five years ago may not suit us now. Changes in our work arrangements may have also knocked our balance out. If you find yourself working more often remotely, you may also need to be more intentional about scheduling social connections. 

3. Make the first move. If you do want to increase your level of social interaction, don’t wait for others. Think about people you love catching up with and give them a call to schedule a time to reconnect. 

4. Schedule seclusion. While meeting with others often requires a calendar invite, we don’t typically apply the same approach to time alone. Put time for solitude and reflection in your calendar. 

Striking a balance between solitude and socialising is important. What works for others may not work for you, and what worked a few years ago may no longer work. Take a quick audit and let me know how you go. Have a great week. 

Reference 

Luo, M., Pauly, T., Röcke, C., & Hülür, G. (2022). Alternating time spent on social interactions and solitude in healthy older adults. British Journal of Psychology, 113, 987– 1008. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12586

Episode 180 - Stop Looking for Your Next Job

Summary

With a fluid employment market it can be tempting to keep looking for new opportunities. This week we explore why you might need to stop looking for your next job.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 180 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. With a fluid employment market it can be tempting to keep looking for new opportunities. This week we explore why you might need to stop looking for your next job.

We all have times in our career when we want to make a change of job or organisation. We might be dissatisfied with our current role, be chasing a higher salary, or just want to make a change. We can then end up committing a lot of time and energy to looking around for new opportunities. If we’re going to go down the path of looking externally for a new role, we need to make sure the effort is well placed and worth it. The search for a new role can lead us to be less engaged and effective in our current role. Frustrations will likely become even more pronounced and noticeable. So here are some things to consider before you look for that next job:

1. Focus on going rather than leaving. It’s far better to be motivated to go towards something you want to do, rather than have your decision driven by a desire to escape where you are. The grass often isn’t greener on the other side, and we can sometimes make poor decisions in order to get away from a situation. What feels like an awesome move can suddenly feel less great two months in.

2. Explore internal options. Be open with your manager about what’s working and not working with your current role. Look for opportunities to add value to the organisation. If your interests align with organisational needs, it’s likely that a job can be crafted towards these needs. Talk to others about opportunities that might exist within the organisation. We often underestimate an organisation’s willingness to adapt or even create a job to keep a great employee. 

3. Make a decision to start or stop searching. It’s easy to start half-heartedly looking around without fully committing to a job search. That just extends the uncertainty of a job change which typically doesn’t help us. If you’re not convinced it’s time to leave, set a date in the future when you will reassess that decision. If you have decided to leave, set aside time each week to dedicate to that job search. As humans we crave certainty, so provide yourself that certainty by making a decision.

4. Write a list of opportunities you would love to have in the future. You might want to work overseas, or manage a team, or work in a particular industry. Having this list clear in your head will help you to quickly act on opportunities that might come up unexpectedly. Most people’s careers are filled with chance encounters and opportunities, so be clear about what you want.

I hope these ideas are helpful. Having a fulfilling career is in your hands, but can also be elusive at times. Take time to reflect occasionally and make progress, but don’t obsess about that next job and miss the opportunities in front of you. Have a great week.

Episode 179 - Making Meetings Great

Summary

Over the past few years meetings have become worse than ever. Here’s what meeting science teaches us about how to make meetings great.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 179 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore making meetings great. 

The pandemic saw a rapid shift to working from home. This was associated with significant changes in meeting habits according to research by Microsoft and others, including:

• 13% increase in the number of meetings

• 14% increase in the number of people attending each meeting

• More multitasking doing meetings with around 42% of people working on other things such as email

• Shorter meetings but more likely to run over time

• Meetings across a longer work day, particularly for managers

• People having fewer meetings with their direct manager

Now, each of these are interesting in their own way, but the flow on impact of working remotely on work performance can be significant. For example:

• 57% of people reported a reduction in their ability to brainstorm with colleagues

• 32% reported a reduction in their opportunities to collaborate

• 26% reported a decrease in opportunities to discuss dissenting positions

So the way we’re approaching meetings currently clearly isn’t working, and is only getting worse with the shift to online. Something needs to change. 

Fortunately there are people who specialise in researching how to make meetings better. Here are six rules for meetings from those who specialise in meeting science:

1. Call a meeting with a clear purpose and only when necessary - not everything needs to be a meeting, so save meetings for two-way communication and collaboration

2. Include only those people whose expertise and knowledge is required - virtual meetings allow us to easily invite far more people, but it’s important to ensure each person is there for a reason

3. Prepare and follow an agenda - this should be distributed beforehand so people can prepare and maximise their time together

4. Start the meeting on time - set a culture where meetings begin on time even if everyone hasn’t arrived

5. Avoid distractions and multitasking - when meetings are purposeful and well run, you will see a drop in multitasking, particularly if you also shorten meetings

6. Actively encourage everyone to participate, including after the meeting - given you have the right people in the room, make sure they all have a voice and opportunity to share

Try re-introducing these meeting disciplines to generate greater value from your meetings, and let me know how you go.

Reference 

Collaboration and Meetings By Nancy Baym, Rachel Bergmann, Adam Coleman, Ricardo Reyna Fernandez, Sean Rintel, Abigail Sellen, Tiffany Smith Chapter 1 of The New Future of Work: Research from Microsoft into the Pandemic’s Impact on Work Practices, edited by Jaime Teevan, Brent Hecht, and Sonia Jaffe, 1st ed. Microsoft, 2021. 

Bonus Episode - Skip Bowman - From Safe to Great

Skip Bowman is an author, consultant and speaker focusing on how to transform organisations with a growth mindset and psychological safety. Skip is based in Copenhagen and has worked with global organisations for over 25 years. Skip has an upcoming book - From Safe to Great - which will be published in September 2023.

Our discussion covered how growth mindset and psychological safety can be applied at a team and organisational level, what it feels like when leaders get things right, the challenges facing leaders, and how to encourage people to work collaboratively. Skip also discussed how leaders need to consider how automation, artificial intelligence and climate challenges will impact our organisations and world.

You can learn more about Skip and his work at https://www.safe2great.com/

Episode 178 - Are We Still Debating the Office?

Summary

Ongoing debates remain about returning to the office. Here are some thoughts to tackle this often contentious topic.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 178 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. Ongoing debates remain about returning to the office. This week we explore ideas to tackle this often contentious topic.

In many geographies the opportunity to return to the office following the worst of the pandemic has coincided with tight labor markets. As a result, employees often have more bargaining power than employers when it comes to workplace conditions and ways of operating. Many senior leaders want people back in the office, citing perceptions of collaboration and culture suffering under remote working. These views often align with their personally preferred way of working, and less so with the experiences of employees. Many employees are enjoying their new found flexibility and ability to give the commute a miss. They’re delivering the same level of performance, so why come in to the office? So how do we progress these conversations? Here are six steps to consider:

1. Start with the work: This sounds obvious, but it’s important to determine the best way to work by starting with the results you’re after. We need to start with the why and what before we get to the how of the work. This should include consideration of how each job interacts with others.

2. Recognise your own biases and interests: Write down how you prefer to work and be as detailed and honest as you can be. Have people in your team do the same thing. It’s easy to assume that the way we prefer to work is what everyone else prefers as well, but you will quickly learn from this process that isn’t true. We need to be careful not to inflict our preferences on others.

3. Listen with respect: Be genuinely interested and provide space for people to share their opinions.

4. Recognise that no one has best practice: It’s helpful to look at what organisations are doing around flexible work, but no one has it all sorted out yet. Be careful not to blindly follow the lead of others.

5. Measure the right things: When changing the way we work, we need to be able to measure performance. Without that we are flying in the dark.

6. Experiment: Rather than setting things in place for all time, try something for a month or two and evaluate how it went. You can then make adjustments. 

This experimental mindset will help reduce the level of debate and unstick many of the conversations around returning to the office. Give it a try and let me know how you go. 

Episode 177 - Making Work Transformational

Summary

The pandemic shifted much of our work away from transformational towards transactional. What has this meant for us and what can we do?

Transcript

Welcome to episode 177 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we discuss making work transformational.

It was just over a year ago when I was speaking with a relatively new employee in an organisation. They described how their work was being undertaken. They joined the organisation when everyone was working remotely, so they had not met any fellow employees in person. Their manager was helpful, but clearly busy. The employee’s typical work day involved their manager asking them to do something via email, which they worked on for the next hour or two and then forwarded on the completed work. Then they waited for the next work request. Sometimes there would be another request, and other times they would be left wondering what else they should do with the remainder of their day.

This is an almost textbook definition of transactional work. Yes - work is being completed, but it’s easy to see the lost productivity, engagement, and enjoyment in this way of working. Added to this is a greater risk of the employee leaving for another job. The employee remains unchanged - not really learning or growing. The team isn’t benefiting from interactions, creativity and support, so they’re not collectively growing either. While this might be an extreme example, I believe work has shifted far more towards transactional and away from transformational over the past few years. The mantra has become “just let me get my work done”. Efforts to bring people together to collaborate, support, and build connections are rarely made, and actively resisted.

In contrast, transformational work leaves the individual, team, and organisation different. It’s like working out. If you lift weights, at the end of the workout you are different to when you started. There’s strengthening and growth. That growth compounds over time to the point where you are transformed through the workouts you complete. It’s the same with our work. If we continue to stretch, challenge, and support our people, they will grow. In contrast, transactional work doesn’t just inhibit growth - it leads people to go backwards in their performance, engagement, and satisfaction.

So what can we do to make work transformational? Here are four ideas you can try out this week:

1. Talk about frustrations with a view towards improvement. A soldier in the Army once described to me the somewhat unorthodox approach of their commanding officer. The leader told their people that it was okay to occasionally complain or express frustration, provided they then focused on improvements and solutions. He asked that they remove their symbols of rank - the bands and stripes on their chest and shoulders that were velcroed on, to walk in and share their issues. He then asked them to walk out of the office, put their symbols of rank back on, and come back in to focus on improvements. This senior officer made it safe to raise concerns, but coupled that with accountability. He made it safe to open up, and compelling to act.

2. Delegate meaningful work. Transactional leadership involves delegating tasks. “Complete this report for me” or “setup a time with this person”. When the task is done you need to delegate again. When you delegate accountabilities, it provides ongoing responsibility and direction. Here you are asking the person to be accountable for producing the reports, or for liaising with the stakeholder. This transformational approach allows the leader to operate as a coach or mentor, rather than relying on command and control. It’s far better for the individual and the leader.

3. Build intra and inter-connection. Part of a leader’s role is to identify opportunities for their people to work with a diverse range of colleagues within the team and across the organisation. You can actively support this process to help build connections, support, and collaboration.

4. Have work-related fun. Daniel Goleman once said that great leaders recognise that having a good time isn’t a waste of time. That doesn’t necessarily mean going out bowling or other activities outside work hours. Work with your team to find enjoyment in the work.

I hope you found this helpful. If it is of interest, there’s more detail in my 2023 Leadership Today conference session titled “Bring Belonging Back”. You can find that and all the other conference sessions at 2023.leadership.today - have a great week.

Episode 176 - Putting the “Inter” Into Connection

Summary

In this episode we explore putting the “inter” into connection.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 176 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore putting the “inter” into connection. 

I’m recording this in March 2023. The last few years have brought dramatic changes to the way we work. Necessary adjustments during a pandemic have had positive, negative and interesting impacts on how we approach our work today. There are individual impact, but today we’re going to focus on teams and collaboration. 

One of the interesting shifts highlighted through research conducted by Microsoft and others is that teams have become more intra-connected and less inter-connected. Teams have become more siloed - showing a 25% reduction in cross-group collaboration when compared to 2019. At the same time, teams are more intra-connected - adding more active connections within the team. 

The positives from this shift include greater team identity and connection at a local level. It’s an understandable response to extraordinary times - we draw in with those we’re closest to. But a negative is that we invest less time working across the organisation. We become more “intra” than “inter” connected. However one of the advantages of being in an organisation is the cross-team collaboration that allows us to deliver more than the sum of its parts. The challenge for many organisations now is how we bring inter-connection back. Here are three tips for re-building inter-connection. 

1. Self-reflection point. Ask your team to identify the positives, negatives and interesting elements of how we work in our organisation today. Why do we include interesting? The author Edward de Bono has helped people to think about thinking. His six thinking hats framework for example encouraged people to approach problems from six different perspectives, and also recognise their more typical approach to situations. One thing that stood out for me from his work was our tendency to look at things from a perspective of positives and negatives. That many of our institutions such as politics and our legal systems are adversarial. But this way of looking at the world can constrain us. There’s also interesting things - things that aren’t necessarily positive or negative, but are still relevant. I’m sure you’ll find exploring positives, negatives and interesting elements of how we work to be beneficial.

2. Work across teams to identify how we can help each other. You might think of this as paying it forward at a team level. What can our team do to help another part of the organisation? If you’re a support function that might be easier. But if you’re in operations, consider how you can help a support function and make their life easier. Or perhaps your organisation is segmented by geography - look for ways to support other regions.

3. Actively connect people across the organisation. Help people in your team to build their network. You don’t necessarily have to do this with an outcome in mind beyond building inter-connection. You’re likely to have more connections than the people you lead, so use these connections to help build their network.

I believe as we rebuild inter-connection our teams and organisations will be able to achieve far more than we could by just focusing on our own team. Have a great week.

Episode 175 - Drew Ginn - Career Planning and Taking Risks

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers. Drew has had an extraordinarily successful athletic career in rowing with three Olympic Golds and a Silver together with a host of international medals, has coached at elite levels in rowing and cricket, while also having worked in business leadership. The full interview and other conference sessions from leadership experts will be available to subscribers from February 25th. Just go to Leadership.Today and follow the on-demand link, or download the Leadership Today app.

Episode 174 - Drew Ginn - Longevity and Trusting the Process

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers. Drew has had an extraordinarily successful athletic career in rowing with three Olympic Golds and a Silver together with a host of international medals, has coached at elite levels in rowing and cricket, while also having worked in business leadership. The full interview and other conference sessions from leadership experts will be available to subscribers from February 25th. Just go to Leadership.Today and follow the on-demand link, or download the Leadership Today app.

Episode 173 - Drew Ginn - Thriving Through Stress

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers. Drew has had an extraordinarily successful athletic career in rowing with three Olympic Golds and a Silver together with a host of international medals, has coached at elite levels in rowing and cricket, while also having worked in business leadership. The full interview and other conference sessions from leadership experts will be available to subscribers from February 25th. Just go to Leadership.Today and follow the on-demand link, or download the Leadership Today app.

Episode 172 - Drew Ginn - Building a World Class Team

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers. Drew has had an extraordinarily successful athletic career in rowing with three Olympic Golds and a Silver together with a host of international medals, has coached at elite levels in rowing and cricket, while also having worked in business leadership. The full interview and other conference sessions from leadership experts will be available to subscribers from February 25th. Just go to Leadership.Today and follow the on-demand link, or download the Leadership Today app.

Episode 171 - We Are Made to Care for Others

Summary

In this episode we explore the numerous benefits of building a culture of care at work.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 171 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how to build a culture of care at work.

Psychology demonstrates that we benefit not just from being cared for, but we’re also wired to care for others. Organisations can benefit from meeting this basic human need through a culture that fosters belonging, connections and care. This helps to build trust, effective communication, meaning and purpose. All of this contributes to productivity and effectiveness.

So how do we build a culture of care at work? Here are a few ideas:

1. Role-model the importance of care by actively caring for others. There’s no point expecting others to demonstrate care if it doesn’t start with us.

2. Recognise that care doesn’t have to be soft - it can be very practical. It can include demonstrating a genuine interest in the work of others, or offering to help somewhen when they are under pressure. 

3. Show appreciation. Genuine thanks for the contributions of others helps to show you care. Appreciation can often focus on outcomes, but it’s also worth recognising efforts even when they don’t produce the anticipated results.

4. Recognise and reward efforts to care for others. Celebrate the times when people have gone out of their way to care for others.

5. Look for opportunities to care for others outside your organisation. That might include extending care to your customers and in to the communities where you operate through charities. This helps provide additional meaning and purpose to the work we conduct.

Caring isn’t just good for the people we care for, it’s good for us as well. Why not grab one of these points and apply it this week.

If this was of interest, you’re going to really like our upcoming Leadership Today On-Demand conference on the theme “Belong”. 

Episode 170 - Sleep Helps Positive Emotions

Summary

This week we explore research into why sleep matters so much for our emotional state, and tips for better sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 170 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore research into why sleep matters so much for our emotional state, and tips for better sleep.

We all know that sleep matters for our general health and wellbeing. Getting 7 to 8 hours of high quality sleep a night makes a big difference in our ability to concentrate, be resilient, and relate well with others. REM sleep, characterised by rapid eye movements and dreaming, is thought to be particularly beneficial for memory consolidation and emotional processing. Recent research suggests that REM sleep assists with the consolidation of positive emotions associated with safety, while suppressing the influence of negative emotions associated with danger. It’s thought this process helps people to maintain a healthy balance in their focus on safety and danger. A lack of REM sleep can tip this balance too much toward a focus on danger, and a range of anxiety-related disorders can result. Having an appropriate emotional balance will help greatly in the daily stresses of leadership.

Given sleep is so important, how do we make sure we’re getting enough? Here are seven tips:

1. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. It’s tempting to vary when we go to bed and wake up across the week, but sticking to the same schedule helps. 

2. Set your bed room up for sleep. Make sure the room is dark, quiet and cool. Don’t get in the habit of watching TV in your bedroom. 

3. Avoid screens at night. The blue light from screens, particularly from phones, laptops and tablets, messes with your sleep cycle and hormones such as melatonin.

4. Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the hours before sleep. Both can negatively impact your ability to get to sleep and stay asleep.

5. Wind down before sleep. Most smart phones allow you to set sleep reminders which can prompt you to have a relaxing routine before bed. This might include taking a bath, reading, or undertaking relaxation techniques.

6. Have an exercise routine. Exerting yourself physically during the day will help you to fall asleep.

7. If you wake during the night and are struggling to fall back to sleep, get up and do something relaxing until you feel tired again. This can help your body and brain to reset for more sleep.

Getting enough sleep is an important element of effective leadership. The better you rest and restore, the better prepared you are to lead others. Have a great week.

Reference

Mattia Aime, Niccolò Calcini, Micaela Borsa, Tiago Campelo, Thomas Rusterholz, Andrea Sattin, Tommaso Fellin, Antoine Adamantidis. Paradoxical somatodendritic decoupling supports cortical plasticity during REM sleep. Science, 2022; 376 (6594): 724

Episode 169 - Flexible Hours Beats Working at Home

Summary

Much of the discussion around flexible work has focused on the ‘where’ of work. It turns out the ‘when’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ of work matter even more.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 169 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how the discussions around flexible work are often the wrong way around. Instead of starting with the ‘where’, we should begin with the ‘why’.

A lot of discussion about flexible work has focused on the ‘where’ of work. Can I work at home instead of the office? If so, how many days a week? Are you going to force me to come in particular days?

Interestingly, a recent survey of 10,000 knowledge workers in the US found the ability to set their own hours was even more important than working from home. While 78% of workers wanted flexibility for where they worked, 95% wanted flexibility over when they worked. 

While people are focused on the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of their jobs, the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of work provide even greater opportunities to engage and motivate people.

Clarifying the ‘why’ of the work involves identifying why this work matters, the broader purpose people are contributing to, and how this role contributes to that purpose. This sense of purpose helps with motivation - people are more motivated when they feel like they are contributing to something meaningful and important. And it also ensures people are working in the same direction. When things are unclear, they can refer back to this broader purpose to guide their decision making and efforts. This is what I describe as aligned motivation - people are motivated and heading in the same direction. But it’s possible to be aligned and not motivated, so what else can we do to motivate others?

Deci and Ryan’s work shows motivation is about providing autonomy, building capability and confidence, and fostering a sense of belonging through meaningful connections. If you’re interested in how leaders practically do this you can take a look at our Leadership Practices in the Leadership Today app for a free assessment and tips.

When you’re seeking to engage your people, it’s easy to become drawn into a discussion about the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of work. Instead, make sure you begin with the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of work before moving on to the ‘when’ and ‘where’.

Reference

Katherine Bindley and Chip Cutter. Workers Care More About Flexible Hours Than Remote Work , Wall Street Journal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/workers-care-more-about-lexible-hours-than-remote-work-11643112004  

Episode 168 - When Deadlines Backfire

Summary

Are deadlines always a good thing? And when might they backfire? This week we explore research focused on exactly these questions.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 168 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore when setting a deadline might backfire, leading to a reduced chance of delivering.

If you want someone to complete a simple task for you, are you better off setting a one week deadline, a one month deadline, or no deadline at all? 

A team of researchers explored just this question. They randomly selected New Zealand participants and offered a $10 donation to charity in return for completing a 5 minute survey. Their findings showed that a shorter deadline of one week resulted in a greater response rate than a one month deadline. 6.6% completed the voluntary survey with the shorter deadline, versus 5.5% for the longer deadline. The researchers believed the one month deadline provided the greatest opportunity to procrastinate, and it also saw the lowest number of completions of early responses. So a shorter deadline is definitely better.

Interestingly, providing no deadline to complete the survey actually worked best, with 8.3% of people voluntarily completing the survey. Like the one week deadline, not providing a deadline at all led to a higher number of early responses to the survey than a long deadline.

So how do we apply this research in our leadership? The most direct application is in surveys. When I was heavily involved in employee surveys we used to apply a combination approach. Our initial survey requests typically didn’t include a deadline. After two weeks, we would then provide a one week deadline to those who hadn’t completed the survey. And we would always keep the survey open a week after the deadline. For whatever reason there is always a small number of people who don’t start things until the deadline has passed. This combination produced better results than just providing a two or three week deadline up front.

When we want people to voluntarily complete a short task, we’re best to initially not provide a deadline. If we are asked for a deadline, we’re better off specifying something short like one or two weeks, rather than a longer deadline of a month. This approach helps to provide people with freedom to manage their time. Not setting a deadline provides that freedom while avoiding the risk of procrastination for simple tasks. It’s like we all operate with a range of vision for deadlines. 

In a firm I worked for there was a running joke. If anyone ever said something would be ready in six weeks, it was taken to mean that it would never be done. Six weeks was long enough into the future that it was beyond most people’s planning and attention.

For smaller tasks, why not experiment with shorter deadlines and not having deadlines at all. You will likely find things will be completed more reliably and faster than if you set a one month deadline.

Reference 

Knowles, S., Servátka, M., Sullivan, T. & Genç, M. (2022) Procrastination and the non-monotonic effect of deadlines on task completion. Economic Inquiry, 60( 2), 706– 720. 

Episode 167 - Agreeableness, Work Investment and Teamwork

Summary

This week we explore how agreeableness as a personality trait has a positive impact on work investment and teamwork.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 167 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we bring research to life in your leadership. This week we explore how agreeableness as a personality trait has a positive impact on work investment and teamwork.

Since the 1950s, and particularly from the 1980’s, personality research has focused primarily on the big 5 personality traits - Openness-to-Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Taken together these 5 traits account for the majority of differences in personality between individuals while also having predictive ability across a range of positive and negative outcomes in workplace settings. They provide our best understanding of personality across a range of settings and individuals.

A recent study focused on the agreeableness trait. As a personality trait this describes people who are cooperative, polite, friendly and kind. Agreeableness is associated with an interest in others and in building positive relationships. The study by Wilmot and Ones is of the most comprehensive analyses of agreeableness undertaken, bringing together 1.9 million participants across more than 3,900 research studies.

Their research highlighted a broad range of positive outcomes associated with agreeableness in a workplace context. 

The benefits for individuals and teams included:

• Focus on growth and concern for others

• Contentment with current circumstance

• Investment in building and maintaining relationships with others

• Team working including cooperating with others and working towards shared goals

• Work investment and commitment

• Tendency to place less emphasis on results, and being more lenient in rating others’ performance

• Ability to adjust to new contexts

• Greater likelihood of respecting social norms and rules

In summary, those with agreeableness as a personality trait are likely to invest more effort into their work, primarily in a corporative and team-building way.

Here are some tips for building agreeableness:

1. Take a genuine interest in others. Empathy is a cornerstone of agreeableness. It’s easier to get along with people that we understand and can relate to.

2. Invest time in building relationships. Agreeableness is often about quantity time. Relationships require investment.

3. Consider shared goals, not just individual goals. Agreeableness is interested in collective outcomes and team wins.

4. Maintain connections during moments of disagreement and conflict. Relationships are usually more important than winning an argument.

It’s also worth nothing that, as a leader, you can assess and select for agreeableness and other personality traits that may be important for work performance. This requires personality instruments that are specifically designed for a selection context, but is worth exploring if you want to build effective teams.

References

Wilmot, M. P., & Ones, D. S. (2022). Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 26(3), 242–280.