Trust – The Foundation of Leadership

Doubt and skepticism seem commonplace lately. Stories questioning motives and agendas are unavoidable, and conspiracy theories abound. Getting to a space where we trust, blindly without critically questioning, is unrealistic and undesirable. However, having trust within the workplace is critical to employee engagement, retention, creativity, and productivity. 

As a leader, being trusted and trusting your team members is critical to success. Trust is the basis upon which every other leadership principal rests. (Picture a tall building with a cracked foundation. The structure may look sound, but the building's safety is questionable.) Leaders must foster trust and maintain it with everyday actions. In today's remote and hybrid work environments, trust is more significant than ever. 

Ways to build trust and keep the foundation strong:

• Be transparent about the reasons for your actions

• Follow through on commitments

• Be OK with being wrong or not having the answer and be transparent about that

• Display emotional intelligence – Key EI aspects related to trust are empathy, impulse control, interpersonal relationships, and emotional expression

• Trust others – this means managing at the right level, delegating appropriately, giving latitude for decisions, and listening to the thoughts and ideas of others

“The ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust is the key professional and personal competency of our time” Stephen M.R. Covey.

What are you doing to promote and sustain trust in your leadership role?

Women Leaders and Self-doubt

According to the 2020 KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit Report 75% of female executives have experienced Imposter Syndrome. Why do so many successful women leaders question their skills and abilities and how can they change this way of thinking?

Whether we call it imposter syndrome, self-confidence challenges, or self-doubt, there are measurable impacts from it. As a result of questioning themselves, women leaders may underestimate their abilities, ignore instincts, shy away from risks, avoid advocating for themselves, or push for perfection in their work and personal life. Self-doubt can even lead to fear of success and self-sabotaging behaviors.

Women, in comparison to men, are more likely to focus on “what went wrong”, confirming their suspicion that perhaps they weren’t fully equipped to handle the situation, lead the project, or take on the new promotion. Self-doubt can result in fearing failure, which leads to less risk-taking and ignoring instincts. For some, when evaluating their performance there is a hyper-focus on the perceptions of others. 

How can women change these thought patterns and feelings? To start, concentrating on three things will make a significant impact: Mindset, factual self-reflection, and internal messaging and language. 

A Growth Mindset is more than positive thoughts. It involves changing thinking habits. Rather than focusing on what went wrong, spend time thinking about what was learned and what can be applied from this learning to the next situation. Focus on what is possible instead of what’s lacking or imperfect. No one (I’ve met) is in growth mindset 100% of the time. The goal is to move towards growth mindset as often as possible. 

Factual self-reflection comes about with self-awareness and incorporating all data, both developmental and positive. This means accepting and believing positive feedback and being fair when self-evaluating. Identifying limiting beliefs (what one “knows” to be true) and questioning these stories, is a powerful weapon in the battle for factual self-reflection. 

Internal messages and language are typically harsher and more negative than one would use with anyone else. Awareness of the content of the messages you send to yourself is the first step in changing this damaging habit. 

Change is hard. Creating and building supportive connections with others will help in this change process. Reach out to a mentor, coach, or trusted colleague for encouragement and assistance. 

KPMG. (2020, October 12). 2020 KPMG Women's Leadership Summit Report announcement. KPMG Women's Leadership. Retrieved October 8, 2021, from https://womensleadership.kpmg.us/summit/kpmg-womens-leadership-report-2020.html. 

Discover Ways to Create Meaning

Increase Engagement and Meaning by Improving Satisfaction in Important Areas of Life

After the disruptions of the past 16 months, things are starting to return to normal. The pandemic provided people with an opportunity to evaluate what really matters to them and highlighted what may have been lacking or missing in the “old normal”. Finding or rediscovering meaning in your work and life can be attained by analyzing how you are “living your life — how you’re spending your time and how you’re using your abilities” (Knight, 2021). By strategically identifying where to enhance feelings of satisfaction in your life, you will notice increased feelings of engagement overall.

Are you looking for ways to find fulfillment and engagement in your work or personal life? This simple but impactful coaching exercise will help you identify ways to create meaning and boost your life satisfaction. This exercise “captures whether individual areas of your life are either meeting your needs and making you happy or leaving you dissatisfied and discontented” (Sutton, 2020).

Steps:

1. List 6-8 areas of your life that are important to you. These may include career, job, health, fitness, finance, family, friends, hobby, fun, leisure, service to others, learning/personal growth, environment, religion/spirituality, community, and others.

2. On a scale of 1-10 rate each life area for your current level of satisfaction (1 is totally unsatisfied and 10 is completely satisfied).

3. Note the differences in the ratings of these areas. Which are highest? Which are lowest? Where are the greatest imbalances in relation to the others?

4. Choose one area where you would like to increase your satisfaction level. Consider the following questions: What would a score of 10 in this area look like? How would upping your satisfaction in this area impact other areas of your life? What do you need to improve to make an impact on your satisfaction level in this area? What is one small thing you could do right away to make a difference in this area? Note that “small steps” can be really small! Take a short walk before work, meet a friend for a virtual or live coffee, reach out to a mentor at work, call a family member you haven’t spoken to for a while, watch a Ted Talk on a subject that interests you, offer to help a neighbor, or try out a new recipe.

5. Do the one small thing. Notice how you feel. Do another small thing related to the same life dimension. Continue this with regularity and reassess your satisfaction level (1-10).

6. When you feel satisfied in the area you have been focusing on, consider another life area where you are less than fully satisfied, and repeat steps four and five.

Increasing satisfaction in important life areas has a positive spillover effect on all areas of life. For example, people have shared that by feeling healthier they have increased motivation to connect with friends, by focusing on their professional growth their satisfaction at work increased, and by helping others their energy for their own fitness was boosted. To maximize meaning and feelings of engagement in your life, assess, set goals and take action to improve satisfaction levels in important life areas. Over time, strive to balance the satisfaction levels of all important areas in your life. 

Knight, R. (2021, February 3). How to Find Meaning When Your Job Feels Meaningless. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/02/how-to-find-meaning-when-your-job-feels-meaningless. 

Sutton, J. (2020, December 2). How to Apply the Wheel of Life in Coaching. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/wheel-of-life-coaching/. 

Is a New Career Path in Your Future?

Interested in a new career path? Want to switch directions and head towards something more meaningful, exciting or interesting to you? Intrigued by the idea of a new work future? Career exploration is full of possibilities. 

Even when people suspect they need a change at work, some neglect to explore different career options. Changing careers is hard because people identify themselves with their career. This practice goes back a long way. When surnames first came into popular use in 12th-century Europe, many people came to be identified by what they did for a living. A blacksmith named John became John Smith. A man who made his living grinding flour from grain took the name Miller (Powell, 2017). Although different, the practice continues today. “It’s automatic for strangers at any American social setting — right after “nice to meet you” and within the first two minutes of conversation to ask, “What do you do?”. The job defines the person. You are what you do” (Robinson, 2012). 

Due to this connection between career and identity, career-changers often face a common set of challenges. As they transition between careers, they may experience feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt and question their ability to make the change. Recognizing and confronting these feelings can be the key to opening the door to a new career path. 

How do you successfully change careers? Choosing a new career path is a process that should take into account a number of things. First, inventory your strengths, values, and interests (using these tools or others). 

Next, consider what career options interest you. Where could you see yourself thriving? Where will your strengths be utilized, and your values met? Try on the idea of a new role by imagining your future self in this new career. In fact, when you are thinking of changing careers you are trying on a new identity. Focus on who you want to be not what you want to do (Plimmer and Schmidt, 2007). A former stay at home mother shared with me that the vision of herself as a “working mother” sustained her drive to reenter the workforce in a new career role. Another individual shared that when changing careers, the vision of himself as a professional with work-life balance, working in an organization with a mission that matched his values helped him in the career change process. He focused on who he wanted to be and how he wanted to feel. 

Next, prioritize and select the first career option you will explore. Compare your values and strengths to the potential career area to shed light on alignment for the career and highlight the skill areas that may benefit from further development. Skill development could include a combination of technical skills, business skills and career field specific requirements such as certifications. The development should build on your strengths and align with your values and interests. (Learn about skills and experience needed in the career by checking LinkedIn for people that work in the career and job-search websites for postings in that career path.) 

Now test your career idea. What’s the best way to know if you will enjoy the new career and be successful in it? Gain experience, and increase confidence, for the transition by trying out a new career in an experimental way. Small experiments will help you determine if the type of career is a fit for your strengths and values, and it will shed light on things that may not be a fit for you. “New information only appears as we start moving and exploring” (Ibarra, 2003). This type of hands-on experimental approach could include any/all of the following:

• Talk with people in your network that work in this career

• Interview leaders in the career path to learn what makes people successful

• Shadow someone that works in the career

• Volunteer to gain similar experience

• Secure a part time role or freelance opportunity

• Take a position with a step back in level

• Participate in related courses

If the first career exploration does not resonate with you, try another one! Expect that the process will take time. When you are sure of your desired new career, build and maintain your confidence by reflecting on your strengths, focusing on your values and alignment for the career, continuing to learn through experimentation, developing your skills, and making and sticking to a plan for the job search. 

References for this Post:

Ibarra, H. Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. Harvard Business School Press, USA: 2003.

Powell, K. (2017, March 17) 10 Popular Surnames That Derived from Occupations. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/popular-surnames-that-derived-from-occupations

Robinson, J. (2012, February 07). American Identity Crisis: Are You Your Job? Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-robinson/self-identity_b_1128731.html