Unpacked with Ron Harvey
People Always Matter. Join Ron as he unpacks leadership with his guests.
Unpacked with Ron Harvey
Lifelong Learning as a Path to Leadership Mastery
Join us as renowned leadership coach Laura Watson from Venture Coaching International shares her insights on navigating the complex world of modern leadership. With over two decades of experience, Laura guides us through the art of managing a multigenerational workforce. Uncover strategies to understand and inspire team members across different age groups, fostering a productive and harmonious work environment. Laura offers valuable advice on crafting a shared vision, nurturing team potential, and overcoming the hurdles of transitioning from individual achievement to team-focused leadership.
Ever struggled with delegating tasks or maintaining your own well-being as a leader? Laura and I unpack the essentials of mastering delegation and self-care. Learn how clear communication and building trust can empower your team while freeing up your time and energy. Discover why self-care is no longer a luxury but a necessity for effective leadership and how to balance personal and professional demands without burning out. We draw parallels between leadership and parenting, emphasizing the need for flexibility and understanding in guiding and growing your team.
Conflict is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be destructive. Laura introduces techniques to transform workplace disputes into opportunities for growth. By reframing conflicts as feedback conversations and employing a win-win mindset, leaders can foster open communication and address resistance with composure. Finally, we highlight the ongoing journey of leadership development, underlining the importance of lifelong learning and relationship-building. For those eager to enhance their skills, "Leader Effectiveness Training" is recommended, and listeners can connect with Laura on LinkedIn for further guidance.
Connect with Ron
Just Make A Difference: Leading Under Pressure by Ron Harvey
“If you don’t have something to measure your growth, you won’t be self-aware or intentional about your growth.”
Learn more about Global Core Strategies
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Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...
Welcome to Unpacked Podcast with your host leadership consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron's delighted to have you join us as he unpacks and shares his leadership experience, designed to help you in your leadership journey. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.
Speaker 2:Good afternoon. This is Ron Harvey. I'm the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Global Core Strategies, based out of Columbia, south Carolina, which is a leadership development firm, and a real short, concise message is we do everything around people. We love adding value that makes a difference, that help people show up as their best selves in organizations. We focus a lot on leadership and so we're really excited about that. We enjoy doing the work that we do and it's not about being nice or being light, but it's also not about being rude and mean just because you're trying to meet an objective. So we really want leaders to be good at what they do and we think there's a responsibility for that.
Speaker 2:But today it's not really about Global Core. Today it's about our podcast, which is Unpacked with Ron Harvey, and we get to invite guests from around the world to our podcast and our platform to share with you. We've been fortunate that we get a really great audience and we get really great guests that come on. Here's the really magic for us. They don't have any questions in advance and they've they've said yes and they're like oh yes, people are going to do this.
Speaker 2:Some people are nervous, like what are you going to ask us? I'm not sure. To be honest, I know I'm going to ask their name. I know I'm going to ask about leadership. I have no clue what I'm asking next, so hang on for the ride, enjoy the journey. What we do promise is to talk about leadership, to have fun, and so I'm happy to say that laura is with us. Laura Watson, she's with us and she'll tell you who she is. Always invite our guests to share their own story, whether it's their business, or whether it's their name, or whether it's their location or whatever you wish to share. Laura, I'm gonna hand you the microphone and get out your way for a second.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Well, thanks for having me today, Ron. It's great to be here. I am joining you from the great white North a great white north, although it's not too white right now. I am in central Alberta, about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton Wow yeah, and it's actually hot today.
Speaker 3:Probably South Carolina hot yeah, thanks for having me here today. My company is Venture Coaching International, so I have the pleasure of serving small business owners and C-level executives in their leadership roles all across North America, and I have been doing this now for 20 plus years, which kind of makes me feel good.
Speaker 2:You started really young. Yeah, you started really young, right?
Speaker 3:Let's go with that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's a little bit about what I'm about. I love helping leaders like yourself be the best they can be, Because when they are the best that they can be, they build better organizations, they're better leaders for their people and they're better leaders in their families as well. I find that most leaders and business owners they have started their business because they want to create a better life family, so it really is about supporting them to be the best that they can be in all the various roles that they play in life and business.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes. So you guys doing for a treat. Laura's going all down. She's like pushing all the little things up and questions are just populating that she's speaking. So if you've been around and you follow us on the podcast, my brain is always moving and listening to. What's the question? What's the question?
Speaker 3:Oh, I hope I can keep up.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing who you are. You're in business and you've been around for a while, so looking forward to it. I guess when you think about where we are in leadership right now, it's like this big vacuum cleaner, a void that's happening across every industry, if you will, where you know there's a certain generation that's aging really fast in our workplace and the new generations that's coming up really really fast. Leaders are struggling with how to do that effectively consistently. You may get lucky on Monday and Friday, but Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday it's really tough sometimes in the workplace of being an effective leader with that many generations in the workforce. What have you noticed that you can share? How do leaders be effective leading five generations in the workforce and as diverse as the workforce is today? How do we do that effectively?
Speaker 3:Great question, ron, and I mean leadership is obviously a big umbrella. There's lots of topics to be able to look at and unpack and no matter how many people or who you are leading, I think a key leadership quality is about being adaptable and, like you mentioned, there's five generations in the workplace and so you can't be a cookie cutter leader and try to lead everyone the exact same way. Leaders need to be adaptable. They need to show up from a place of wanting to understand the people that they're leading, because the people they're leading are not cookie cutters, they're not robots that they're leading because the people they're leading are not cookie cutters, they're not robots. They're individuals and they have unique needs and interests.
Speaker 3:And a leader's primary role is obviously to have vision and create a direction for their organization, but in addition to that, their role is about supporting their people. If they can support their people to be the best that they can be, the people are going to support the leader and the company to be the best it can be. And if we're going to show up and lead people effectively, then we have to adapt. We have to be willing to show up and understand who they are, what motivates them, why they're in their organization in the first place, what do they want to contribute? If the leader can ask those kinds of questions and be curious in that way, and then their people will share with them what they want, what they're looking for, how they want to grow and develop, and then the leader just has to provide the support and the tools to do that. And if they can do that and if there's a willingness to do that, you're going to have a very synchronized and complimentary relationship between the leader and all of their employees.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, thank you for unpacking that. I'll continue to unpack a little bit more for us. When you run up this ladder of success and you're working hard and you're getting your education and all your credentials and you're really working hard to get to this place of promotion, and then you get there, what I'm hearing is, yeah, you got there, but now it's not about you.
Speaker 3:That's right yeah.
Speaker 2:How do you help a leader that's struggling with Ron? Because I'm seeing a lot of leaders that have been very candid, been very direct, abrasive to the sometimes even to the extent that it feels abrasive if I'm working for them. But they say, ron, that's just who I am, that's my style. The world is too sensitive. They need to get over being too sensitive. How do we help those leaders that may be listening, that may we may be speaking to them or speaking of them, or they're in a situation where their boss is that way? How do you help navigate in that space? Because this happened?
Speaker 3:yeah, that's a great point. Like you said, lots of people come into leadership roles because their status associated with it. It's romanticized that this is going to be amazing and they've come up a corporate ladder because they've got fantastic skills in their organization. In fact, I was coaching one leader like this. He was 30 years in his industry. He knew his industry inside and out. He was a plant manager and he came up into a leadership role and where he struggled was with the people skills and the communication skills. He knew everything. He was very technical and in fact had an engineering background and so he had the skills. But it's a very different skill set.
Speaker 3:When you step into leadership and lots of leaders who have come into leadership that way by climbing the corporate ladder they actually find that they get into their role and they hate it because they have a hard time adapting. But if they're open and they're willing to adapt versus thinking oh this is just who I am, well, you know what? We don't have a set identity. We have language in our vernacular that says this is who I am. But we can be creative with who we are. We can choose who we are on a moment to moment basis. So there is no set. I am this we get to choose every day who we want to be.
Speaker 3:And once we choose who we want to be, then we can also bring that way of being into our interactions with our colleagues and our team members. And, like you said in the beginning of your question, leadership is no longer about us, it's not about me anymore. It's about being in service to the people that we are now leading, because if we want the best out of them, then we have to bring our best to them, and that means being open to them, who they are, what they're looking for, and then, as a leader, providing the opportunities, the training, the conversation to let those people flourish. And so if a leader can show up with that mindset that this is no longer about them, that they are actually in service of their people and there to help their people thrive, then they will be way ahead in being an effective leader, because they're coming at it from a perspective of serving their people versus making it about themselves.
Speaker 2:When you think about that. It's a tough thing to do sometimes because your ego gets in the way. You've worked hard for this thing and don't they understand the degrees and the qualifications? And you're the subject matter expert and it gets in the way. And the degrees and the qualifications and you're the subject matter expert and it gets in the way. I'm not saying that stuff is not relevant, but it gets in the way. So thank you for really explaining how that gets in the way of what you're really trying to get done. I think leaders always ask me well, ron, why don't they just change that? I'm their leader. They got to make adjustments to me. If you're a parent, you know a parent over the years your kids will help you like modify If you got more than one kid, because you do different things with each child.
Speaker 2:but you also got to do different things with the people in your workforce and so not looking at employees as our children, but you learn a lot of leadership skills if you have children.
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness, you know what. And leaders are almost parents too. Their direct reports are often. You get the same family dynamics going on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a family. I mean, your workforce is like a family. I would shift a little bit, unpack something that's showing up on the radar a lot for leaders Self-care. Right now, we're at a place where mental health is becoming more of a conversation and we're paying more attention to it. Leaders are burning the candle on both ends in the middle and they're expecting the workforce to be healthy. How do you get someone that gets promoted where the hours are ridiculous or they're making the hours ridiculous be better at taking care of themselves?
Speaker 2:Because at one time that wasn't even a conversation, but we're talking more about it and it's more accessible and acceptable to talk about. How do I take care of me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's a really great point, ron Working with business leaders and business owners over the years. Obviously they're very busy people and they start to think that self-care is a luxury. But I tell them you know what? Self-care is not a luxury, it's a necessity. And I equate it to the idea of a well.
Speaker 3:If you're always giving and always leading and always doing the idea of a well, you know, if you're always giving and always leading and always doing, you're just taking from the well all the time and you just keep doing that the well is going to run dry. And so what we really need to do is we do have to take self care. You know, no one's going to give it to us, right? We have to make it a priority and we have to take it and we have to do things to fill our well. And ultimately, what I love to see with my clients is that they are doing enough self-care that their well is actually overflowing and they're able to give and lead to their families, to their organizations, from a place of abundance, versus a place of always depleting and then having to go on vacation and maybe refill, where the levels are always going up and down.
Speaker 3:I want to see so much self-care that they are leading from a place of abundance. And you know what? We've just watched the Olympics, which was an amazing show of performance and ability, and I really admire Simone Biles you. Years ago, she was in a place where she was struggling and she took care of herself. She withdrew from the Olympics four years ago. I know she got a lot of criticism for that, but she did what she needed to do to take care of herself and what happened? She came back this year stronger and better than ever. So I think she is an amazing role model of what leaders need to do is take care of themselves, because if they take care of themselves, then they have the wherewithal and the ability to take care of others, and that's really what they're there to do yes, yes.
Speaker 2:I love that you're sharing it, laura, because if you haven't watched the Olympics, go watch it. It was amazing. I mean, they got all kind of events. Now I'm like, my goodness, when did they put break dancing in the Olympics? I mean, it's the Olympics, but the beauty of it is there are a lot of leadership lessons in there.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Lessons If you just watch it and it plays out like all the lessons that's learned, but also for leaders that are listening. You just did a phenomenal job talking about self-care. If you don't do it well and you're telling your team to do it, you become a hypocrite absolutely you got to be mindful of is your audio matching your video.
Speaker 2:Are you doing what you expect your team to do, which is self-care? I'm a veteran, you know, from the armed services army 21 years of service and one of the things that was important they wanted to see me take time with my family. They wanted to see me take vacation. They wanted to see me do the things that I was saying they had to do. And I wasn't exempt from those things. They say hey, well, why don't you go first? So, leaders, if you want self-care to be in your organization, go first.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Be the role model.
Speaker 2:Be the role model. I'm going to put two things in there. Let's see which one you want to unpack first. I want to talk about effectively delegating or managing conflict. Which one do you want to go with first?
Speaker 3:Let's start with delegation. So many of my clients say I can't delegate, it's just easier to do it myself. They never do it right. It's a struggle. It's a struggle.
Speaker 2:What makes it so difficult. So let's unpack for a while. What are some of the things that make it difficult? That you're noticing that you see and we're going to express some of this, hopefully, through our conversation someone's going to come across as an excuse, but reality is it is a reason why you don't do it. So I'm not going to say it's an excuse, but we'll help you unpack it so you can get away from the word excuse. What are some of the reasons why leaders actually struggle with delegating?
Speaker 3:You know, the biggest reason why leaders struggle is because they, as leaders, are not clear. So it's a lack of clarity. So they go to their team members and will delegate something. Or one of my clients once upon a time said oh yeah, I told my team in the staff meeting today that they need to step up. I'm like, okay, what does step up mean? What does that look like? Step up is really vague communication.
Speaker 3:So again, it starts with the leader being clear in their communication, clear around the task or the project that they're delegating. Clear on timelines, clear on expectations, clear on the authority level that they are passing along to the person. Does the person have authority to just do a task or do they have decision-making authority? Do they have budget authority? So authority is something that has to be delegated to. And then, in having the delegation conversation, because clarity is so important, I teach all of my leaders to practice a skill called active listening, and active listening means that we paraphrase what we're hearing someone say in order to clarify, ensure that there is mutual understanding of the topic. So how a leader can do that is, when they're delegating something, delegate one chunk or one piece, to say you don't delegate everything all at once Delegate one piece, then pause the conversation and ask the person that they're delegating to ask them the question what is your understanding, uh, so far? Or what are you hearing me say? And have their direct report paraphrase or active, listen back to them their understanding, because you know what direct reports are. Just going to sit there and not. They're gonna huh, huh, yep, got it. And the leader's gonna think, okay, got it. Then they're gonna leader's gonna rush off and do whatever they're gonna do next and direct report's gonna rush off and like not clear. So and then the leader's gonna get disappointed when the project or the task goes over time, over budget or what have you.
Speaker 3:So if the leader can ask their direct reports, what are, are you hearing me say what is your understanding of this? The direct report will then paraphrase. That's the leader's opportunity to learn. Has the leader communicated clearly? Did they miss something? Or does their direct report actually understand the way they need to understand? If they do, great, carry on. If they don't, then you have an opportunity to clarify before you end the delegation conversation and you're much more likely to get what you want the delegation conversation and you're much more likely to get what you want from delegating. And if those ideas aren't enough, there's a great little one hour read out there that I recommend to all of my clients. The read is called If you Want it Done Right, you Don't have To Do it Yourself.
Speaker 1:And it's a book by Donna Gannett, you don't have to do it yourself, and it's a book by Donna Gannett and she does a fact.
Speaker 3:There's even pictures and little cheat sheets, so it's a really quick read for a busy leader, but if they really want to learn how to delegate effectively, that's a great little read.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, and how many leaders I mean. If I got a dollar for every time, at least if I want to do it myself, I could stop working.
Speaker 3:Yeah, be a millionaire, right.
Speaker 2:Not sustainable, not scalable, not what we want from you. The last thing is not what can I do, but who can help you get it done? So, leaders, stop fooling yourselves. Delegation is important, and one of the things I've learned also too, laura, is over time. Leaders that don't delegate well is there's a lack of trust in people's ability around them. They're the only ones that can do it right the first time and maybe, yeah, you've had years of experience. You should know how to do it right, but you weren't that good the first time you did it either. So stop fooling yourself. Stop being full of like you got it right. Yeah, you had years of experience. You should have it right by now.
Speaker 3:But who gives you the?
Speaker 2:experience.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, and I understand the fear of it not being done right, but a business can't scale if you don't delegate, and whether you're outsourcing or using internal team, so a leader is holding himself back or herself back by not delegating because they can't literally cannot, do it all. Leader's job really is to delegate and coach your people to develop those skills, because otherwise the leader is going to burn out. They can't do it all. That's why their team is there. So I tell my leaders hold your people able. Delegate clearly first of all. Hold your people able. Be an open door if they need additional clarification and support from you. But they've got to take that leap of faith and get their people doing what they need to do. Otherwise, yes, there's going to be a lack of trust there, their people are going to feel micromanaged and it's all going to break down.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, if you want to practice self-care and you want to enjoy vacation, find the who to do what needs to be done, and the who can't be you, it can't absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know, I just had a leader go off on holidays and he feel too much in the doing himself and he left on holidays and his team, you know, are frustrated and irritated. They had to reach out to him on holidays, which they didn't want to do, but he had bottlenecked a bunch of work behind him. So I'm still working with him to clear that pathway because he had a team that was almost going to go into mutiny with him away and them feeling the pressure to meet deadlines and they can't do their work because he hasn't done theirs. So he's a work in progress right now but we're coming along.
Speaker 2:Empowerment? I mean when you think, when I'm listening to you and I talk about it. Are you truly empowering your people with all the resources, the time, flexibility to do the things that they can and more than capable to do? And often I find leaders getting in the way because of their insecurities or they haven't trained their team well enough to do the things that they expect them to do. So please, please, equip your people. I want to unpack for a second, because it's a pretty hot topic as well is this thing of holding your people able but managing conflict effectively. What I've learned over time, laura is not addressing.
Speaker 2:It is not healthy but, addressing it the wrong way is also not healthy as well. Where's the sweet spot of? You're going to be put in a position where you got to hold people accountable. You're going to have to manage conflict, but you still got to do it effectively. What does that look like?
Speaker 3:Excellent question, you know, and it's kind of an advanced communication skill, but it is a skill and it can be learned.
Speaker 3:So lots of people I find are conflict avoidant because they fear it.
Speaker 3:You know, we all have our own history around how we've experienced conflict in the past and unfortunately, most people have experienced conflict from a win-lose perspective. You know someone's gotten. You know I want what I want and now I'm trying to, you know, make this happen through somebody else and yeah, win-lose scenario ends up getting set up and that become and no one likes a win-lose. So I think conflict resolution first starts with a mindset of we're here to create a win-win, and win-wins require a level of understanding of both sides of the equation. So I like to reframe conflict into feedback and and because feedback? You know I used to be terrified of conflict as well and I'd be getting feedback or I'd be, you know, fearing conflict because I thought conflict was criticism, yes, and so I would be taking it personally from my supervisors at the time and it was so upsetting for me I would literally get a lump in my throat and could not breathe in the conversation. So I had to shift my mindset about conflict and criticism and one of the best mindset shifts that I found was shifting it into a feedback conversation, because feedback is more neutral, so it really helps take that sting away by viewing it. This is feedback, it's not criticism.
Speaker 3:Then walking into a feedback conversation is about, first of all, asking permission. Lots of leaders they get all into their position. I've got to deal with this issue and call that person into my office. I'm going to deal with it now. The person that they're having the conversation with might not be ready and I think we have to be respectful of that. So first of all, we have to ask permission. Can I have a conversation with you? It's that simple. Second of all, share our intention of the conversation. My intention in our conversation today is to give you some feedback on something, help us find a resolution to a situation that we're dealing with, so that the person they're having the conversation with understands that the conversation is meant to be helpful and not critical. So permission and then intention, and then, once we've shared that, I think I messages are very important, so we don't want to attack.
Speaker 3:Think I messages are very important, so we don't want to attack the person. You did this Because as soon as we use you language like that, the person is going to feel attacked. The person feels attacked. They're likely to get defensive. So we want to keep the communication using I messages.
Speaker 3:An I message is something to the effect of I'm concerned about this report being late, for example, or this project getting off track, or I'm concerned about this particular issue because and then we share the impact that the issue or the person's behavior is having. So because lots of people you know they're wandering around with these blinders on thinking about you know their own situation. They're not thinking about the bigger picture or the impact that their behavior you know they're wandering around with these blinders on thinking about you know their own situation. They're not thinking about the bigger picture or the impact that their behavior, their words or their lack of behavior is having on those around them. So when we can share, using an iMessage, sharing the concern and sharing the impact the issue is having, I find people are way more open to hearing the feedback. They start to realize, oh, I didn't realize that this issue or my tardiness or what have you is having this bigger impact.
Speaker 3:And once they understand the impact, then I find people are way more open to correcting their behavior. They're there because they want to contribute, they want to be helpful. They're not purposely trying to be malicious or hold others back or do a bad job. They want to be helpful. They're not purposely trying to be malicious or hold others back or do a bad job. They just don't realize what's going on. So if they can understand the impact that their behavior, or lack thereof, is having, I find people stay way more open to changing their behavior. And because they're not feeling criticized personally again, they're more willing to adjust their behavior. And because they're not feeling criticized personally again, they're more willing to adjust their behavior. And that's really all the leader wants by having the conversation is they're really trying to get someone to understand what their behavior is, how it's problematic and then how we can change the behavior to get the results that we want. So if a leader can approach the conversation from that perspective, they're going to be way more effective with their direct reports.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love it. I mean, once again, a really, really great job of breaking it down and giving people real, practical steps. Which I love about the podcast is we have real conversations and give people things that they can go and put into place, like right now, immediately, and I love that. You're transparent. You know you share with the audience that, hey, I used to be that person Like when conflict showed up, I would get a lump in my throat, I would struggle and that's not comfortable for anybody at the end of the day.
Speaker 2:So, behind the Curtain for us, unpacked with Ron Harvey, is really about stuff that you're hearing, where Laura's sharing real stuff that this is real but there are ways to work through it. Sharing real stuff that this is real, but there are ways to work through it. How do you help a leader when they find themselves in that moment blindsided or caught off guard and feel the tension and they're the boss and all of a sudden the room temperature has changed because of the responses they're getting from a subordinate and they're frustrated but they still got to do this effectively and take care of their person. How do you navigate that without being destructive?
Speaker 3:Well, it's tricky skill because you know our leaders coming through the conversation with their agenda. They want to make their point and they want to have something happen. They want to get a result and then they want to move on to whatever is next on their to-do list. And if they're getting a bit of pushback from their direct report or they're noticing I call it emotional temperature If they're noticing their direct reports or their colleagues or their business partners emotional temperature rising, then the leader has to have enough self-control to stop their agenda for a moment. And what they have to do is they have to switch gears from delivering feedback into active listening, because when someone's emotional temperature is rising, their stress level is rising and their ability to hear and listen and problem solve is declining. Yes, we can't be stressed and we can't be logical and problem solve at the same time. And, of course, when our emotional temperature rises we also get reactive. And so what I find with some of my leaders is they confront and then the direct report or their business partner sort of confronts back, and then it goes back and back and back and the emotional temperatures keep rising until the whole thing breaks down and everybody has to part ways and the issue often does not get resolved because they just get pissed off at each other and walk away. It doesn't have to happen.
Speaker 3:As soon as the leader notices that someone else's emotional temperature is rising, that leader has to kind of check themselves, switch gears into active listening, which is I'm sensing.
Speaker 3:An example of that might be I'm sensing that you're irritated right now, or I'm sensing that you're starting to feel defensive, or I'm seeing that this is awkward conversation for you, or I'm seeing that this is awkward conversation for you. As soon as they start paraphrasing, or at least hearing, what's not being said to the person that they're communicating with, that person's emotional temperature will start to come down, which is exactly what we want. Once their emotional temperature comes down, then the leader can revisit the original conversation with the person and they're more likely because they've heard the person out already they're more likely to keep that person engaged in the conversation and be able to move forward into problem solving mode with that person. So I find that that's a really important skill for leaders to learn is to actually check themselves back off a little. You know, park their agenda for a moment, hear the other person out, get the emotional temperature down then revisit the original issue.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love it. Park your agenda. Which leaders? That's important, because you do walk into an agenda and you do have to get things done and you have accountable to get things done. But the most important thing that I think we have to get done as leaders is take care of people and at that moment you get to make a decision. You know, I truly feel in my role as a leader. Anytime I'm in that position, I get to control the temperature in the room. I can feel when the thermostat is getting higher or it's getting lower.
Speaker 2:I can feel when people are engaged or disengaged, frustrated or irritated. I get to notice that, so I get to just notice it or I get to do something about it. And so, leaders, you might have to park your agenda for a second and do the thing of taking care of your person. Like Laura said, become listening. How do you become a service to that individual? And sometimes that's hard because you still got to get done what you got to get done.
Speaker 2:But the leaders are required to get things done through people and not by themselves. So it's going to require a different skill set, a different behavior, and some leaders want to call it hand-holding or babysitting or too sensitive. If that's the language you wish to use. I don't agree with it, but you're still something different required from you, and oftentimes I don't mind holding the hand of someone that I care enough about to see them be successful. I'm totally okay with holding hands if I can get them across the threshold. So, leaders, you know that's important for us. So you've unpacked a lot of stuff. You shared a lot of things across the board. How would you summarize for our listeners today? You know we talked about self-care, we talked about delegating, we talked about managing conflict in a healthy way or giving feedback. We talked about how leaders are showing up at five generations in the workforce.
Speaker 3:What would you leave them with? To summarize it, so they can kind of categorize this conversation today Well, yeah, we've talked a lot in a very short period of time, haven't we?
Speaker 3:It's been great too. How would I summarize it? I invite leaders to be lifetime learners, continuously learn how to be a better leader. There's a lot of skill sets required in being a leader, and one of the most powerful ones is communication. Yeah, because, as you've acknowledged, they have to get work done through people, and how we get work done through people is by having great relationships, and we have great relationships by having great communication skills. So be a lifelong learner. Give yourself permission to take care of yourself, because if there's no you, then there's no organization, there's no business, and if we don't take care of our minds and our bodies, then our minds and our bodies have a way of taking us out of the game, and we don't want that. So definitely be a lifetime learner. Take care of yourself and take care of your people. That really is a leader's job, as you've acknowledged.
Speaker 3:And because I love a great read, I'll recommend one more around the communication and feedback and confrontation conversation, and that's a book that's called Leader Effectiveness Training. It's a great book that was written a number of years ago, so if your readers pick it up, just a heads up, the examples in it are a little bit dated, but the skills are not. The skills are very much necessary today, and it's all about communication, effectiveness, problem solving and delegation, because the leader also is not supposed to fix everything. The leader really is to be a facilitator of helping other people solve problems. That's how their people will grow and be able to do more of what the leader needs them to do. So again, a leader doesn't have to be the fixer. The leader has to be the facilitator. So if they can show up and be the facilitator of their people, then I think they're going to be well equipped to be fantastic leaders.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love it that you don't need to be an enabler, but you can be a guide on the side, like stay out of the driver's seat and give people permission to help be a part of their own recovery their own solution, if you will, their own rescue, if you will and put them in a driver's seat and allow them to navigate and be okay with being on the passenger side and making sure the guardrails stay up so they don't destroy their career or destroy the organization. How do people if people want to bring you on another podcast, or people listening and watching and observing, they want to leverage your services or they want to bring you on a podcast can you drop?
Speaker 3:how do we contact you and what's the best way to reach you? Yeah, absolutely. I'm always happy to have a conversation with someone, so the best place to find me is my website, which is venturecoachingca, because I am based in Canada. There's all kinds of freebies on my website. There's a number of free e-books that people can help themselves to around delegation, communication, business planning, etc. So all kinds of great free resources on my website, and they can find me on LinkedIn under Laura Watson. I'm usually posting all kinds of topics and soundbites about leadership, so hopefully they can get some great resources there as well. And again, reach out to me, because I'm always open to have a conversation.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and she's on LinkedIn. I have a ton of information and she's exactly right Life, lifelong learner. Go there. Both of us, you know we drop information for you. I love that you're accessible. I love that you're dropping resources and you're being helpful. We're both in business, love to have opportunity, whether you reach out to either one of us and give us an opportunity to have a conversation with you about what it is that you're trying to get done in your organization and help you meet and manage your expectations and they're real. But also the people in your organization that you got to take care of need you to show up differently, especially in today's society where it's tough right now, across every segment of our population, to be great in leadership.
Speaker 2:So thank y'all for following us, thank y'all for joining us, thank you for telling your friends about the podcast. We do a podcast every single Monday. We drop a podcast for your pleasure to be able to grow from. Continue to share it with your audience and people that you know. Again, ron Harvey, with Global Quest Strategies and Consulting, you can always find me on LinkedIn. It's probably my major platform. I use others, but LinkedIn is the more professional one. That or you can go to our website and you can find a ton of information for me as well there. But until then, laura and I would love to sign off and tell y'all thank y'all for being with us and joining us and thank you for letting us be a part of your day to help hopefully add value and make a difference, because people always matter. Appreciate you for joining us.
Speaker 1:Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpacked Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron unpacks sound advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are, for the people you serve, because people always matter.
