Video Transcript: Let’s Get Growing!

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic started in March, I’ve been sending you my weekly “Coronavirus Curveball Tip of the Week” videos each Monday, sharing an idea or practice to help you navigate through these challenging times. As we have been moving into a phase where it seems like we will be in this mode for an extended period of time, I have been working with many of you to see this as a time of opportunity and possibility, not of disappointment and resignation.

So I’ve decided to formalize that approach in these weekly video tips and shift to a “Get Growing” focus, instead of a “managing Covid response focus – taking charge of your plans as you head into the Q4 of this year and then 2021. I want you to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.

So, this week, I’d like to talk about budget cuts that I’m hearing from many of you.

No one likes being faced with budget cuts, particularly during these times when we are being asked to keep or in some cases increase our levels of productivity and contributions – often with less resource – AND surrounded by the ongoing uncertainty of where things will be in 6-12 months. It is clearly an uneasy, unsettling feeling.

It would be easy to default to our natural reaction when faced with an unexpected or difficult situation – to get stuck, lamenting about how unfair it all is. Then resort to firefighting mode which leads you right back to being on autopilot, reacting, falling back on what seems easy and reasonable, what you’ve done in the past.

This is exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing now…. which is asking questions like:

• What do we need – really need to achieve our goals under these conditions?
• What do we have at our disposal to get there? Skills, experience, assets from your team or elsewhere in the organization? Don’t feel like you need to tackle this alone
• How can I look at this as an opportunity for my team to do learn & grow, to use their strengths in a different way, to build capacity for the future (we discussed this in last week’s “TIP”)?

It’s important for you to see this from a possibilities mindset, to build capacity, to help your team get ahead of the curve….to normalize the unexpected, because this is surely not the last time you will be asked to do more with less.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip of the week. I’ll see you next Monday…in the meantime, think about how this might apply to budget or resource issue you are facing…and let me know if you want to have a quick call. Let’s find the possibility in this situation together.

Take care of yourself!

Transcript of Coronavirus Curveball Tip of the Week: Helpful ideas for motivating your team

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s Coronavirus Curveball tip of the week.  Last week I conducted a brief survey of a 30-person leadership team from one of my clients – and asked them to identify their #1 challenge right now working with remote teams. The overwhelming response was: How do I continue to keep my team motivated and productive without micro-managing them?

What is motivation anyway? The classic definition is a reason to act a certain way. Motivation has always been a leadership challenge, and is even more so now when people are anxious, uncertain and often feeling “stuck” in an extended SIP.

It’s important to understand that you cannot motivate people, they have to motivate themselves. Your job as a leader is to learn what motivates and engages your team members, vs. what is demotivating to them. Armed with that knowledge and understanding, you can create an environment based on their needs and preferences so they can do their best work.

If there is anything we’ve learned about the people who work for us during this pandemic, it’s that everyone is different. Some people are motivated by extrinsic things like time off or $$; other by things like more autonomy or a new challenge.

It’s your charge to get to know your team members well enough to understand their individual needs. And it’s so important during these times to connect with them on a more personal level and understand how WFH is impacting their ability to do their job.

So, here’s my tip:

If you’re not sure what motivates the individuals on your team…ask them. The next time you are having a 1:1 conversation with someone on your team, offer to share something like this: “During the last few months, I’ve had the chance to reflect and think about what’s really important to me to keep me going. And what I’ve learned is (fill in the blank). And ask….What’s important to you?”

That’s my tip for this week. I’ll see you again next Monday. In the meantime, remember that leadership makes the greatest difference when the world around us is uncertain.  Take care of yourself!

Transcript of Coronavirus Curveball Tip of the Week: The Surprising Power of Small Wins

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s Coronavirus Curveball tip of the week.  As I’ve been speaking with leaders over the last few weeks, many of you have expressed concern about not being as productive as you’d like; about team members missing deadlines or deliverables. As we’ve discussed in these tips before, it’s not surprising, given all that is going on right now, for you and your team members to be distracted, worried, not as motivated as they might be in more certain and “normal” times.

My previous guidance here has been to show empathy while continuing to set clear goals, provide the support to achieve them, and check-in, not check up on them.

For all you over-achievers, remember, it is OK not to be an A+ player right now.

This week I would like to share another idea with you – and that is the concept of the power of small wins. Many of you have heard me talk about this before; it is one of the key ideas from Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit. 

What is a small win? It is a concrete, complete outcome of moderate importance that can set off a chain of more and better outcomes.

How is this possible? We know from research that small wins have enormous power, an influence disproportionate to the accomplishments themselves. Small wins are a steady application is a small advantage.  Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win. Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.

How cool is that??

So, here’s my tip:

This week, look for 1 or 2 small wins that can move your team forward; it can be any kind of measurable progress that will fuel motivation and help your team see the possibility of bigger achievements. And be sure to visibly and publicly celebrate them.

That’s my tip for this week. I’ll see you again next Monday. In the meantime, remember that leadership makes the greatest difference when the world around us is uncertain.  Take care of yourself!

Transcript of Coronavirus Curveball Tip of the Week: Three Simple Questions to Uncover Your Team’s Hopes and Fears

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s Coronavirus Curveball tip of the week.  I can’t believe it’s June….almost halfway through the year and almost three months SIP.  Wow.  With that, I know that many of you are starting to think about and plan for what’s next….even though we still lack many of the answers we need to create our path forward.

But it is important to be thinking about what’s next, to give people hope, some sense of promise,  and start laying out options for your future direction.

If you’ve been following these weekly tips, you know that many of them are drawn from positive psychology and neuroscience. One foundational concept you’ve heard me share is that, in these times of uncertainty and ambiguity, our brains default to the negative. The antidote to this stressful state is to activate the part of our brain that is responsible for problem-solving, creativity and inspiration – and that builds capacity in us and our teams.

We can do that by understanding what’s important to people, to help them see what’s possible for the future and to develop shared goals.

So, here’s my tip:

Projecting out a year from now and looking back –  consider these 3 questions for your team to help chart what’s next and begin to see what’s possible:

1. If we are successful as a team, what is the biggest thing that will have enabled that success?
2. If we fail as a team, what is the biggest thing that will have contributed to our failure?
3. What can we do to ensure that we achieve success and instead of failure?

By voicing your team’s hopes and fears…you are able to have a focused conversation about what you can do to make success real. And this also helps to create the much-needed certainty in a world of continuing unrelenting uncertainty.

That’s my message for this week. I’ll see you again next Monday. In the meantime, remember that leadership makes the greatest difference when the world around us is uncertain.  Take care of yourself!

Transcript of Coronavirus Tip of the Week: Learn how to do a simple Mental Reset

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s Coronavirus Curveball tip of the week.  In this extended Shelter in Place period, our days continue to be full of many commitments: seemingly endless Zoom calls, check-ins with our teams, family obligations and (hopefully) taking care of ourselves.

I think it would be fair to say that we all start our days with good intentions: to accomplish what’s on our to-do list; to show empathy to our team and patience with our families. But as the pressure and stress of the day in this challenging  goes on….our best intentions can fade away, giving into the urgency or crisis of the moment. Before we know it, we are at the end of our day, wondering where the time went and what happened to all the important things we committed to at the start of the day.

It happens to all of us…much of the time, but particularly now, with all that is going on in our world.

So, here’s my tip:

Halfway through your day, do a quick mental reset. Take a minute – that’s all you really need – and ask yourself the following:

– Am I being the kind of person (leader, parent, colleague, friend) that I want to be?

– Am I focusing on the most important things I committed to at the start of the day?

– Most importantly: what can I do in the second half of the day to honor my intentions and meet my goals for today?

This short, but powerful practice helps you get back on track, while also acknowledging where you have been successful the first part of your day.

And along with this tip, I would also ask you to not be so hard on yourself in this reset. Believe me, this is advice is challenging for me, too – because like many of you, I feel that I can never do enough. But remember: we are all carrying “something extra” these days…whether it is worry, fear, disappointment, anger. There is that “thing” that is sitting right here on our shoulders – whatever you want to call it – that little, extra burden that can weigh us down and distract us from what we want to accomplish each day.

So, give yourself a break. I promise I will try to do that, too.

That’s my message for this week. I’ll see you again next Monday. In the meantime, remember that leadership makes the greatest difference when the world around us is uncertain.  Take care of yourself!