In her final “Let’s Get Growing” video for 2020, Bobbie LaPorte reflects back on the year 1968, which was also a terrible and tumultuous year for our nation and world. It’s important to remember how we rebounded from those difficult times—and how we all need to stay strong, resilient, and hopeful for the new year ahead of us.

Video Transcript: What Will 2021 Look Like?

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the end of this year.

This will be my last tip for 2020; I’m going to take a little break until the new year. So in this last time you’ll see me for a while…I wanted to share a little inspiration as we wind up what’s been a strange and challenging year for all of us.

I want to share a story that I heard someone else tell this past week when they were talking about what 2021 might possibly look like.

This person was relating the story of his daughter’s recent graduation from high school. After the diplomas were handed out, the commencement speaker took the stage – an older woman who was an alum of the high school. She started her speech like this:

You who have just graduated are from the class of 2020. I am from the class of 1968. Many of you probably don’t know what a tumultuous, often terrifying year that was in our country and in around the world. But as bad as 1968 was – 2020 is even worse – because of the widespread, everlasting impact that the pandemic has had on all aspects of our lives.

 

So what happened in 1968 that made it so terrible. Here are a few things:

• The Vietnam war was still raging, and the US had its highest casualty count that year
• There was the Prague Spring and riots in Paris
• Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated
• There was widespread unrest in the country – student protests all over the world
• Violence at the Chicago Democratic convention
• Protests at the Olympics

There’s more on a national and global level.  A very trying year for so many.

 

And yet….what happened in the following year – in 1969?

• Apollo 11 – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon
• The Boeing 747 made its debut, and the Concorde made its first test flight
• Woodstock attracted 350K to a small farm in upstate New York
• The Beatles came out with their Abbey Road signature album
• Sesame Street debuted and led to the launch of PBS
• Will Mays became the first ballplayer since Babe Ruth to hit more than 600 home runs

 

So that was her story. And my point? We are a country that rebounds, that is tremendously resilient, that is full of promise – if we are able to be hopeful, to see what is possible – and to inspire that in the people we lead.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip for this week.  Don’t lose hope. Stay strong, stay safe, stay true to yourself.

Happy Holidays to you and your family. I’ll see you in 2021.

 

 

Video Transcript: Focus on What’s Essential, Not Exhaustive

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the end of this year.

Hard to believe that this week we are moving into the month of December. Would you ever have believed when we started SIP back in March that we would still be here today?  And with the high likelihood that we will be here for a while longer?

That’s enough to tire out even the most resilient leader. I continue to hear from many of you that you are exhausted; that you feel like you are running out of ideas and approaches to support your team and keep them focused; that you are just plain worn out trying to deal with your own personal and professional challenges.

I get it. There is no question that we are all physically, emotionally, and psychologically tired. And, for many, you still have the year-end activities to wrap-up – PLUS the holidays upon us. With all of these competing priorities – how can you continue to ask your team to do more?

Well, the answer is: you can, and you can’t. Meaning, you need to keep work moving forward, but you can only ask people to do so many things right now. Cognitive overload is at an all-time high; many are feeling tapped out.

So, as a leader, what can you do?

One idea: keep it simple. Focus on essential vs. exhaustive. In the past, you might have naturally used this time of year to load people up with year-end tasks, change initiatives heading into a new year, challenges you need them to take on, etc.

Right now – it’s just too much.

So, here’s my tip:

1. Group your most essential requests together. For example, if you have 9-10 things you need your team to focus on – place them in “groups” that make sense – like 3 groups of 3 – of related work areas (product focus, planning, people management) whatever. Take advantage of the brain’s ability to pay attention in short bursts
2. Create fluency and understanding of how what you need from them relates to your overarching priorities for the team. Remember: don’t assume people know what you need from them. Their world has changed; they need to know that your priorities and direction has not. Make it very easy for them to recall.

 

That’s my “Get Growing” tip for this week.  I’ll see you next Monday… remember to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.

Take care of yourself.

Gratitude is not a feeling we typically associate with the workplace—but it actually plays a crucial role in creating a healthy company culture and productive working environment. Simply saying “thank you” makes people feel valued and respected, which results in higher job satisfaction and a greater sense of community. In her November 23 “Let’s Get Growing” video, Bobbie LaPorte provides some tips on how you can cultivate a culture of gratitude in your team.

 

Video Transcript: Investing in Your Team

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the end of this year.

This week I wanted to talk with you about investing in the development of your team. And before you roll your eyes and say: “I don’t need a lecture on this subject… or I already do this”… just hang in there with me for a couple of minutes.

Back when the pandemic started, many leaders became paralyzed, unsure of what to do in this unprecedented, extraordinary set of circumstances. Many went to “the dark side” I’ll call it, focusing on the negative, fearful that they might not be equipped to navigate through this. As we know from neuroscience, this is a natural reaction.

And for many, the resulting course of action was a singular focus on running the business, keeping the lights on. I get it – totally understandable. For others, they defined they charge as finding ways to run the business – sometimes using very different mechanisms than before given the unique nature of this environment of unrelenting uncertainty – but also with a commitment to better understanding the professional needs of their team and meeting them through new and ways.

If you are in the second group – kudos to you, keep it up. I know it is challenging but I am certain you are seeing the payoff in increased productivity, engagement, and retention.

If you are in the first group – NOW is the time to get this right. There is overwhelming data to support this, here are a couple of points:

• A pre-Covid study by IBM showed that employees who don’t feel they are developing in their companies are 12x more likely to leave. And this is will be amplified when we are “back to normal” and there is increased opportunity for movement to other companies
• A recent study by ATD (Association for Talent Development) showed that companies who have a formal employee development program have a 214% increase in income per employee and a 24% higher profit margin

There is no doubt that Covid has changed the dynamic between leaders and their teams. The in-person connection that many of you enjoyed is gone, and that can increase the challenge of motivating and inspiring people to learn, grow, stay productive. On the other hand, the number of virtual training and development offerings available has exploded, as has the whole field of virtual training and facilitation.

So, here’s my tip:

As you wrap up your planning for next year, don’t miss this opportunity to make a commitment to invest in the development of your team if you haven’t already. It doesn’t have to be expensive; there are many free or very cost and time-effective options out there…including tapping into the experience and expertise of other leaders in your organization. Internal AMA – Ask Me Anything – sessions with other leaders or experts can be very powerful while also creating team cohesion and new connections for team members.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip for this week.  I’ll see you next Monday… remember to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.

Take care of yourself!

 

 

 

Video Transcript: Don’t Be Afraid to Make a Mistake

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the end of this year.

Last week I shared that one of the questions I keep hearing from clients is: when preparing business cases with many options….how do you pick one and move forward instead of deliberating for what seems like endlessly over so many options? This is particularly relevant now that many of you are going through the annual planning process.

As I shared last week – there are two shifts here for leaders to consider – the first one, how the timelines for decision-making have changed, we reviewed last week. This week I want to share the second one: which is the new definition of risk-taking.

As a leader, how do you move forward without making mistakes that could create negative consequences for the organization, risk your reputation and possibly your job?

We’ve covered previously in these weekly tips that the pace of change we are experiencing means the cost of delay to organizations is greater now than ever before.

The bottom line is: we can no longer make minimizing risk our primary focus when developing plans. In a world that is shifting and changing, evaluating risk must take a back seat to in-the-moment decisions based on confidence; this is contrary to what we have all been taught – which is to minimize risk and avoid the potential consequences of making mistakes.

In this environment, risk-taking and making mistakes are more acceptable now, mistakes are part of this process, of innovation, of trying different approaches to expand what is possible.

This may seem like a big leap for you to make, particularly if increased risk-taking may not be supported, encouraged in your organization.

So, here’s my tip:

The next time you have to evaluate risk as part of your decision-making process, ask yourself: how can I shift from minimizing risk to maximizing what is possible? What small step can I make to taking a little more risk, not wading through an exhaustive evaluation process, fueled by fear of what could go wrong?

Once you practice this a few times, you will build the confidence and muscle memory to take on bigger decisions.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip of the week. I’ll see you next Monday… remember to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.

Take care of yourself!

 

During a live Q&A call with executives from many different industries, Bobbie LaPorte learned that many of them were having trouble making decisions in this challenging and uncertain times.  In her October 19, 2020 “Let’s Get Growing” video, she shares a tip for how you can reflect on past successes to choose what seems like the best option—and then go with it.

As we head into the seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly clear that things may never go back to what we consider “normal.” So how can you help your team adapt to the kind of permanent changes they’re now faced with? In her October 12, 2020 “Let’s Get Growing” video, Bobbie LaPorte shares a tip for building a bridge from successes your team has had in the past to where you need them to go in the future.

Video Transcript: Increasing Collaboration in Your Team

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the end of this year.

This week I’d like to talk about how to increase collaboration on your team. Crises like the Covid-19 pandemic highlight the importance of effective collaboration for long-term success. Particularly in a crisis, organizations need to pull together experts with unique, cross-functional perspectives to solve rapidly changing, complex problems that have long-term implications.

Research shows, however, that anxiety makes people more risk-averse in a crisis; as a result, they are less likely to seek out differing perspectives. We know from neuroscience that in times of uncertainty when we feel threatened, we tend to fall back on actions and solutions that have worked in the past. The desire to try to bring things under control can also lead to a go-it-alone mentality. People often focus on self-preservation, and as a result, collaboration across an organization can break down..and this is increased in a virtual work environment.

As a leader, you’ve probably tried many things to encourage collaboration on your team.

So, here’s my tip for this week:

You’ve probably heard me say this before, but it bears repeating: it is important to reinforce the business’s purpose and goals frequently. A belief that their work fulfills a higher purpose motivates people to think and act in a more collective fashion — to be more open to collaboration. Clearly understanding the business goals helps people see how their own knowledge contributes to — but doesn’t fully satisfy — the complex needs of the business. Leaders need to lower employees’ sense of uncertainty – connecting them to a future-facing, shared goal – and boost their confidence to reach out to colleagues. So even if your message hasn’t changed, you need to repeat it – often – because the world has changed, and your team members need to know that the existing direction still holds.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip of the week. I’ll see you next Monday… remember to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.
Take care of yourself!