Embracing Hope and Resilience: Bobbie’s Year-End Leadership Tip

Hi, this is Bobbie LaPorte, back with another week of “Calling the Game,” where I share my own experience and insights while giving you valuable tools you can use to call your own game…and plan the best moves for you and your team.

This is my final post of 2023 – so I can say: “What a year!!” Well…is this good or not so good?  Every year has its high points along with challenges. I know that in the last few years, the challenges and difficulties may seem to have outweighed the positive moments.

In times of unrelenting uncertainty, our default is to focus on the negative, partly in self-protection, because we are afraid to be disappointed again if we look for what is positive, for what good could come next. This negative orientation can have an impact on our work and relationships and create significant stress.

And, after a number of years of continuous change and uncertainty,  Gallup and other sources are reporting that we are now experiencing an all-time low level of engagement – but also of hope and optimism – given all that is happening here at home and globally. And this troubling news is compounded by record stress levels for the second year in a row.

Wow! And this is at year-end when we generally look to the holidays with hope, optimism, renewed expectations, and a chance to start fresh in the new year.

This picture definitely presents perhaps unprecedented challenges for leaders who are already, themselves, struggling to maintain a positive outlook.

My caution to you is this: it’s a mistake to assume that your team will return from the holidays completely refreshed and prepared for the new year.

While this might have held true in the past, the cumulative effects of prolonged stress, uncertainty, and the additional pressures of the season can make it challenging for many to truly relax during the holidays.

So, what can you do to help your team deal with all of this and make the most of the holiday season?

Here are three things to consider:

1. Be empathetic to how people are feeling at this time

   We don’t know what each person is dealing with, which can exacerbate everything else that is going on. Where you can, be flexible with time off and/or working arrangements, as well as work expectations during this year-end time.

2. Foster open communication by being available and approachable to your team

   If you have regularly scheduled 1:1 meetings with your team members, try to keep those (it can be tempting to skip/cancel these with all that is going on). These provide an opportunity for them to voice any concerns and receive support from you.

3. Be optimistic in a realistic way

   As you close out the year, acknowledge all that has been accomplished during the past year, share your view of the possibilities for them and the business, and generally maintain a positive, authentically aspirational tone.

I want to thank and acknowledge my colleague, Sarah Deane (@SarahDeane), the CEO and founder of MEvolution, who shared some of the insights in this post.  Sarah is an innovator working at the intersection of behavioral and cognitive science and AI. Her company helps people and organizations relinquish their blockers, restore their energy, reclaim their mental capacity, and redefine their potential. Pretty powerful stuff.

Okay, that’s it for this week’s – actually this year’s – “Calling the Game.” I hope this helps you navigate the holidays with whomever you are spending it with, acknowledge what we all have to be thankful for, and look forward to the best for all of us in 2024.

My best to you and your families; take care, and I’ll see you in the New Year.

Gallup and other reports referenced in this post:

• Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report
• Pew Research Center: 2023 Midterm Elections Survey
• The Conference Board: Consumer Confidence Index

Transcript of Your Best Next Move: The Surge of Imposter Syndrome in Uncertain Times

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly leadership tip for your Best Next Move, where I help you see continuing curveballs as an opportunity. This year, I will help you actively use your personal agency to accelerate what you want to accomplish in 2022.

This week I want to talk about “Imposter Syndrome.” Some of you are probably rolling your eyes thinking: C’mon, we all know what that is. There’s nothing new to say about it.

Maybe, maybe not.  Whether you’ve experienced it or not; or you believe it is a real threat to leaders or an excuse not to perform, research shows that 70% of us experience it at one time or another. And it seems to be more prevalent now in these challenging times.

So, what is Imposter Syndrome anyway? As it was defined by two psychologists in the 70s, there are three elements:

1. Thinking that people have an exaggerated view of your abilities.
2. The fear of being exposed as a fraud.
3. The continuous tendency to downplay your achievements.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like many executives I’ve worked with.

So why am I talking about this now? If you follow my work, you know that I help leaders navigate through challenging, uncertain times. For these times we are living and leading in. And successful leadership during these times calls for a new definition of competence and confidence.

In the past, we derived our confidence from a traditional reliance on functional skillsets, on our domain knowledge, and previous accomplishments.

But that has all changed in a world of unrelenting uncertainty.  Confidence and competence now come from your ability to understand your strengths, to see how they can be used in a broader way to expand what you are capable of — moving beyond what you’ve done in the past to what you can do now.

And this is important because Imposter Syndrome typically shows up when we decide to take on new roles or new responsibilities, and it can result in feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, and guilt.

And with all the internal change happening, we see this happening with increasing frequency as leaders take on new roles in the org they were not prepared for; increased responsibilities; filling an interim role when a peer leaves. These can make the most accomplished and change-hearty execs question their abilities.

I acknowledge that these can be concerning, but they don’t have to be debilitating. Don’t go to the dark side and talk yourself into it.

So, here’s my tip to mitigate the surge of imposter syndrome in uncertain times:

• Inventory and acknowledge your achievements. One strategy I share with my clients is to take 2 minutes at the end of the week and record 3 highlights from the week. They don’t have to be major…just things that stand out. You can mitigate imposter syndrome by reflecting on and reminding yourself of your strengths on a regular basis.
• And celebrate those accomplishments. We often get so focused on the outcomes of our work that we forget to honor ourselves. But celebrating yourself is a simple, and fun, way to combat imposter syndrome.

That’s my tip for this week.

For more help on using your personal agency to make uncertainty a part of your success strategy for 2022 – check out my new book – “When the Curveballs Keep Coming: A Leadership Playbook for an Uncertain World”, and my new online leadership course – “Leading Through Uncertainty.”

Transcript of  Your Best Next Move: Help Star Performers Find Meaning in Their Work – Before They Resign

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly leadership tip for your Best Next Move, where I help you see continuing curveballs as an opportunity. We’re done reacting to them, or pausing, waiting for a new kind of certainty to return. This year I will help you actively use your personal agency to accelerate what you want to accomplish in 2022.

In last week’s leadership tip, I shared that I’ve been hearing from many leaders about people not finding enough meaning and satisfaction in their work.

And I pointed out that while this is not a new theme, it is now amplified in a workplace where there is growing distrust of management, a lack of social connection in a remote environment, and a general sense of wondering what work is all about – given the geopolitical world we are living in.

As a result, people in droves are saying goodbye to their jobs….both actively and passively.

Here is an example of how this might show up on your team. A client recently shared with me that one of their star performers unexpectedly resigned to “find meaning in their life.” This could be a real existential issue that many are facing now. Or it could be that this individual looked to their job – the impact of their work, their connection to others – as a major contributing factor to what life means to them.

The leader will probably never know for sure. But don’t put yourself in a position of assuming your team members know what their work represents and how you value them. So many people have part of their identity associated with the work they do.

So, here’s my tip for this week:

The next time you have 1:1s with your direct reports acknowledge their value and how their contributions help the broader organization succeed.

Then ask them the following simple questions:

• What do you like most about your work?
• What is missing…e.g., what else could you be doing that you are not doing today?

This will acknowledge how they are currently contributing and open up possibilities for them to do more, in line with the things they enjoy doing, where they find meaning in their work and that matter to them.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to acknowledge the contributions your team members make, and it could be the best insurance policy you can have to avoid having a star employee leave.

That’s my tip for this week.  I’ll see you next week. In the meantime, make the effort to create meaning and connection for your team. This is one way to use your personal agency to make uncertainty a part of your success strategy for 2022.

Some related posts you might like:

How Can I Keep My Star Performers From Leaving?

Surviving the Turnover Tsunami.

Confidence Killers and High CEO Turnover

Winning Strategies Against the Resignation Curveballs

Be Ready for the Revolving Door of Leadership