Are your teams experiencing Cognitive Overload?

WHAT IS COGNITIVE OVERLOAD?

If you are familiar with the cognitive overload concept, please, skip to the next paragraph!  Otherwise, below is a visual that will help explain it. From a simplistic perspective, data comes in through our sensory memory where it is discarded or kept and passed on to working memory.  Working memory is where we process and determine how to store data in long-term memory using existing knowledge schemas (our filing systems). Working memory has a limit to the amount of information it can hold at one time. So, if there is too much coming in at once and/or no known schema for storing it, this can crash into the space limit and result in cognitive overload. 

Adapted from Atkinson, R.C. and Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). 'Human memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes'. In Spence, K.W. and Spence, J.T. The psychology of learning and motivation, (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195.

Given the rapid changes in the recent 18 months, few of us had existing schemas to deal with all the new information and demands like; remote working, new technology, at-home schooling, no childcare, global invisible virus, new social rules and digital communication expectations.  And it all came at us at once. Working Memory was maxed out. BOOM! Cognitive Overload!

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN THE WORKPLACE?

When the cognitive overload becomes constant, it can lead to burnout.  This should not be confused with our casual use of the term when we have had a tough week.  Burnout is a condition that comes from chronic overload. This shows up as low energy; increased distance, negativity, or cynicism of one’s job, and inability to perform at work.  Leaders need to become more aware of this condition and take it seriously before it becomes chronic.

In May 2019, well before the pandemic reared its persistent head, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized burnout as an official mental health syndrome. This is real and is on the increase.  The U.S. Census Bureau stated that 42% of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in December 2020.

IT’S AN ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUE NOT A PERSONAL WEAKNESS

The Gallup poll, discussed in a HBR article, found that the top 5 reasons for burnout are all in control of the organization!  How an organization approaches burnout will be a factor in their business success. A recent survey found that 70% would consider leaving for a company that offered benefits and policies aimed at reducing burnout.  A leader may not realize it is an issue with 37% not comfortable talking about since they feared it would be seen as them incapable of doing their job.  The outdated mindset of “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps” is not an effective response. All humans have cognitive load limits. The leaders that understand this truth and develop approaches to not inadvertently max out their teams will have more positive and successful work environments.   

COURAGEOUS LEADERS ACCEPT AND ADAPT 

Unfortunately, the settling of our world has not happened and the likelihood of cognitive overload continues. The risk of this becoming chronic and resulting in burnout is high.  Individuals and businesses are dealing with yet more unknowns, changing rules and more technology.  Below are a few items filling up our working memory: 

• New Covid variants and their impact

• Increased responsibilities due to staffing gaps

• Changing vaccines mandates – at work, school and in retail spaces

• Worry due to the changing status of students’ learning environment -classroom or virtual or both 

• Concern on whether their job is at risk based on their decision relative to vaccination, masking and returning to the office

• More technology being introduced to fill staffing gaps

 TAKE ACTION - 4 TIPS TO PREVENT BURNOUT

At an enterprise level, mental health benefits, cognitive load training and resources need to be a high priority for attention and investment to deal with this workplace challenge.  Organizations are beginning to add cognitive load to employee experience metrics to better understand its impact and management.

While that is discussed and strategized, there are some immediate steps leaders can take to help manage their team’s cognitive load now.  Having an experimental mindset while you are learning the best ways to manage cognitive load is a positive step.  Consider the following ideas as you focus on this important organization issue of preventing burnout.

Action Considerations:

• Prioritize and cross off!  - reduce the load to what is only mission critical. No sacred projects/initiative/meetings!  Make the tough choices for your team’s health and success.

• Create Digital Boundaries –  The Digital workday never ends if not managed. Set new norms - see recent MBM ELEVATE Perspective on this topic.

• Increase your 1-on-1s – Make it okay to discuss cognitive load limits. Understand each team member’s non-work load too.  Ask each team member what they need to better manage the load.

• Provide Pauses –

  • Clear the working memory at the beginning of each meeting with 15 seconds of deep breathing by all attendees

  • End all meetings at the 25- or 55-minute mark

  • Create agendas that allow ample time for all to process the content, its meaning and how it is connected to their work. Time to digest!

Although leaders cannot control the changing world, leaders can make choices inside the organization that will be healthier for your team and therefore the business.  MBM ELEVATE is ready to come along side and support you as you develop your approach to this important topic.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Is Your Digital Body Language Interfering with Your Message?

WHY SHOULD LEADERS FOCUS ON THEIR DIGITAL BODY LANGUAGE?

As I discussed in a recent Industry Perspective, the connective tissue in our organizations has been stretched thin and is leading to increased turnover.  Surveys are showing that the lack of communication is an oft stated cause by a majority of employee respondents.  Increasing the volume of it is not the solution.  Leaders must be more intentional and clearer in all interactions. This results in effective communication and improved connectedness.  With the pace of business and change, effective interactions have already been strained and stretched.  Add the exponential increase in digital communication this past year and those weak links have cracked, and, in many cases have become fissures.  Leaders need to pay more attention to their digital body language so they do not inadvertently create confusion.

A well-known study by Albert Mehrabian concluded that 7% of our understanding comes from words, 38% from vocal aspects (tone, inflection, etc.) and 55% from nonverbal cues. And, according to Erica Dhawan, author of “Digital Body Language”, 70% of team communication today takes place digitally. No wonder communication is cited as a critical issue in the workplace. The math alone says communication effectiveness is at risk. Add the acceleration to virtual and hybrid work environments and we have a perfect storm resulting in an increased negative impact on employee connectedness.

WHAT DOES DIGITAL BODY LANGUAGE CONFUSION LOOK LIKE?

Below are a few simple and common examples of increased confusion created in digital communication.  

• When a team member requests assistance and the digital response is the word “sure”

  • Sure     – no punctuation may imply half-hearted agreement

  • Sure.    – a period may imply some irritation in their agreement

  • Sure!    – an exclamation point may imply they are excited to help

• Another example has to do with the channel of communication chosen.  If the employee texts a question and the leader immediately calls instead of using text to respond, this can cause concern and worry and be seen as an escalation.

• The Read Receipt flags that the message has been read but no response comes across from the leader.  The sender wonders if it because they are busy, don’t care, are mad, have better things to do, or….?

You may have participated in some of these situations! Likely, these examples triggered other such confusing or stressful digital interactions. The time spent in the resulting confusion and stressing over the meaning of someone’s digital body language is unproductive.  It also creates tension and distance in relationships.  Over time it erodes the connectedness of team members.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATION IS OVERWHELMING TEAMS

When communication is in person, the nonverbal and vocal cues help the parties interpret the message and signal if there is a need to further clarify or ask a question in real-time.  It allows the parties to move closer and leave the interaction feeling heard, understood and better connected.  How are teams managing all of these aspects in the digital world?  Not well!  According to an article in Bloomberg Law  over 50% of workers are overwhelmed and feel pressure to use multiple digital platforms.   Lack of communication is a key reason cited by workers that are considering jumping to a different firm.  As we transition into hybrid and changing work environments, this stress from confusing digital body language will continue and likely increase if leaders do not recognize, accept and manage it proactively.

APPLY THE LESSONS FROM KINDERGARTEN

Organizations can choose to harness digital technology to increase the connectedness of team members and create clarity around productive digital communication.  Otherwise, it can quickly default to being used as a mask, adding layers of confusion or at worse – used as a weapon (think group chats that turn into a gossip pit).

Remember the book, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten”?  We were taught when to raise our hand, when to say please or excuse me, when to look a person in the eye and to always say thank you.  This took the guessing out of everyday interactions and grounded us in a common set of ‘rules.’  That grounding increased psychological safety and that is critical to retention and team performance. Also, many leaders took courses in Body Language to ensure theirs aligned with their intended message.  It is time to go back to kindergarten!

It is time to pause and take the time to reset and update our communication etiquette and ground rules in the digital environment. There is no reason team members should be guessing what is required or desired.  The following areas should be considered as you work through updated guidelines with your team members.

• Channels - what channels (email, phone, text, chat, video-on calls…) are used for what type of communication purpose, audience size, urgency need

• Response Times – what is the expected turn around time in each channel

• Add back nonverbal cues – accepted use of emojis, punctuation, video-call reactions

• Ensure inclusion - what is needed to respect the needs of different work styles, genders, cultures, in-room vs. virtual attendees

HARNESS YOUR DIGITAL BODY LANGUAGE

The market, competition and customers are complex and not in your control.  How you create a connected and effective work environment is in your control.   A great resource to assist in your understanding of digital body language and tips on how to be more effective with it, is the book referenced above, “Digital Body Language,” by Erica Dhawan.  It is a fun read too!

Leaders that adapt and can redefine effective communication across complex, digital and dynamic environments (in-office, digital, and both) will create more psychological safety, more connectedness and higher performing teams.   Make the time to intentionally revisit how digital communications can be used more effectively in your organization and elevate your outcomes.

Connect with MBM ELEVATE to explore this and other ideas to increase the connectiveness of your team members.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

WARNING - 46% LESS CONNECTED…. RETENTION METRICS TURNING RED

HEED THE WARNING SIGNALS

The studies have been consistent that engagement is tightly related to the sense of belonging and feeling connected.  And, leaders know that the more engaged the team is, the better the performance as measured by employee retention, customer experience and revenue growth. Yet, all signs are pointing to the decrease in the sense of feeling connected.  The work adjustments created by the pandemic have added to feelings of isolation for existing employees.  Onboarding of new employees has been further strained and will continue to be as companies evolve their workplace approach.

Organizations should take note of the early warning signs highlighted in the latest Achievers Workforce Institute survey and take action. 

• Nearly half of employees (46%) feel less connected to their company or colleagues since the start of the pandemic

• 52% of employees said they intended to look for a new job

• 42% say company culture has diminished since the onset of the pandemic, with most employees placing the blame on a lack of communication.

LEADERS STRUGGLING

In addition to managing the business, leaders must lean in and be more intentional about cultivating deeper connections and inclusive interactions. As the hybrid work environment continues to evolve, cross-functional projects become more common and VUCA remains, leaders must prioritize their energy spend on utilizing their social and emotional skills. At any moment, leaders must have the agility to listen, take input, take action, challenge, collaborate and cut each other slack when needed.  Leaders must teach their teams to do the same.

In a recent DDI report – only 1 in 5 leaders felt effective in leading virtual teams. Plus, organizations should not overlook that leaders are included in the troubling stats above. Leaders need support to strengthen their communication and inclusion skills to heed the warnings and prevent future turnover.

TAKE ACTION NOW

There are many approaches and actions an organization can take to support their leaders and teams and to increase the overall sense of connection and belonging. One practical, quick-to-implement and high-value approach to deepen connections that MBM ELEVATE has provided is one potential solution for companies that want to take action now.

This MBM ELEVATE approach will provide concepts, development, practice and a mobile accessible tool to:

• Increase connectedness by understanding and respecting each other

• Increase inclusiveness by creating understanding of what each person needs to feel heard and included

• Create interaction and conversation and on-going learning via the Wiley Catalyst platform

• Customize and apply exercises to your specific business needs

• Integrate live work situations for real-time application

• And is delivered face-to-face or virtually

As part of the engagement, your team will get ongoing access for no extra cost to the WIley Catalyst platform which will provide continuous development support for all participants.  Click here to view a brief video about the Wiley DiSC Catalyst learning platform. 

DEEPEN THE CONNECTION & INCREASE RETENTION

When you are ready to increase and deepen the connectedness of your team members and invest in developing your leaders’ EI skills, let’s explore how you can quickly get started and build a lasting learning experience for you and your teams. Please contact us at MBM ELEVATE.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

ACCOUNTABILITY - A Negative or positive word in your organization?

During one consulting engagement, I was asked by one client to not use the word accountability because in their culture it had a negative association and elicited some fear. It stopped me in my tracks since I was raised in a work culture where accountability was desired and cultivated. It was a key ingredient of our high performing teams. Working alongside many clients over the last 6 years, it turns out, that situation was not the only organization where accountability had a negative connotation.

NEGATIVE?

One reason accountability gains a negative aura is that, according to  Jonathan Raymond , leaders often jump right to the last steps of managing accountability which are probation and termination. Many leaders tend to only address accountability once it results in consistent poor performance, it has dragged down the team, client commitments are being missed or formal complaints are filed with HR. This can then result in heavy consequences seen and felt by all. Reacting then turns into using it as a stick to avoid undesired outcomes, thus creating a sense of fear. 

POSITIVE?

To ground us, let’s use the following definition of Accountability – an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions

Instead of a stick, shift the mindset. An organization can use accountability as fuel for the team. When a leader better understands that accountability creates deeper connection to the team and increases empowerment, the shift to positive can occur. This will lead to better business results. Accountability promotes engagement and ownership and Gallup found that highly engaged workforces outperform competitors and result in 21 percent greater profitability. Leaders have clear reasons to be compelled to create the environment that allows accountability to thrive.

LEADERSHIP DRIVES THE NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE VIEW

Lack of accountability is more often about lack of clarity and connection vs. an individual choosing not to be accountable. In one study, Partners in Leadership found that nine out of ten companies either didn’t have clearly defined goals or hadn’t communicated them broadly to employees. As a result, 75% of employees didn’t understand expectations and what their organization was trying to achieve.

The leader should first look in the mirror. Leaders need the humility to acknowledge their contribution to people’s failures. Did the person have clear expectations, the resources, skills, team support, and realistic timelines to be successful? Are you demonstrating accountability?  Are you making accountability overt?

Accountability is not about delegating tasks with a deadline and a consequence attached if they fail. Leaders must cultivate a mindset of ownership and accountability and help illustrate what it looks like in the workplace. Leaders must be willing to share the decision power, risk, responsibility, and ownership. Below are some tips to consider adding to your tool kit.

4 STEPS TO BUILD IN ACCOUNTABILITY

These steps can build up a leader’s personal accountability as well as assisting in building it into behavioral norms for individuals and team.

1. Communicate Clearly – can leaders, individuals and teams articulate the goals, roles, behavioral norms, their responsibilities, expectations of outcomes or outputs and their decision or authority boundaries?

2. Connect their WHY & the Organization’s WHY – has the leader discussed what mutual and shared success look like – for the individual, the team and the company?

3. Bring Accountability to Life – while exercising empathy AND keeping the clear goal in balance, ask:

   • What they need to be successful

   • What actions they will they take to be successful

   • What obstacles do they anticipate and what might they do if obstacles occur

4. Feedback Loop - mutually agree on date and/or frequency to stay aligned and check-in

• Share any changes in goals, expectations, etc.

• Deepen the connection and ownership by asking:

  • what is working well for them on the path to success and

  • how they have done things so far

• Inquire if there is anything they would or will do differently so that any missteps are handled as learnings and not failures

Once the leader strengthens their own skills and they get comfortable being overt with their direct reports, the next step is to elevate it at the team level. Achieving collective accountability further enhances team performance. 

This intentional development of accountability will result in deeper connection, higher engagement and more productivity. The leader also then gains time to look further down the road and be more strategic. This feeds the positive spiral up for the team and the organization!

When you are ready to explore this or other mindset shifts, please contact us at MBM ELEVATE.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

60% of First-Time Leaders FAIL! STOP THE MADNESS!

How are YOUR first-time leaders doing?

I was recently talking with a person who was being promoted to their first supervisory role and I heard the anxiousness in their voice.  I thought back to my first leadership role and recalled those same feelings of excitement and fear.  The stretch from individual performer to manager is huge, for any new leader. Further stretch exists now with the increased complexity of cultural curiosity, digital competency and leading virtual teams.  No wonder that 84% are stressed in their first leadership role, as pointed out in this DDI report.

For the new manager, this can lead to:

• burnout of the new leader

• disillusionment for the role

• decrease in self-confidence 

This is certainly not the intent of the organization. But, without proper support for that newly promoted person, it will be the result for many.  Typically, that individual is a high performer and is being rewarded with a leadership opportunity.  Yet too many organizations are not then investing in that great employee with needed support as a first-time leader. And according to CEB, 60% of them fail in the first 24 months. 

The business impact of failing leaders

According to a DDI study, 80% of a company’s market value is in intangible assets (such as IP, Brand…) and an organization’s workforce is what drive these intangible assets. Frontline leaders directly supervise 80% of workforce. The frontline is where most first-time leaders debut. Yet, business leaders under invest in those that are ultimately responsible for the vast majority of their customer experience and therefore their business success.  According to DDI, on average, a leader gets their first formal training 4 years after being promoted. And recall, 60% fail in the first two years. How recently have you reconsidered your organization’s approach to developing first-time managers?

Sink or Swim is an outdated approach

Organizations have a choice to avoid the negative impact that comes with a 60% failure rate. There is credence in Ben Franklin’s quote, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  These preventative options do not have to be costly and they should be intentional and planned.

1.       No surprises -  70% of frontline leaders weren’t expecting their first step into leadership (DDI). This is an easy fix – please, speak with your potential leaders now!

2.       Supervision & Feedback – this is the responsibility of their immediate manager.  It should be frequent and behaviorally specific. The focus is to highlight learning in real time using real experiences.

3.       Mentor – all first-time managers should be paired with an experienced leader.  This can be inside or outside the company. The mentor should provide a confidential place to explore other perspectives and leadership approaches.

4.       Formal Development – this can range from online foundational courses (delegation, providing constructive feedback, time management) to live workshops to external coaching.  This investment should focus on concepts, techniques and practice and integrated into #2 & #3.

Don’t fail your first-time leaders

If you want to positively impact 80% of your workforce and therefore your market-value, reconsider the intentional investment being made in your organization’s first-time leaders.  When you are ready to explore some options for your organization, MBM ELEVATE is ready to share some ideas to accelerate your success.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Mastering Delegation as an Impact Multiplier

Delegation - a Critical Leadership Tool

Delegation can unleash the power of your organization by harnessing talent at all levels. When leaders skillfully and intentionally assign work to others it empowers and engages them which leads to higher performance for the team and the organization. Delegation is a critical foundational component of a leader’s role and should evolve with the growth of the leader.

Why Leaders Hesitate

Some leaders find delegating easier to do than others. There may be several reasons for this. First, it requires giving up some control. They may have the belief that it is just easier to do things for themselves. Second, there may be a lack of trust that others can accomplish the work. This can be particularly true if the leader is a perfectionist. Third, there may be reluctance to be perceived as pushing responsibility onto other team members.

Benefits of Delegation

Without delegation, leaders limit their capacity to impact.  It limits the capacity of the team to increase their impact as well.  Additionally, the leader will soon find themselves overloaded and stressed, which further erodes performance and impact.

Conversely, look at the benefits of this crucial skill: 

• Creates space for the leader to increase their strategic thinking and actions

• Allows others to take on new responsibilities and grow in their role

• Taps into the diversity of the team

• Increases organizational productivity and impact

A leader who can find that right balance between doing certain work themselves and delegating to others will be more effective. A leader that masters this competency will see a multiplier effect in their impact.

 Intentional Delegation

Once the decision has been made to delegate, there are several approaches that can be utilized, depending on the objective and the people involved. Surbhi Mahnot has identified five delegation approaches to consider as leaders grow and master this competency. As the leader and the team members mature, the most successful leaders will strive to move down this list to optimize delegation and broaden their impact.

1.     Instructional

• Give direct and specific instructions

• Best used when team members are new and need tactical support

2.     Seek Suggestions

• Solicit advice from those to whom you will be delegating

• Best used when tasks can be used for team member growth opportunities and to gain deeper buy-in

3.     Decide Together

• Collaborate on solutions

• Best used when there is established trust in team members and desire to capitalize on diversity

4.     Generate Plan of Action Together

• Support your team from a high level only

• Best used when increasing capacity of team across multiple, competing projects

5.     Act Independently

• Relinquish control over details of project while maintaining clarity of purpose

• Best used when grooming a successor and/or it is a high-performing team 

Unleashing the Power of Delegation

Leaders that can master multiple uses of delegation will find that they are maximizing results for themselves and their teams. Highly successful leaders have the competence to recognize which delegation approach to employ based on the objective and the people involved. In this way, both the leader and the teams grow in their roles, ultimately expanding their impact to the organization.

Contact MBM ELEVATE when you are ready to explore practical techniques that focus on delegation for developing increased leadership agility for you and your team.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Frank or Diplomatic: Which is a More Effective Communication Style?

It can’t be both…they are opposite??

Frank is the tendency to be direct and to the point. Diplomatic is the tendency to state things in a tactful manner. These communication styles may appear to be conflicting.

Characteristic polarities, like paradoxes, exist where two ideas or behaviors are both valid yet seem to contradict each other. This can create tension. Often, leaders overuse one to the detriment of the other. They may prefer one approach over the other because they believe that it is the right way to communicate to get results. For instance, look at why these styles are used and how they are received.

Quick view of Frank & Diplomatic choices

Those that prefer to use frankness may:

• Want to influence by being direct and clear

• View diplomacy as wimpy, weak, and wishy-washy

• Fear not being heard

• Be perceived as overly blunt, harsh, and cold

Those that prefer to use diplomacy may:

• Want harmony

• View frankness as rude, uncaring, and cold

• Fear conflict, rejection, or hurting feelings

• Be perceived as evasive, non-committal, and confusing

The answer is all 3 choices!

Each communication style has value, but also potential pitfalls. Rather than trying to resolve the uncomfortable tension by choosing one style over the other, leaders will be most effective when they develop the capacity to move back and forth between them. According to Dr. Dan Harrison, when a leader can be both frank and diplomatic, they achieve balanced versatility. Being agile with each and flexing to use both of these paradoxical traits in balance is called Forthright Diplomacy. Instead of having only one, why not have three tools in your leadership kit (Frank, Diplomatic, and Forthright Diplomacy)!  

Achieve Versatility through Reframing

Taking a moment to rethink your communication style will help you stretch to the lesser used behavior and understand how it can enhance your leadership effectiveness without giving up your goals.

• For those that are frank, being more tactful may allow the audience to remain open to hearing your points. This will increase your influence.

• For those that are diplomatic, being more direct may help the audience become clearer on your message. This will reduce tension from potential ambiguity and positively impact the interaction.   

There is power in the paradox when you know how to harness it!

There are several sets of key work behavior polarities that when used in balanced versatility will increase leadership agility. Identifying and understanding how your leaders are utilizing these is crucial to helping them achieve greater impact for your organization. Let MBM ELEVATE help you understand and harness these paradoxes to accelerate your business results.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Workplace Conflict – a liability or asset?

The answer is up to each leader!

Conflicts arise because there are needs, styles, values or ideas that are seen to be different. A leader can allow these differences in a team to inhibit progress. Or a leader can harness these same differences and drive better and more innovative solutions.

On the liability side, conflict costs US companies $359B annually. It costs 2.8 hours a week per person on average in lost productivity (CPP Inc. study).

On the asset side, 75% of organizations with frontline decision-making teams reflecting a diverse and inclusive culture will exceed their financial targets. (Gartner article)

What does workplace conflict look like?

Are you seeing leakage in your organization from conflict or are you experiencing competitive advantage? Look at behaviors to guide your answer.

According to the above CPP study, the top causes of workplace conflict are personality clashes and warring egos followed by stress and workload.  Difference in values are also a major cause. Left unmanaged, an organization will likely see some or all of these destructive conflict behaviors:

• Withdrawing

• Sarcasm

• Passive-aggression

• Defensiveness

• Becoming overly dramatic or hypercritical

• Sabotage

Instead if you are seeing these productive behaviors, your organization is likely leveraging conflict as an asset.

• Listening to understand

• Separating emotions from fact

• Staying open

• Communicating respectfully

• Questioning with curiosity

• Saying sorry

4 Steps to Transforming Conflict into Collective Genius

Studies show that training and practice in recognizing conflict, the ability to choose a productive response when in conflict and using conflict intentionally moves conflict from a liability to an asset. In the above mentioned CPP Inc. study, for those receiving training, 85% changed their approach to conflict and 76% have seen conflict lead to a positive outcome.

1.       Leader Learns – the leader must become self-aware and then learn how to self-manage. The leader needs to be able to name what triggers conflict in them self and what defensive behaviors may follow naturally. Then they need to learn and practice choosing more effective behaviors during their conflict situations.

2.       Team Learns – Team members should learn the same as above.  Plus, as a team, they become aware of the current team conflict culture and what aspects help or inhibit the team’s progress.

3.       Ground Rules Created – a best practice is for the team to cooperatively develop and agree to a set of ground rules on how they will debate, challenge and explore productively different perspectives to maximize their collective genius.

4.       Leader Harnesses Conflict – The leader should view this as an ongoing cycle of conflict/separating/unifying/separating/reunifying. Continuous maintenance is needed as new challenges arise or team make-up changes.   

Collective Genius Multiplies Your Impact

When a leader is aware of differences, behaves inclusively and facilitates conflict, they create deeper connections.  This allows the space for everyone’s best to be tapped.  There will be palpable energy in the room.  Better solutions result.  Unleashing this collective genius will have a multiplier effect on impact.   

MBM ELEVATE is ready to explore with you how your organization can turn conflict into an asset and multiply your impact.

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Are your Organizational Leaders Future Ready?

The amount, pace and type of change continues to multiply exponentially and is forever changing the business landscape. For organizations and leaders to thrive, they must determine what significant and strategic shifts they must make now.  Where incremental, small, safe moves may have worked before, that approach now is likely to result in being left behind. 

Consider the following points that illustrate the significant change and challenges organizations face.

• Over $1.2 trillion was invested in digital transformation in 2019, yet only 13% believed their organizations were ready to compete in the digital age (Wharton article)

• Automation is being used by 62% to eliminate transactional work and by 47% to augment work practices.  (Deloitte study) This includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

• By 2030, globally there will be shortages of labor with the needed tech skills that will result in $8.452B in unrealized output (Korn Ferry study)

These stats can make the future look exciting, overwhelming or both for organizational leaders.  Are your leaders ready to stretch to succeed in the future?  Do they have the competencies needed to thrive?

New 21st-Century Leadership Competencies

Leading the business and organization has always been a big and complex role for executive leaders.  The above numbers and the continued volatility and uncertainty is only increasing the role’s complexity and expanding the number of critical leader competencies. According to a recent Deloitte Global Capital Trends survey, 80% believe that 21st-century leadership has new requirements critical for success.  The top four abilities the survey noted are the ability to:

• lead through more complexity and ambiguity

• lead through influence

• manage on a remote basis

• manage a workforce with a combination of humans and machines

What does this mean from a leader development standpoint?  Given the increased complexity and fast pace, leaders must be more open, inclusive and collaborative across disparate stakeholders and networks.  Leaders must be constantly learning and all must be more tech savvy. Emotional and Social intelligence (EI) skills must be further developed.  This is in addition to the traditional strengths in strategy, financial management and operational excellence.

Accelerate the readiness of your organization

While reviewing the overall culture of your organization to determine if it needs to shift considering the future horizon, there are some immediate steps that can occur in parallel.  These practical steps can help you lean into the future now.

1. Assess - your team and yourself.  There are several market 360-degree tools that you can employ to gain insights on competency strength. You should do this at an individual level and at a team level.

2. Shift Players – your leaders that come out strong in the new skills can be shifted now into your change initiatives.  Supplement them with a coach to accelerate their impact.

3. Develop – With skilled labor shortages predicted to increase, hiring to fill gaps may not be a best option. Invest in your leaders that are already continuous learners and culture champions.  Add to their skills with training, intentional experiences and coaching.

4. Hire Forward – Update your hiring criteria so that you are hiring toward the future skill needs of the organization.

Successful organizations continuously assess and develop their leaders

The most successful organizations spend focused time on defining what skills and competencies are most needed to meet today’s goals as well future ones. Integrating this activity into the business strategy and plan cycle will better position your team to adapt and thrive in the face of increased market volatility and uncertainty.  Making this a priority for your organization is a great step in ensuring your leaders are future ready.  MBM ELEVATE is ready to come along side you and meet you where you are in this conversation.  

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions

Is your team rowing together in the same direction for the same reason?

I was coaching an executive whose organization grew from a series of thirty+ small acquisitions over three years. The executive’s frustration was that his direct reports were not running their areas as expected. With curiosity, I asked what his direct reports would say if asked what those expectations were. The executive paused and responded honestly that he was not sure. The leader quickly realized that he had some work to do first. He stepped back and invested time to create a shared understanding and buy-in of the vision and objectives. The path to successful outcomes became clearer and smoother.

Are your direct reports making decisions in alignment with the goals? Is your business plan being executed smoothly? Disconnects in an organization are common and resolvable. The responsibility for resolving disconnects sits squarely on the leader’s shoulders.

Vision + Alignment + Execution ==> Accelerated Success

A straightforward approach to create clear connections across the organization is outlined in Wiley’s Everything DiSC Work of Leaders®. Combining multiple years of research and best practices from hundreds of leadership experts, the following model for the Work of Leaders’ resulted. The most successful leaders must be adept and intentional when:

• Crafting a Vision,

• Building Alignment around that vision and

• bringing it to life by Championing Execution. 

Although this may sound like leadership 101, not all leaders understand the best practices associated with each of these three fundamental steps of the Work of Leaders. Within each step are six best practice behaviors.  Leaders need to be agile and choose the best behaviors based on each step.  The behavior needed for success in one step may inhibit success in another.  For instance, Remaining Open is critical during the vision crafting step.  Yet an emphasis on that during execution may slow progress and confuse the team.  Equally, the need to create structure during Execution is a best practice.  If that is prioritized during the vision step, it may prevent creativity and bold thinking. 

Accelerate your impact by strengthening the connections

All three steps and their set of best practices must be skillfully performed to accelerate the success of the organizational objectives and vision. Gaining a quick understanding of where a leader’s strengths and gaps are, allows growth to be targeted appropriately and efficiently.  Value in real-time will be achieved as the behaviors are strengthened.

Having a view of an entire executive team acts as an impact multiplier for the organization.  It will provide valuable insight into potential collective obstacles to meeting organizational objectives.  A dashboard, shown below, will provide a view of behaviors that come more or less naturally for the team collectively. This can shine a light on where the collective preferences may help or inhibit the organization’s success.

Wiley’s Everything DiSC Work of Leaders® Team View

 Activate Today

Taking the time to step back, zoom out and look at yourself and your leadership teams’ development opportunity is a valuable investment to accelerate your organization’s success.  MBM ELEVATE is ready to discuss how to harness and adjust this approach for your unique business need. 

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Mary Beth Molloy

Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.

She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.

Mary Beth is interested in hearing from you. | Follow on LinkedIn  | Share comments or ask questions