July 22, 2025 • 19 mins
In this listener-submitted Q&A, we share strategies and insights on leading in today’s workplace. Get answers on how to:
- Inspire and engage younger team members in a hybrid setting
- Keep new employees connected to purpose and growth
- Avoid getting emotionally hijacked when fairness gets weaponized
Jill Griffin, host of The Career Refresh, delivers expert guidance on workplace challenges and career transitions. Jill leverages her experience working for the world's top brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Hilton Hotels, and Martha Stewart to address leadership, burnout, team dynamics, and the 4Ps (perfectionism, people-pleasing, procrastination, and personalities).
Visit JillGriffinCoaching.com for more details on:
- Book a 1:1 Career Strategy and Executive Coaching HERE
- Build a Leadership Identity That Earns Trust and Delivers Results.
- Gallup CliftonStrengths Corporate Workshops to build a strengths-based culture
- Team Dynamics training to increase retention, communication, goal setting, and effective decision-making
- Keynote Speaking
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Follow @JillGriffinOffical on Instagram for daily inspiration
Connect with and follow Jill on LinkedIn
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey there, I'm Jill Griffin, the host of the Career
Refresh, and today we aretalking about leadership
dilemmas.
It's a Q&A episode.
I always ask you to send meyour questions at hello at
jillgriffincoachingcom and keepthem coming.
And as I went through whatwe'll say, do we still call it a
mailbag?
As I went through the email box, these were some of the common
(00:21):
themes, so I grouped themtogether just to kind of keep it
more cohesive.
So today it's about leadershipdilemmas in the hybrid workplace
and also how do you keep bothnew employees and entry-level
employees inspired and motivated, and also how to not get
emotionally hijacked by yourcolleagues.
That's a juicy one Ready, let'sdig in.
(00:42):
Juicy one Ready, let's dig in.
Okay, first question.
So I'm going to have to readthese to you friends.
First question is I had a leadof 25.
That's a bit of a remote andhybrid mix and I'm always
looking for ways to engage newor younger employees.
(01:02):
How do I keep them inspired,connected and seeing a career
path?
What are some of the ways thatyou would refresh this?
I love that they tied in mytitle of my podcast here.
What are some of the ways thatyou would refresh this?
What are realistic ways to keeppeople motivated and show them
what's possible at this company.
Okay, so one thing that I wouldthink about is what I would say
(01:26):
is a partner or a process day.
And these are days, whetheryou're doing them hybrid or in
person, where you embed that newperson into different teams or
processes.
Right, they actually do thetasks, and it might be bad, it
might be bumpy, it might bemessy, and I don't mean the
(01:47):
engagement, I mean they're newat it.
So, of course, it's aboutparticipation and not perfection
.
You're also making sure they'resupported with a buddy or a
mentor through that process or ashadow guide right Through that
process, where they're notfeeling like they have to be
perfect and they're going tomess up.
But we want them to see this.
So there was a time when Ijoined a company in a senior
(02:09):
leadership role and I was askedto follow a sales order from
when it became a sale right,like how does a bill become a
law?
From when we got the sale allthe way through to how we
serviced it, how we invoiced it,how we paid it and then, in the
back end, sales enablement.
How did we make sure that camethrough?
And not only was it reallyinspiring for me to see kind of
(02:35):
how everyone was coming togetherand like passing the baton and
when they all had to cometogether and work on something
together.
But everything was like sloweddown for me as a new employee
where I was able to really seehow everything worked, which
also enabled me to lead better.
So this should be done at alllevels, not just an entry level
employee.
(02:55):
All levels of leadership canabsolutely learn from here.
So the other employees seeingme as a leader rolling up their
sleeves in the trenches, itreally helped create new
relationships that I would maybehave not had and also building
sort of that empathy, trust andconnection.
And I remember later we alsohad a live event tied to this
(03:17):
and I remember after the liveevent one of the middle-rrange
managers came over to me andsaid seeing you behind the
counter and helping with actualsales in the middle of an event
when we were buried in the weeds, was so motivating to everyone
that you weren't just, you know,pointing and being air traffic
(03:39):
control, but that you wereactually willing to roll up your
sleeves and be in it.
And again I was able to do thatbecause I was given this
opportunity as a new leader tosit and work through all
different areas.
This works for all levels.
People really understanding howa company works and the
different inputs is also goingto create a level of
(03:59):
understanding understanding ofeach other's strengths and also
understanding when someone islike we can't do it that way.
You actually sat next to themand shadowed them, so now you
understand why.
So, creating job shadowing pods, looking for maybe this is
something that's done quarterlycelebrating those small wins
publicly, talking about thepeople who are in those
experiences, talking about thoseexperiences and also maybe
(04:21):
spotlighting new hiresexperiences and also maybe
spotlighting new hires, askingthem for feedback after the
employee has shadowed and howyou can improve the program so
you can roll out with others.
That's where you want to alsobe in this continual iteration.
And then the new person to thatteam feels that they've also
been able to leave their inputin their mark and their point of
view.
Right, this is the way that I'mseeing being able to train
(04:42):
people and also helping peopleget it, stay motivated and see
what's possible from a biggerview than just their day to day
job.
All right, let's go on to thenext question.
So the next question says Ithink I'm being set up as the
bulldog and I'm taking the bait.
My colleague often vents to meabout how unfair her sales goals
(05:04):
are and because I have a strongsense of fairness, I get
emotionally involved.
I work in sales enablement andI sit in our sales meetings.
I've often found myself arguingher points until last week,
when the chief strategy officerasked me why I was continuing to
speak up for her, I was floored.
(05:25):
I mean, I didn't even realize Iwas doing it.
Now I feel manipulated, butalso responsible.
How do I stop this patent?
First, I want to give yourselfa little bit of compassion.
Right, your instinct was todefend someone else and it came
from a place of good, and thatis a level of empathy that is
really helpful.
(05:46):
But when that empathy turnsinto some sort of tension or
fight, that you're seeing it andyou're fighting someone's
battle by proxy.
That's when you need to reallythink about this and recalibrate
.
So here's what I recommend.
One is just get clear.
You notice that you're doing it.
You've already started tonotice that you're doing it, but
notice, are there other areasin which you're also doing it?
(06:07):
That's where the power comes in.
And then the next time, whenyour employee or a colleague
starts venting to you, pause andask yourself am I enlisted to
fight a fight that is not mine,or am I just a space where
they're venting to and you alsodon't have to continue to
subject yourself to it?
You can say something reallysimply, like Jill I know this is
(06:29):
really frustrating, I get it,but I got to talk to you about
this at another time or I get itand I'm sure you'll figure out
a way to work through it right.
So letting them know verysupportively, but also like
you're not here to pick a fightor to be enlisted into a fight
that's not yours.
Next thing I would suggest isthat you set a clear boundary.
(06:51):
Depending on how someone iscommunicating to you.
You might say, listen, I careabout what you're going through,
but I realize that I've beenspeaking out about you and your
struggles and speaking on yourbehalf, and that's not helpful
for either of us.
If you want support in framingyour message or prepping for the
meeting, sure I can help yourole play that or practice that,
(07:11):
but I'm not going to speak foryou anymore.
Think about the second part.
So setting that boundary isfirst.
The second part is reclaimingyour role.
If you're someone who's leadingsales enablement.
Your job is to support thewhole team, so getting pulled
into one person's narrative isgoing to erode your credibility
and it's also going to put youin a place where people are
(07:32):
going to see you potentially asbiased.
So, thinking about a systemsperspective, this is a great
time to really think through.
Does the team need training?
Do individuals need training?
Is there a confusion or amisalignment happening?
And how can you advocate forstructural change but not center
on one person's frustration ortroubles unless they are also
(07:57):
advocating for themselves andtheir one person's struggles is
creating a situation in whichthe whole team then can't make
the goal or make the revenue.
And it's not about theindividual, it's about the
individual's role that they'rein frustration, right.
So there's a difference there.
We can't center it on anindividual.
That's something thatindividual has to take to their
individual manager and figureout how they're going to work
(08:18):
through it, or, if it becomes anHR issue, then working with HR
for it.
But it needs to be centered onwhat is working for the whole
team to hit the goal.
And listen, being labeled thebulldog, depending on how you're
hearing it, and the tone ofthis letter is not.
You're not hearing it from aplace of strength.
(08:38):
Know that it's not intentional.
People aren't probablyintentionally trying to label
you something, but it can bethat trap and having influence
that is going to create thatpositive change.
It's also making sure thatyou're using your influence in a
way that is thoughtfully timedand being intentional with your
(09:02):
ownership.
All right.
Next question I just landed in anew leadership role and as a
woman, I want to hit the groundrunning but also stay grounded.
Are there any things that Ineed to think about as a woman
so that I can start to thrive inthis new position early in a
(09:23):
role, for everyone is going toset the tone for your leadership
and your influence within thecompany.
So why do we need advice,especially for women?
It's because research and livedexperience has shown us that
women are often evaluated bothon performance and likability,
whereas their male counterpartsare not.
(09:44):
They're often only viewed andevaluated on their performance.
So there's more pressure forwomen to start to be warm and
confident and decisive andapproachable.
And you can just look around inyour community If you have
community leaders, if it's atthe political level, look at
what we say about female leadersversus what we say, about male
(10:06):
leaders and the ways in which wewill often comment on a woman's
appearance but not herperformance, where we're not
going to really comment on aman's appearance but we'll only
comment on their performance,right?
So just notice sort of thesubtle nuances and where we
treat all genders differently.
So I want you to that's foreverybody listening, so that
(10:27):
you're realizing that, even ifyou don't identify as a woman,
that you understand that this isreal.
Right, he's running a family orhe's supporting a family, right
(10:50):
?
So, again, genderfying, that wehave to give the male gender a
raise but not the female gendera raise because she's also
supporting or contributing tothe supporting of the family.
Right, it's like what?
But yes, these are realconversations that happen.
I want you to remember my friendwho wrote this, in that you
were there because you earnedthis position and we're not
talking about proving it again.
However, there are intentionalthings that I would think about,
(11:11):
and one is I want you to reallythink through.
I call it leadership identity.
Sometimes it's also referred toas professional brand, very
different than personal brand.
Personal brand is much moreabout me, me, me, look at me,
look at me whereas professionalbranding, or leadership identity
, which is really where I likebetter is like as a leader.
Who am I and what do I identifywith?
(11:32):
And what are the aspects of mypersonality or experience that I
want to continue to bringforward, and where is it
relevant to the work and thegoal that I have that I'm going
to weave it into the narrative.
If you do not start laying downyour narrative, others will
write it for you and then, allof a sudden, people will start
forming stories or responding toyou based on what they think.
(11:52):
Okay one I want you to sharewhat matters from you.
I want you to be intentional.
I want you to be sharing valuesand saying things like you know
.
What I really value excellenceand excellence for me is that
within each individual's ability, that they are living up to
their own version of excellence.
There's not one standard ofexcellence.
There's an individual standardof excellence within someone's
ability.
Finding ways again, that's mybelief.
That may not be yours, butfinding ways to lay down what
(12:14):
you believe.
I value innovation, I valuecreativity, I value kindness.
I often make the distinctionbetween kindness and nice,
because nice feels veryperformative, whereas kindness
feels very genuine.
Finding ways that you arelaying the tracks down for the
things that matter to you andhow you are going to show up
will be really really helpful.
Two, I want you to think aboutall of your past experiences
(12:38):
that are relevant to this joband get really, really crisp
with yourself.
What was the impact you madepreviously?
What was the result you caused,what actions did you take, what
was the challenge in front ofyou?
And being able to tell veryquick, succinct stories that
don't drag us all into theundertow.
We don't need to knoweverything.
We just need to know that,after you increase sales by 10%,
(12:59):
you were able to take any ofthe overages and reinvest it
into employee training.
Right, we just need to be inand out and you are being able
to say very succinctly how yourpast experience contributes to
your current situation andhaving almost like bullet points
ready.
Right, we're not talking aboutsounding rote.
We're not talking about beingcontrived.
We're not being a robot.
We're just being really clearwhere, when someone asks me
(13:23):
about what might happen inworking with me, I will say very
clearly that 87% of people thatwork with me get a raise of 30%
or more.
Boom, I didn't take you througha whole story, I just laid down
the facts.
That's what we're looking for.
Okay, then I also want you tothink through if this aligns
with you that you are there tolisten I hope that aligns with
you that you are there to learn,but you are also there to lead,
(13:46):
and that you're not afraid ofmaking decisions, and being able
to lay that out is important.
I would also look for who inthe organization really has.
There's the org chart, but thenthere's sort of the internal
nuances, so who are really thepeople that get things done, who
are the key decision makers andwho are the people that
influence those decision makers?
Those are the things that Iwould suggest you do in your
(14:09):
first 90 days.
I also like to say that monthone is often about asking
questions and listening.
Month two is about starting toimplement what you're hearing,
and then month three is startingto immediately measure and
evaluate what you know so far,so that you can get some wins
early.
(14:32):
The other thing I would just sayis like, make sure you're
pacing your energy.
You don't want to be in asituation where you are coming
in doing so much and workingreally long hours.
That is more than what'sexpected of you, because now
you're setting the new pace forwhat's always going to be
expected, and I think again, weoften feel like I've got to come
in and really wow things in thebeginning, and I've heard a lot
of companies lately saying totheir new hires like listen, we
(14:54):
really just expect you to listenand learn.
We're not expecting majorresults out of you within the
first 30 or 60 days.
We really want you to learn ourprocess, our culture.
And again, I would say kudos tothose employees and those
leaders who are saying that.
I realize that not everycompany has the luxury of
waiting 30 or 60 days for aresult, so use that
(15:15):
directionally for how it fitswithin yours Really finding out,
you know, maybe within thefirst six months, what are some
of the wins that you can alignto and really set yourself up
for success and thinking aboutthose boundaries and then
thinking about what are thestories that you're going to be
laying down early that are basedon your own previous value and
impact that you've created.
(15:35):
All right, and email me back.
I definitely want to hear howit went for you.
Next.
The question is more of ageneral one is what is the most
common issue or challenge indecision making you see
businesses or department leadersmaking today.
The biggest issue that I'mseeing right now if you're
watching this when it drops isthat there is a lack of
structured training anddevelopment for early career
(15:58):
employees and, by the way, thatgoes for all employees, but
especially early career.
That bottom rung of the careerladder is totally broken and if
people are not getting thatfoundational experience, they're
not staying, so it makeseverything harder, right.
So we also have hybrid work.
Early career or new employeesare often missing out on the
opportunity to shadow people, tohave that casual observation,
(16:21):
some early hands-on learning.
This is not for every job.
There are definitely jobs thatare independent.
You're an independentcontributor and it's like head
down, get it done Depends on thekind of job that you're in.
But without reimagining how wetrain people, both in person and
remotely, we're continuing toburn through talent who don't
feel supported, who don't feellike there's a career path and
(16:44):
they're just going to gosomeplace else.
Okay, according to SHRM, theSociety for Human Resource
Management I am a certified SHRMprofessional they are seeing
that on average, hiring a newemployee is about $4,700, and
that's sort of like the sweetspot with hard costs from
advertising to training, toonboarding, any materials they
(17:04):
might need, but that they'reseeing that most companies only
spend about $3,000 on learningand development.
So you're hiring the person,which is $4,700, we'll call it
$5,000, right, us dollars butyou're only spending $3,000 or
less on training them.
And then you're only maybetraining them at the entry level
(17:25):
, but you're not offeringcontinued training.
And I hear this all the timefrom the clients that I work
with that there might betraining at the entry level to
get you onboarded, but thenyou're not seeing another
training program.
Like you might go to aninteresting talk or sales
meeting, but you're not gettingadditional training throughout
your career, and it reallydemotivates people.
And I think that this is one ofthe things.
Keeping and talent happy andkeeping them employed and
(17:46):
keeping them motivated is goingto be less expensive for you as
an organization than tocontinually hire because you're
replacing people.
You need to be hiring juniorpeople, sure, but hiring because
you're replacing people all thetime because they don't see a
career path is one of thebiggest challenges I'm seeing.
So I want you to get superintentional with training
programs setting clearmilestones.
(18:06):
There are enough software outthere that you can look to
invest in, or you can also justthink about how do you want to
internally think through whatare someone's OKRs, objectives
and key results, and how are yougoing to measure them?
Also, pairing new hires withinternal mentors or guides I
talked about it in the lastquestion that shadowing is
(18:27):
really, really important andthen making sure that you're
having both early careerdevelopment and continuing
development so that you'rekeeping your mid and season
teammates also interested.
And then, lastly, make surethat you're thinking through on
a yearly basis what are thequarterly trainings that you're
(18:47):
going to put in.
This could be again.
It could be a talk, it could bea workshop, it can be a
hands-on roll up your sleeve, itcould be coaching.
This is the work that I docorporately, in addition to
working with people individually.
So integrating coaching, teamdevelopment, team dynamics into
your culture so that employeesat every level are feeling that
there is an opportunity, thatthey can grow, increase
(19:08):
confidence, their hope, theirconviction, their collaboration.
It will pay off for you if youinvest in this.
And also it's time where thatgroup of employees get to spend
a little time together, wherethey're not just buried in the
subject matter of what they'redoing.
They're talking about theirstrengths and they're talking
about leadership challenges andactually getting a time to think
is really beneficial foreveryone, and also increasing
(19:31):
team dynamics.
Hey there, I'm Jill Griffin, the host of the Career
Refresh, and today we aretalking about leadership
dilemmas.
It's a Q&A episode.
I always ask you to send meyour questions at hello at
jillgriffincoachingcom and keepthem coming.
And as I went through whatwe'll say, do we still call it a
mailbag?
As I went through the email box, these were some of the common
(00:21):
themes, so I grouped themtogether just to kind of keep it
more cohesive.
So today it's about leadershipdilemmas in the hybrid workplace
and also how do you keep bothnew employees and entry-level
employees inspired and motivated, and also how to not get
emotionally hijacked by yourcolleagues.
That's a juicy one Ready, let'sdig in.
(00:42):
Juicy one Ready, let's dig in.
Okay, first question.
So I'm going to have to readthese to you friends.
First question is I had a leadof 25.
That's a bit of a remote andhybrid mix and I'm always
looking for ways to engage newor younger employees.
(01:02):
How do I keep them inspired,connected and seeing a career
path?
What are some of the ways thatyou would refresh this?
I love that they tied in mytitle of my podcast here.
What are some of the ways thatyou would refresh this?
What are realistic ways to keeppeople motivated and show them
what's possible at this company.
Okay, so one thing that I wouldthink about is what I would say
(01:26):
is a partner or a process day.
And these are days, whetheryou're doing them hybrid or in
person, where you embed that newperson into different teams or
processes.
Right, they actually do thetasks, and it might be bad, it
might be bumpy, it might bemessy, and I don't mean the
(01:47):
engagement, I mean they're newat it.
So, of course, it's aboutparticipation and not perfection
.
You're also making sure they'resupported with a buddy or a
mentor through that process or ashadow guide right Through that
process, where they're notfeeling like they have to be
perfect and they're going tomess up.
But we want them to see this.
So there was a time when Ijoined a company in a senior
(02:09):
leadership role and I was askedto follow a sales order from
when it became a sale right,like how does a bill become a
law?
From when we got the sale allthe way through to how we
serviced it, how we invoiced it,how we paid it and then, in the
back end, sales enablement.
How did we make sure that camethrough?
And not only was it reallyinspiring for me to see kind of
(02:35):
how everyone was coming togetherand like passing the baton and
when they all had to cometogether and work on something
together.
But everything was like sloweddown for me as a new employee
where I was able to really seehow everything worked, which
also enabled me to lead better.
So this should be done at alllevels, not just an entry level
employee.
(02:55):
All levels of leadership canabsolutely learn from here.
So the other employees seeingme as a leader rolling up their
sleeves in the trenches, itreally helped create new
relationships that I would maybehave not had and also building
sort of that empathy, trust andconnection.
And I remember later we alsohad a live event tied to this
(03:17):
and I remember after the liveevent one of the middle-rrange
managers came over to me andsaid seeing you behind the
counter and helping with actualsales in the middle of an event
when we were buried in the weeds, was so motivating to everyone
that you weren't just, you know,pointing and being air traffic
(03:39):
control, but that you wereactually willing to roll up your
sleeves and be in it.
And again I was able to do thatbecause I was given this
opportunity as a new leader tosit and work through all
different areas.
This works for all levels.
People really understanding howa company works and the
different inputs is also goingto create a level of
(03:59):
understanding understanding ofeach other's strengths and also
understanding when someone islike we can't do it that way.
You actually sat next to themand shadowed them, so now you
understand why.
So, creating job shadowing pods, looking for maybe this is
something that's done quarterlycelebrating those small wins
publicly, talking about thepeople who are in those
experiences, talking about thoseexperiences and also maybe
(04:21):
spotlighting new hiresexperiences and also maybe
spotlighting new hires, askingthem for feedback after the
employee has shadowed and howyou can improve the program so
you can roll out with others.
That's where you want to alsobe in this continual iteration.
And then the new person to thatteam feels that they've also
been able to leave their inputin their mark and their point of
view.
Right, this is the way that I'mseeing being able to train
(04:42):
people and also helping peopleget it, stay motivated and see
what's possible from a biggerview than just their day to day
job.
All right, let's go on to thenext question.
So the next question says Ithink I'm being set up as the
bulldog and I'm taking the bait.
My colleague often vents to meabout how unfair her sales goals
(05:04):
are and because I have a strongsense of fairness, I get
emotionally involved.
I work in sales enablement andI sit in our sales meetings.
I've often found myself arguingher points until last week,
when the chief strategy officerasked me why I was continuing to
speak up for her, I was floored.
(05:25):
I mean, I didn't even realize Iwas doing it.
Now I feel manipulated, butalso responsible.
How do I stop this patent?
First, I want to give yourselfa little bit of compassion.
Right, your instinct was todefend someone else and it came
from a place of good, and thatis a level of empathy that is
really helpful.
(05:46):
But when that empathy turnsinto some sort of tension or
fight, that you're seeing it andyou're fighting someone's
battle by proxy.
That's when you need to reallythink about this and recalibrate
.
So here's what I recommend.
One is just get clear.
You notice that you're doing it.
You've already started tonotice that you're doing it, but
notice, are there other areasin which you're also doing it?
(06:07):
That's where the power comes in.
And then the next time, whenyour employee or a colleague
starts venting to you, pause andask yourself am I enlisted to
fight a fight that is not mine,or am I just a space where
they're venting to and you alsodon't have to continue to
subject yourself to it?
You can say something reallysimply, like Jill I know this is
(06:29):
really frustrating, I get it,but I got to talk to you about
this at another time or I get itand I'm sure you'll figure out
a way to work through it right.
So letting them know verysupportively, but also like
you're not here to pick a fightor to be enlisted into a fight
that's not yours.
Next thing I would suggest isthat you set a clear boundary.
(06:51):
Depending on how someone iscommunicating to you.
You might say, listen, I careabout what you're going through,
but I realize that I've beenspeaking out about you and your
struggles and speaking on yourbehalf, and that's not helpful
for either of us.
If you want support in framingyour message or prepping for the
meeting, sure I can help yourole play that or practice that,
(07:11):
but I'm not going to speak foryou anymore.
Think about the second part.
So setting that boundary isfirst.
The second part is reclaimingyour role.
If you're someone who's leadingsales enablement.
Your job is to support thewhole team, so getting pulled
into one person's narrative isgoing to erode your credibility
and it's also going to put youin a place where people are
(07:32):
going to see you potentially asbiased.
So, thinking about a systemsperspective, this is a great
time to really think through.
Does the team need training?
Do individuals need training?
Is there a confusion or amisalignment happening?
And how can you advocate forstructural change but not center
on one person's frustration ortroubles unless they are also
(07:57):
advocating for themselves andtheir one person's struggles is
creating a situation in whichthe whole team then can't make
the goal or make the revenue.
And it's not about theindividual, it's about the
individual's role that they'rein frustration, right.
So there's a difference there.
We can't center it on anindividual.
That's something thatindividual has to take to their
individual manager and figureout how they're going to work
(08:18):
through it, or, if it becomes anHR issue, then working with HR
for it.
But it needs to be centered onwhat is working for the whole
team to hit the goal.
And listen, being labeled thebulldog, depending on how you're
hearing it, and the tone ofthis letter is not.
You're not hearing it from aplace of strength.
(08:38):
Know that it's not intentional.
People aren't probablyintentionally trying to label
you something, but it can bethat trap and having influence
that is going to create thatpositive change.
It's also making sure thatyou're using your influence in a
way that is thoughtfully timedand being intentional with your
(09:02):
ownership.
All right.
Next question I just landed in anew leadership role and as a
woman, I want to hit the groundrunning but also stay grounded.
Are there any things that Ineed to think about as a woman
so that I can start to thrive inthis new position early in a
(09:23):
role, for everyone is going toset the tone for your leadership
and your influence within thecompany.
So why do we need advice,especially for women?
It's because research and livedexperience has shown us that
women are often evaluated bothon performance and likability,
whereas their male counterpartsare not.
(09:44):
They're often only viewed andevaluated on their performance.
So there's more pressure forwomen to start to be warm and
confident and decisive andapproachable.
And you can just look around inyour community If you have
community leaders, if it's atthe political level, look at
what we say about female leadersversus what we say, about male
(10:06):
leaders and the ways in which wewill often comment on a woman's
appearance but not herperformance, where we're not
going to really comment on aman's appearance but we'll only
comment on their performance,right?
So just notice sort of thesubtle nuances and where we
treat all genders differently.
So I want you to that's foreverybody listening, so that
(10:27):
you're realizing that, even ifyou don't identify as a woman,
that you understand that this isreal.
Right, he's running a family orhe's supporting a family, right
(10:50):
?
So, again, genderfying, that wehave to give the male gender a
raise but not the female gendera raise because she's also
supporting or contributing tothe supporting of the family.
Right, it's like what?
But yes, these are realconversations that happen.
I want you to remember my friendwho wrote this, in that you
were there because you earnedthis position and we're not
talking about proving it again.
However, there are intentionalthings that I would think about,
(11:11):
and one is I want you to reallythink through.
I call it leadership identity.
Sometimes it's also referred toas professional brand, very
different than personal brand.
Personal brand is much moreabout me, me, me, look at me,
look at me whereas professionalbranding, or leadership identity
, which is really where I likebetter is like as a leader.
Who am I and what do I identifywith?
(11:32):
And what are the aspects of mypersonality or experience that I
want to continue to bringforward, and where is it
relevant to the work and thegoal that I have that I'm going
to weave it into the narrative.
If you do not start laying downyour narrative, others will
write it for you and then, allof a sudden, people will start
forming stories or responding toyou based on what they think.
(11:52):
Okay one I want you to sharewhat matters from you.
I want you to be intentional.
I want you to be sharing valuesand saying things like you know
.
What I really value excellenceand excellence for me is that
within each individual's ability, that they are living up to
their own version of excellence.
There's not one standard ofexcellence.
There's an individual standardof excellence within someone's
ability.
Finding ways again, that's mybelief.
That may not be yours, butfinding ways to lay down what
(12:14):
you believe.
I value innovation, I valuecreativity, I value kindness.
I often make the distinctionbetween kindness and nice,
because nice feels veryperformative, whereas kindness
feels very genuine.
Finding ways that you arelaying the tracks down for the
things that matter to you andhow you are going to show up
will be really really helpful.
Two, I want you to think aboutall of your past experiences
(12:38):
that are relevant to this joband get really, really crisp
with yourself.
What was the impact you madepreviously?
What was the result you caused,what actions did you take, what
was the challenge in front ofyou?
And being able to tell veryquick, succinct stories that
don't drag us all into theundertow.
We don't need to knoweverything.
We just need to know that,after you increase sales by 10%,
(12:59):
you were able to take any ofthe overages and reinvest it
into employee training.
Right, we just need to be inand out and you are being able
to say very succinctly how yourpast experience contributes to
your current situation andhaving almost like bullet points
ready.
Right, we're not talking aboutsounding rote.
We're not talking about beingcontrived.
We're not being a robot.
We're just being really clearwhere, when someone asks me
(13:23):
about what might happen inworking with me, I will say very
clearly that 87% of people thatwork with me get a raise of 30%
or more.
Boom, I didn't take you througha whole story, I just laid down
the facts.
That's what we're looking for.
Okay, then I also want you tothink through if this aligns
with you that you are there tolisten I hope that aligns with
you that you are there to learn,but you are also there to lead,
(13:46):
and that you're not afraid ofmaking decisions, and being able
to lay that out is important.
I would also look for who inthe organization really has.
There's the org chart, but thenthere's sort of the internal
nuances, so who are really thepeople that get things done, who
are the key decision makers andwho are the people that
influence those decision makers?
Those are the things that Iwould suggest you do in your
(14:09):
first 90 days.
I also like to say that monthone is often about asking
questions and listening.
Month two is about starting toimplement what you're hearing,
and then month three is startingto immediately measure and
evaluate what you know so far,so that you can get some wins
early.
(14:32):
The other thing I would just sayis like, make sure you're
pacing your energy.
You don't want to be in asituation where you are coming
in doing so much and workingreally long hours.
That is more than what'sexpected of you, because now
you're setting the new pace forwhat's always going to be
expected, and I think again, weoften feel like I've got to come
in and really wow things in thebeginning, and I've heard a lot
of companies lately saying totheir new hires like listen, we
(14:54):
really just expect you to listenand learn.
We're not expecting majorresults out of you within the
first 30 or 60 days.
We really want you to learn ourprocess, our culture.
And again, I would say kudos tothose employees and those
leaders who are saying that.
I realize that not everycompany has the luxury of
waiting 30 or 60 days for aresult, so use that
(15:15):
directionally for how it fitswithin yours Really finding out,
you know, maybe within thefirst six months, what are some
of the wins that you can alignto and really set yourself up
for success and thinking aboutthose boundaries and then
thinking about what are thestories that you're going to be
laying down early that are basedon your own previous value and
impact that you've created.
(15:35):
All right, and email me back.
I definitely want to hear howit went for you.
Next.
The question is more of ageneral one is what is the most
common issue or challenge indecision making you see
businesses or department leadersmaking today.
The biggest issue that I'mseeing right now if you're
watching this when it drops isthat there is a lack of
structured training anddevelopment for early career
(15:58):
employees and, by the way, thatgoes for all employees, but
especially early career.
That bottom rung of the careerladder is totally broken and if
people are not getting thatfoundational experience, they're
not staying, so it makeseverything harder, right.
So we also have hybrid work.
Early career or new employeesare often missing out on the
opportunity to shadow people, tohave that casual observation,
(16:21):
some early hands-on learning.
This is not for every job.
There are definitely jobs thatare independent.
You're an independentcontributor and it's like head
down, get it done Depends on thekind of job that you're in.
But without reimagining how wetrain people, both in person and
remotely, we're continuing toburn through talent who don't
feel supported, who don't feellike there's a career path and
(16:44):
they're just going to gosomeplace else.
Okay, according to SHRM, theSociety for Human Resource
Management I am a certified SHRMprofessional they are seeing
that on average, hiring a newemployee is about $4,700, and
that's sort of like the sweetspot with hard costs from
advertising to training, toonboarding, any materials they
(17:04):
might need, but that they'reseeing that most companies only
spend about $3,000 on learningand development.
So you're hiring the person,which is $4,700, we'll call it
$5,000, right, us dollars butyou're only spending $3,000 or
less on training them.
And then you're only maybetraining them at the entry level
(17:25):
, but you're not offeringcontinued training.
And I hear this all the timefrom the clients that I work
with that there might betraining at the entry level to
get you onboarded, but thenyou're not seeing another
training program.
Like you might go to aninteresting talk or sales
meeting, but you're not gettingadditional training throughout
your career, and it reallydemotivates people.
And I think that this is one ofthe things.
Keeping and talent happy andkeeping them employed and
(17:46):
keeping them motivated is goingto be less expensive for you as
an organization than tocontinually hire because you're
replacing people.
You need to be hiring juniorpeople, sure, but hiring because
you're replacing people all thetime because they don't see a
career path is one of thebiggest challenges I'm seeing.
So I want you to get superintentional with training
programs setting clearmilestones.
(18:06):
There are enough software outthere that you can look to
invest in, or you can also justthink about how do you want to
internally think through whatare someone's OKRs, objectives
and key results, and how are yougoing to measure them?
Also, pairing new hires withinternal mentors or guides I
talked about it in the lastquestion that shadowing is
(18:27):
really, really important andthen making sure that you're
having both early careerdevelopment and continuing
development so that you'rekeeping your mid and season
teammates also interested.
And then, lastly, make surethat you're thinking through on
a yearly basis what are thequarterly trainings that you're
(18:47):
going to put in.
This could be again.
It could be a talk, it could bea workshop, it can be a
hands-on roll up your sleeve, itcould be coaching.
This is the work that I docorporately, in addition to
working with people individually.
So integrating coaching, teamdevelopment, team dynamics into
your culture so that employeesat every level are feeling that
there is an opportunity, thatthey can grow, increase
(19:08):
confidence, their hope, theirconviction, their collaboration.
It will pay off for you if youinvest in this.
And also it's time where thatgroup of employees get to spend
a little time together, wherethey're not just buried in the
subject matter of what they'redoing.
They're talking about theirstrengths and they're talking
about leadership challenges andactually getting a time to think
is really beneficial foreveryone, and also increasing
(19:31):
team dynamics.
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