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couchTalk transcripts

Constant change requires leaders to excel in the basics

10 skills at the heart of every leader’s arsenal.

“Topic 3 – Creative Delegation Techniques”

written by Wayne Brown

Hello again, and welcome to our series called Constant change requires leaders to excel in the basics – and you’ve already reached topic 3 – Creative Delegation Techniques.

We now have 2 big topics behind us “Understanding your place in the team and Motivating your future team. But I’m very happy to say that we are still just getting started, and today’s discussion is equally important and challenging…

In this 3 pack – video, podcast, and associated blog, we’re going to break down our delegation process under 3 broad questions – WHY delegate, WHAT to delegate and HOW to delegate.

With the first question, “WHY delegate,” – we’ll identify that there can be multiple reasons but explore 3 which are key;

  • The first is to enable us to address stakeholders’ expectations. As discussed in Topic 1, we have numerous Stakeholders with far too many expectations, which we almost certainly, don’t have the capacity or perhaps even the necessary skills to cope with. 
  • Secondly, we have potentially 4 generations and considerable diversity in our workforce today whom we need to motivate and cultivate. 

We spoke about the need and ways of motivating from a neuro-science perspective in Topic 2. We also realize that many of our team are experts in their field and capable of working under pressure and coming up with practical new ideas, leading to positive outcomes.

  • And finally, we simply need time to give adequate attention to doing our job as a leader. To work on those critical tasks such as strategic planning, growth, managing the business, reporting, and team/s, to name just a few areas.

Suppose you recall the conversation about work-life balance from Topic 1. In that case, you will remember that we need to find a long-term solution to managing our workload rather than coping with everything as this isn’t sustainable. 

When adopting the wrong approach, we eventually give inadequate focus, time, and effort to all 3 mentioned areas and thereby fail to reach a successful result more often than not.

So, this covers our question on “WHY delegate.” Next, we turn our attention to the question of “WHAT to delegate.”

This second question starts with the realization that we can’t and shouldn’t delegate everything just for the sake of it. 

Hence, before delegating we need to make a conscious decision about:

  • the skill and willingness of the employee to take on the task,
  • the complexity and urgency of the task,
  • the amount of support we will need or be willing to provide,
  • there’s even the need to avoid delegating some tasks,

So, the leader really must be aware of and consider these questions fully from the outset.

And to assist us with this we introduce two models which come with simple tools as support.

And to assist us with this, we introduce two models which come with simple tools as support. 

The first is from the 34th American president. A gift to business called the Eisenhower matrix, and the second is the skill/will matrix from Blanchard and Hersey.

Before moving onto these areas or tools, we need to first explore a little on the reasons behind some managers’ reluctance to delegate. 

A number of these reasons may sound trivial, or perhaps a few will even sound familiar, but most are common among managers.

Here are 10 limiting statements which we have heard and even seen being played out by various managers – you notice we don’t use the term Leader in this discussion. 

Aside from the fact that we should already be clear that you don’t have sufficient time to do everything – and even in the situation where you work long hours, we know that it’s not sustainable. 

And in all instances, there are actions you can take to alleviate your concerns. 

As usual, you will find links throughout our blog to additional material, which will help deepen your learnings where needed. 

However, if you still need more convincing, please refer back to the beginning of this topic and review 3 key reasons WHY we delegate.

  • With that clarity, let’s examine the Eisenhower matrix – we use it to help us group our tasks before selecting which ones to delegate. 

Typically, we agree that Quadrant 1 tasks are for the leader or manager to handle due to the urgency and importance. 

These pressing tasks often preclude you from having an employee do it UNLESS the employee is already an expert in this area. 

However, it may be a good idea with non-confidential or sensitive tasks to have a team member work on the job with you as a means of developing their skills for the longer term.

  • From the Eisenhower matrix and your groupings, the best area to select tasks for delegation comes out of Quadrant 3. Besides, it will also be useful to choose from Quadrant 2 for specific items.

If you’re unsure how to use this tool, check out the link provided here to a great site, which steps you through the process. 

And we’ll outline under the final category in this topic, “How to delegate” – what to do with this list and how to distribute the chosen tasks among your team. 

Please be aware that there are sometimes where we agree that it’s not appropriate to delegate. The following tasks are examples where we would normally not delegate and are typically leadership and management tasks: 

• Employee evaluation meetings  

•  Strategic planning

•  Team development

•  Final decisions

•  Personnel selection

•  Tasks that have been delegated to you explicitly 

Not surprisingly, you will find most of these tasks in Quadrant 1 or perhaps Quadrant 2. And of course, as mentioned before, it does not mean that you can’t include some of your employees here to assist you and learn from you in the process for future support.

A manager needs to consider one further critical question: the level of support, focus, or control that the task and a team member would require. 

For the task, we should consider the;

  • complexity, urgency, and consequences if it is delayed or not completed correctly. 
  • And for the employee, we need to consider their qualification for the task and motivation to accept the assignment. 

We’ll now introduce our second model to help us address some of these concerns.

Starting with the model called the Skill / Will matrix.

The matrix can be used to assess your employee’s skill and willingness to perform a specific task or project. 

Based on that assessment, you can choose how to best manage the employee towards success. Note that an employee is seldom in one quadrant all the time but is likely to fall into one or more quadrants depending on the task.

Some of the supporting questions you might ask in parallel with your assessment are;

  • Does the employee have the necessary time and resources available? 
  • Does the employee have the essential professional qualifications to be able to successfully accomplish the task? 
  • Does the employee have the required overarching competencies? 
  • Would this task entail an increase in the capability and personal development of the employee? 
  • Does the job to be delegated accord with the employee’s motivation? 
  • How will the team / other departments react if the employee takes on the task? 
  • Will it be seen as fair if the employee is awarded this task? 

We’ve reached the final category, “HOW to delegate,” and until now, we have given you a lot of material, but not really anything new or creative. So that’s about to change!

Let’s first do a pulse check to ensure you’re clear about the tasks you have selected for delegation – if not, these should be sitting in the Eisenhower matrix you prepared. 

Also, you have considered the level of support, focus, and control needed for each task, plus determined with the aid of the skill/will matrix and your earlier work using the SCARF model which employees to delegate to which task.

If you are good with all of these, we’re now ready to go back to your Eisenhower model. Next to the quadrants, if you have not already done so, make a list of all your employees. Beside each of their names and at the top of any delegated tasks, write the words “Activity of Choice – TBC.” 

For the next step – send your team a group communication and invite them to join a meeting – at a date and time of your choosing, provided it’s not too far off. 

As part of the communication, you explain that this meeting will become a regular weekly or bi-weekly event. For the first meeting, each person should prepare at least one work-related activity they would be really passionate about and love to work on – they have the freedom to decide what it is. Still, they need to introduce the topic at the meeting, and it will be voted on and agreed upon by the group.

To open the meeting, you introduce the concept and purpose of this and future meetings. You advise that each team member will be allowed to develop their skills through various tasks or projects that you will be assigned to them. Also, they have their “Activity of Choice” – provided it makes the cut.

Moving forward at these future meetings, each team member will discuss the projects they are working on, the current status, and the next actions. 

By doing this, everyone in the team becomes aware of each-others work and will be required to discuss or contribute ideas to those projects.

Once each new “Activity of choice” is agreed on by the group, the project leader will have the time and resources allocated (after final approval with you, of course).

During that first meeting, you will ask each person to write their desired activity on the whiteboard and briefly introduce it to the group. 

As a group, you discuss the idea, the likely resources, and the time allocation needed? What value might it bring to the group and the business overall? If any other group member has a similar interest and would prefer to forgo their project to work on one of the others, they can do so. 

By the end of this first meeting, there should be a decision about who is working on what activity or project.  

Following this meeting, you meet with each person to detail the activities/projects / or tasks, and we’ll cover that process in our next topic – “SMART rules and reward goals.” 

For all future meetings, one final step – at the beginning of each meeting and before moving into the activity reviews, you have a compulsory “check-in” session where all team members share stories about what they did during the last weekend? 

This takes the degree of team connectedness to the next level and softens the relationships from being “all business, all the time.”

Do you recall our 3 whys for delegating – sharing the workload to satisfy your stakeholders, providing opportunities for team development and growth, plus freeing you up to focus on the tasks you need to do as a leader! 

In addition to achieving these goals, can you envisage the power of what you have unlocked through this final step in the process?

By allowing each generation to work on something they are passionate about, rather than only working on those activities delegated to them, you empower your people and create a sense of contribution, perhaps even unlocking untapped potential. 

By keeping the activities visible to the whole group, you ensure transparency, accountability, and engagement, even a sharing of learnings. This, in turn, should minimize conflict or, at worst, bring issues to the surface quickly so they can be openly discussed and resolved. 

So, who would have thought that this simple act of delegation could bring so many real team benefits?

Well, we’re making great progress. Hopefully, as we conclude each topic, you find an opportunity to practice what has been discussed. 

You should already start to see some fairly dramatic changes in your teams’ engagement and performance if you have been.

Our next video introduces us to the Virtual Gaming world as we tap into the secrets behind its popularity and apply this to our more traditional approach of managing by objectives. 

The title is “SMART rules and reward goals” – as always, we are looking forward to having you join us. Bye for now.

couchTalk transcripts

Constant change requires leaders to excel in the basics

Ten skills at the heart of every leader’s arsenal.

“Topic 7 – Problem Solving Situations”

transcript written by Wayne Brown

Congratulations on turning back into this next topic which deals with problem-solving around your stakeholders and projects. Wayne here again, and I will host you through this episode.

Until this point, we have focused on building the team dynamics and disrupting the traditional ideas or approaches in areas such as motivation, delegation, and feedback.

The 1st portion of this episode will deal specifically with creating self-awareness around your leadership style in managing conflict and how to respond to team challenges or difficult conversations. We shall broaden this perspective for the remainder of the video to look at how to engage the stakeholder in Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Creative Thinking constructs. 

It`s a fascinating and incredibly insightful leg of the journey, as it’s one of the “basics” areas practiced least often by leaders. Therefore we can’t wait to share these ideas with you, as we know the learning and subsequent outcome for you and your team is enormous. 

So please get comfortable, take a notebook in hand & focus your energy as we step through this topic called Problem Solving Situations.

If you have followed the steps introduced in our previous six episodes, you will have greatly reduced the likelihood of dealing with argumentative stakeholders, particularly those in your team. And if you recall, during topic 5 Feedback Strategies, we introduced a few models for successfully delivering feedback – using FAST, BOOST, and SBI, which are among the more popular methods today. 

So, it’s probably no real surprise that when you are the leader introducing change, the recipients may not always be on the same page as you. Nor will they always agree with your opinion or actions. Whether the change relates to a new process, systems, or tools, offering constructive feedback, or any number of other diverse situations. 

The learning here is that this is a natural part of leadership, as everyone is an individual. While they may, for the most part, be loyal team players, cooperative colleagues, understanding bosses, or considerate clients, they will still hold unique personal values, beliefs, and perspectives. These may not always align with the working environment, situation, or discussion.

Therefore, as a starting point in this episode, we want you to reflect on your conflict handling style. This self-awareness of your style preference will greatly enhance your ability to handle different scenarios (if you choose to utilize it) with various stakeholders more effectively and avoiding unintentional escalation of the matter. 

For this, we introduce a very popular tool called the Thomas-Kilmann model of Conflict Management. This model compares our chosen level of assertiveness against our willingness to cooperate in a conflict situation and defines five different conflict styles which we can and do adopt as a result. 

Ranging between a win-win outcome through collaboration on the one hand and total avoidance of the issue at the other end. In between these two extremes, we also have three different styles; 

  • Competing, where you are highly assertive with little willingness to cooperate, tends to create a win-lose outcome. 
  • Accommodating, where you are highly cooperative, however normally at your own expense. Of course, this might be intentional, for example, where you wish to preserve the relationship. 
  • And lastly, through Compromise, such as in a sales negotiation process where there is typically give & take, it can also be considered a lose-lose situation as neither party achieves what they desire. 

Depending on the stakeholder and the situation in conflict, you may elect to use any of the five styles. Even selecting a combination of more than one of these options. 

We’ll go deeper into conflict management in the Advanced series. Still, we will include several links to videos and articles to help with your self-awareness and understanding of how you can utilize this knowledge during future conflict situations. 

We would encourage you to complete the questionnaire included in the episode blog on our site amentorscouch.com and practice using the five styles.

And back to our reality that all leaders should expect this conflict scenario to present itself at some stage. It’s important, therefore, to prepare ourselves (by knowing our default styles) and learn to allow the stakeholders to air their grievances, voice their concerns, and state their thoughts without you reacting inappropriately. 

It’s pleasing to know that we can predict with a degree of accuracy (based on numerous studies in this field) when conflict arises during team feedback sessions, the types of pushback to expect. Knowing this enables us to be somewhat prepared ahead of the communication. 

Typically, the recipient will express one or more of these four responses if confronted about an issue. 

  1. They deny that the situation exists, so you need to support the claim with facts and examples.
  2. They may trivialize the scale of the situation, stating that it’s not a big issue – in this situation, you support your claim with an outline of the impact and why it matters.
  3. They may try shifting the blame onto others. Here it would help if you allowed the recipient to detail the situation as they see it and explain the causes. Dig into the problem to find the root cause.
  4. Shifting blame onto a lack of personal knowledge or skill – here, you would explore together which capability is missing and agree if this is truly the cause. If so, decide on a solution together.

In the end, it’s important to reach an agreement on a way forward with concrete actions, the nomination of the responsible persons, and clear timeline milestones.

The more you expose yourself to this challenge, the better you will handle the situation and manage your style. Of course, you utilize the tools provided and practice the communication methods already highlighted. 

Remember to be factual and base the feedback on your observations, not hear-say, park your emotions, allow time for input from the recipient and work towards solutions, don’t get bogged down in the issue or problem. Keep moving the discussion towards the solution.

But what if we encounter a more complex problem with a larger group? The issue will require a somewhat different approach. 

Let’s consider that your company is working on a large project and have encountered a significant problem that could jeopardize the completion date and financial outcome. 

People start becoming emotional, the atmosphere is heated, and the blame game is rampant. How can we calm down the situation and move things towards a solution? The obvious step would be to call the team meeting, paint the picture, and demand cohesion and joint effort.

We see this approach repeatedly and with a similar outcome – most often with little change in project performance or success.

Thankfully, it’s possible and relatively easy to disrupt this mentality by introducing a little logic and process to the equation – we kick start this with our Problem Solving mindset and later elaborate on the process with Critical and Creative Thinking techniques. 

We were referring to earlier these steps when we said that most managers fail to utilize the group’s collective genius to identify and solve complex problems fearing that the process takes too much time or, more often, that they don’t know how or what to do. 

So let’s unpack this approach in greater detail, understand more about each component, and examine some supporting tools. And we start with the traditional Problem Solving methodology.

Starting with an understanding of this term Problem Solving and the realization that many companies have developed their practices to incorporate one or more problem-solving methods as standards in their daily work activities. You can see the definition and a small sampling (10) of common problem-solving techniques/tools on the screen. It is not an exhaustive list as there are many approaches, but most share a common theme.

This problem-solving approach became very popular in the automotive industry around quality topics in the 1980s and utilized many of these assessment tools. It has since spread to all business areas and usually with a simplified methodology such as Constructive or Inductive Reasoning techniques and perhaps PDCA – plan do check act – to name a few. Links to these and other methods will be in the blog. 

To help you understand better, we would like to introduce a simple but effective method, which relates to the concept and how our problem-solving theory applies in your business practices with stakeholders and major projects.

The approach covers the principles adopted in the majority of methods while utilizing a simple 6 step model. Hence the reason I prefer this, particularly when working with groups that are not familiar with traditional problem-solving techniques. 

Each of the six steps has multiple characteristics, which we adhere to or question during that stage, plus at the same time, we’ll incorporate various tools or techniques for drilling deeper into the problem. 

The process starts with step 1, “Defining the problem.” In this step, we look to diagnose the situation to focus on the problem, not just its symptoms. For this stage, we introduce the end-to-end process review in the form of a flow diagram to ensure we are clear about what happened across the entire activity.

Next, in step 2, we “Determine the root causes or causes.” Meaning, what is it that is causing us to wind up with this problem or situation? We use tools such as the cause and effect diagram and the 5 Why questioning technique to explore the linkage further.

In step 3, we need to “Define alternative solutions” – typically using lateral thinking exercises such as brainstorming; we try to identify all possible answers. We are considering everything which may be helpful.

Then in Step 4, we “Select a solution or solutions” after grouping, prioritizing, and considering the possibilities before choosing the one/s which you believe will resolve the matter.

Implement the change” is the next step. Implementation can be a simple or complex process and may involve multiple sub-steps depending on the scale of the problem. 

And finally, in Step 6, we continue to monitor and evaluate the results after the implementation.

We could, of course, stop here as this Problem Solving approach alone will result in a high degree of success over most problems and resolve most disagreements. But, we want to make sure you have a fully endowed knowledge base along with an arsenal of tools. Therefore we’re going to incorporate the applications of creative and critical thinking. 

These two separate elements are highly powerful as stand-alone topics and could have had an episode devoted to each. Still, in our case, we want to highlight merely their value add & show how to couple them together for greater problem-solving effectiveness.

Let’s start by introducing creative thinking to expand the range of our solutions, particularly during step 3 of our Problem Solving exercise. 

The concept of creative thinking and using outside of the box, innovative thoughts helps move from convergent to divergent ideas. 

You are looking for alternative solutions rather than only one correct outcome. To create the right stimulation for this creative thinking process to occur, you need to establish the right environment and combine the right ingredients – such as a diverse group of people with different roles, different backgrounds, different cultures, age, gender, expertise, and so on, as and where appropriate. Plus, be sure to define the game rules for the creativity exercise clearly.

With this in place, we can call on different creative thinking tools and techniques. There are many tools to select from –Brainstorming, Mind mapping from Tony Buzan, Six Hats from Edward Debono, plus some less known approaches such as SCAMPER. 

These tools can be supported by following more abstract and remotely practiced suggestions from people like Balder Onarheim and the use of pre-practiced activities such as “continuous practice.” You train your mind to think creatively, use dream sleep to solve a stated problem or use randomness to trigger abstract connections to the problem. Whichever you select, the aim is to enhance the solution ideation. 

And then, of course, once we have these new, untested thoughts, how can we assess them? And that’s our bridge to the use of Critical Thinking in our problem-solving process. 

So what is critical thinking – it can be defined as a developed skill acquired through practice, enabling us to think clearly and rationally and understand the logical connection between ideas. 

It refers to the ability to analyze information objectively and make a reasoned judgment. Critical thinking involves evaluating sources such as data, facts, observable phenomenon, and research findings. 

Good critical thinkers can draw reasonable conclusions from a given set of information and discriminate between useful and less useful details to solve a problem or make a decision. 

Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. 

So, if we reflect on our 6-step problem-solving process, we have already utilized Creative Thinking during step 3 to enhance and broaden our possible solution pool. 

In step 4, while selecting the most effective solution, we can apply our critical thinking to challenge our rationale, based on the data provided in steps 2 & 3. The outcome will be concise, well thought through reasoning, which sits behind the solution selection process.

And there we have the complete approach – we started with the simple feedback situations and encountering individual disagreement or resistance. Learning about our conflict management style and then broadened our perspective to more complex issues affecting larger projects and groups. 

For these, we introduced a simple 6 step Problem-Solving methodology that encapsulates both Creative and Critical Thinking practices.

And I want to share a highly effective example of addressing a problem that combines all three elements. Problem-solving combines creative and critical thinking through a systems thinking model referred to as a “collaborative visualization” approach. 

Addressing the problem through this systems model and using drawings of images on sticky notes or pads, arranging them in the correct sequence expands on the end-to-end process flow through group collaboration. It produces a visual frame of reference offering both clarity and alignment. 

Tom Wujec demonstrates the approach on his website called DrawToast and his Wicked Problem Solving™ toolkit. 

Having facilitated workshops where groups used the approach, I can vouch for its effectiveness. We will include a link to this website and TEDTalk to gauge the method’s effectiveness for yourself.

And so to conclude and introduce the next topic. We have now provided you a 3 part mini-series related to feedback, celebrating success, managing conflict, and solving problems with this topic closing. Applying the learnings from these three videos alone will stand you apart from most leaders. 

Therefore, please do yourself a favor and review them again if there is anything you are unclear about and remember to visit our site called amentorscouch.com to access each transcript which contains all of the topic-related links.   

With only three videos remaining in this Basics series, you have reached the business end of proceedings. Up next, topic eight dealing with the Necessity for Change. I have a little surprise lined up for you in this episode, but you’ll need to wait until we release it to see more. 

The final two topics cover “Pitching value-based strategies” and “Running with your game plan.”

In these three episodes, we bring into scope “Self-Awareness.” An MIT Sloan Management Review article cites self-awareness as the most important capability for any leader. While self-awareness, similar to communication, has always been a foundational part of this program, it will become a more visible component in our discussions as our attention turns towards you more so than the team or other stakeholders. 

I can’t wait to bring the Change story to you, but until then, stay safe and be careful driving—cheers for now.

*** difficult conversations

difficult conversations  – it’s ok to include

difficult conv. Mistakes

**** great starting video – opens the reason why people disagree

——————-

https://www.insperity.com/blog/difficult-conversations-with-employees/

blog about difficult situations – 9 rules

https://www.clearreview.com/difficult-conversations-employee-examples/

additional blog and perspectives

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/holding-difficult-conversation-employees-1918468

3rd blog on difficult conversations 

Problem Solving

  *** (problem-solving intro)

(too long and heavily focused on quality)

 **** (a great video that can support the concept)

  • Group models work much better than individual

https://www.drawtoast.com/

IDEA model – looks at multiple tools for each four steps

—————-

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_00.htm

Problem-solving skills – Mind Tools

https://asq.org/quality-resources/problem-solving

using a 4 step problem-solving method

https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-bank/problem-solving

3rd article on problem-solving

Critical Thinking

 *** (short intro to critical thinking)

(tedTalk on three questions to encourage critical questions)

 *** critical thinking five tips

————–

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html

critical thinking blog

https://osu.uloop.com/news/view.php/275371/Critical-Thinking-Skills-You-Need-to-Master-Now

critical thinking blog # 2

Creative Thinking

 *** creative thinking – good video

brainstorming video

mind mapping – Tony Buzan

original thinkers – not bad

————-

https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/creative-thinking.html

creative thinking blog # 1

https://inkbotdesign.com/creative-thinking/

creative thinking blog #2 – add the characteristics

https://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html

Brainstorming blog by Mind Tools

https://www.mindjet.com/mind-mapping-techniques/

mind mapping blog

 “Topic 7 – Problem Solving Situations”

Video content framework:

Part 1:   Difficult conversations:

– continuation from feedback

  • Why is it needed, and why are some employees more difficult than others?
  • Simple process – can include BOOST and other models
  • Offer likely employee response and your reaction

Part 2:   Problem Solving for difficult situations

  • Define it and when would we introduce it – build on team development to date.
  • Introduce various models but focus on simple ones

Part 3:   Critical Thinking – an acquired skills

  • Define it and when / how to introduce it – build on the past two parts
  • Consider this a new skill that could be useful for leaders and teams to learn.
  • Introduce the process and specific characteristics of a critical thinker 

Part 4:   Creative Thinking – icing on the cake

  • Define it and when/how to use
  • Introduce the practice of brainstorming and mind mapping
  • Value of creative people in the team (original thinkers- procrastination vs. procrastination) 
  • procrastination is a vice when it comes to productivity but can be a virtue for creativity.

Summarize and intro next topic – create the link from this topic and the methods we introduced to the practice of being successful with change. 

couchTalk transcripts

“Leaders need to excel in the basics_EiB_104.1”

couchTALK: Coaching our elevator-escalator global tribe

“Constant change requires leaders to excel in the basics”

10 skills at the heart of every leaders arsenal.

  • Video 1  –  Understanding your place in the team
  • Video 2  –  Motivating your future team
  • Video 3  –  Creative delegation
  • Video 4  –  SMART rules and rewarding goals
  • Video 5  –  Feedback strategies
  • Video 6  –  Achievement reviews
  • Video 7  –   Problem & solution solving
  • Video 8  –   The necessity for Change
  • Video 9  –   Pitching value-based strategies
  • Video 10 –  Running with your game plan

Hello and welcome to couchTalk episode – 104. This time we are helping to launch a new 10 video program on our YouTube channel called Mentors Rant.

The progam focuses on the coming changes through technology and the need to get centered with the basic skills surrounding Leadership in our elevator-escalator global tribe.

In my article titled “10 Essential Leadership Skills for ’2019-20 – Our final opportunity to get the basics locked-in”, I state;

The age of Industry 4.0 is upon us and with it comes Big data, IoT, quantum computing, AI, Internet 3.0, 5G, Augmented reality and much more.

Individually each of these breakthroughs will, are changing our lives. With the convergence of these technologies however they will completely re-design the way we live and work in the near future.

For leaders to maintain their edge and to stay abreast of these immense changes to the way our people think, behave and perform, we must have at the very least, a set of basic leadership skills firmly embedded in our DNA. And without trying to over dramatize the situation …  

“There isn’t a lot of time remaining for each of us to prepare for this gravitational shift – a digital quantum leap as such!”

Experts are predicting that in less than 5 years from now we will be living and working entirely different from our norms of today. With this in mind let’s move on to review the 10 basics covered by our videos.

10-Essential-Leadership-SkillsDownload

You can also find this podcast on Stitcher and iTunes;

Right click here and “Save As” to download a copy of this episode to your computer

couchTalk transcripts

What leaders need, to achieve initial buy-in

transcript written by Wayne Brown

“Highly effective presentations for every leader”

  • Video 1.01 – Preparing to present like a Pro
  • Video 1.02 – What leaders need, to achieve initial buy-in
  • Video 1.03 – Leaders that chunk, link, recall and review, win
  • Video 1.04 – Leaders need to learn how to close

Welcome back to “Highly effective presentations for every leader” – have you already complete episode # 1.01 – Preparing to present like a pro? 

As this is a series of 4 episodes, it will make it much easier to watch them in sequence. However, don’t despair; if time is short (and isn’t for everyone), we will start here with a summary of episode 1.01. 

So, it seems you’re about to get started with episode 1.02. 

Here we identify what leaders need to do during the crucial opening moments. 

In the final two episodes, 1.03 & 1.04, titled “Leaders that chunk, link, recall, and review, win” and “Leaders need to learn how to close,” respectively, we’ll investigate how to structure great presentations and then the methods for closing on a high.

5 key considerations from the previous episode – “Preparing to present like a Pro.”           

  • # 1: Know your audience
  • # 2: Structure your presentation
  • # 3: Create great visuals
  • # 4: Powerful questions & engaging activities
  • # 5: Prepare through practice

From episode 1.01 – Preparing to present like a Pro, we covered these 5 key considerations.

– and said to remember that preparation helps you to stay Participant Centred throughout the presentation. 

Let’s quickly recap on what we have covered so far.

#1 Know your audience 

  • meaning know who will be participating and how experienced they are on the subject 

#2 Structure your presentation 

  • by this, we mean actively chunk topics and create links or bridges between these topics, using the rule of 3 and incorporate stories.

#3 Create great visuals 

  • – remember simple is best, so they are easy to read and understand. 65% of adults have a visual learning preference. 

#4 Prepare powerful questions and engaging activities 

  • do some research on questioning techniques such as “funneling and develop simple activities.

#5 Prepare through practice 

  • experts say there are typically 3 presentation versions for every eventual delivery – Each individual needs to develop their own method which works best for them.

7 concepts of memory (listed in order of importance)

Primacy, Recency, chunking, linking, record & recall, review & revisit and outstandingness. 

# 1 in order of importance is Primacy – covered in this episode

# 2 in order of importance is Recency – covered in episode 1.04

# 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 – covered in episodes 1.03 & 1.04.

Before jumping into episode 1.02, we would like to give you a short intro to the 7 concepts of memory (listed here in order of importance) – Primacy, Recency, Chunking, Linking, Record & Recall, Review & Revisit, and Outstandingness.

As stated, # 1 is Primacy – i.e., the thing our participants remember the most from your presentation is the opening (particularly if it stinks).

The second most important is how you close – i.e., Recency

– the last things we hear, do, or say before completing the presentation 

– we address this item in episode 4 of this series.

Whilst #’s 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 (the remaining 5 concepts) we’ll cover in episodes 3 & 4.

So, it’s clearly important if we want people to retain the experience and learnings from our presentation that we turn our focus to these 7 concepts in the remaining 3 episodes.

Let’s now begin with episode 1.02.

Episode 1.02: “What leaders need to achieve initial buy-in.”

Starting now with the 3 vital considerations specific to our second episode – “What leaders need, to achieve initial buy-in.”

– 1st captivate “From the very beginning.” 

– 2nd nailing those “opening comments.” 

– 3rd “Engage through Story.” 

Consideration # 1:            From the very beginning 

  • Dress to impress 
  • Communicate through body language 
  • Standstill – don’t rock or prowl

Consideration # 1:            First impressions are critical, so fromthe very moment you appear, the clock is running, and your audience is making their judgment about you and the likely presentation.

Therefore, make your actions and expressions purposeful 

  • approach the podium confidently, 
  • pause in silence, 
  • scan the room, 
  • raise your eyebrow 
  • and smile. 

People connect more with the top half of your face than the bottom, hence the eyebrow movement but smiling is infectious, so don’t miss it.  

Dress to impress – meaning neatly, regardless of dress code 

– if it’s stated that the dress code is smart casual on the smart side. If more formal, make sure you are clear on the requirements – NEVER underdress.

Use of body language for successful engagement 

> 50% of your communication occurs through your body language. 

  • Standstill – don’t prowl excessively – in the beginning, move more from the hips and plant your feet. 
  • Avoid rocking backward or forward or swaying. 
  • Keep hands visible in front of you. Use them to emphasize a point but don’t become the flag bearer waving wildly.

Consideration # 2:            Opening comments 

  • Remember the “WHY”   
  • Remember the “HOW” 
  • Voice control 
  • Graphic visual image

Consideration # 2:            Opening comments 

– use a powerful intro to give the subject substance & connect to the audience 

When we say “Remember the WHY,” – consider that we are all presenters at some stage in our career. 

The audience is there because they are wanting to hear and learn something new. Ensure your opening confirms their trust in you and reason for listening. 

“Remember the HOW” – by demonstrating through words your Honesty, Authenticity, Integrity, Love – or HAIL, as Julian Treasure refers to it in his 2013 TED Talk on “How to speak so that people want to listen.” 

Julian further defines HAIL “as to greet or acclaim enthusiastically.”

Additionally, lock the audience into you with your voice control 

  • don’t speak too fast or too speedily, 
  • ensure the right tone, 
  • volume and pitch. 

If you have a voice like me, use aids to assist you.

Introduce the subject using words that paint a graphic, visual image. 

  • Explore and express the subject in a way that the audience will connect with. 

Consideration # 3:            Engage through Story 

  • Use stories to link yourself
  • Be relatable
  • And have fun!

Consideration # 3:            Engage through Story 

  • and understand the difference between telling me and showing me a story. 

Learning to become a storyteller is one of your most powerful aids as a presenter. 

Discover how to unpack a story by taking the time to detail and explore details and living each moment.     

Where possible, link yourself into the subject through this story as a means of self-introduction and introducing your background.

Be careful to stay relatable – authentic by being yourself, relaxed, engaging, enthusiastic. If the story is too unbelievable, then more likely that it won’t be.

And finally, remember to have fun 

  • enjoy the moment regardless of whether the topic is serious and dry or humorous and comical.

Consolidation of the 3 key considerations

  • # 1 From the very beginning 
  • # 2 Opening comments
  • # 3 Engage through Story

So that covers the 3 key considerations in this episode # 2.  What leaders need to  achieve initial buy-in.”

Remember that the opening seconds/minutes set the scene for the success of your presentation. In this episode, the 3 key considerations we spoke about were.  

# 1 From the very beginning – we need to approach the podium confidently, pause in silence, scanning the room, raise our eyebrows, pause again, and then smile.

# 2 Opening comments – use a powerful intro to give the subject substance & connect to the audience. Paint a graphic picture through your words.

# 3 Engage through story – and understand the difference between a “telling me & showing me” story.

Thank you for listening to this 2nd episode called “What leaders need, to achieve initial buy-in,” from our series “Highly effective presentations for every leader.” 

We look forward to you joining us as we continue our journey with episode #3 called “Leaders that chunk, link, recall, and review, win”!

couchTalk transcripts

Preparing to present like a pro

transcript written by Wayne Brown

“Highly effective presentations for every leader” …

  • Video 1 – Preparing to present like a Pro
  • Video 2 – What leaders need to achieve initial buy-in
  • Video 3 – Leaders that chunk, link, recall and review, win
  • Video 4 – Leaders need to learn how to close

Hello, I’m Professor Wayne, and I’ll be your Mentor for this video, podcast, and blog series called “Highly effective presentations for every leader.” Welcome to this the first of 4 short modules. 

The title of this episode is – Preparing to present like a Pro, where we will deep dive into the necessary preparation steps that ensure your presentation runs smoothly. 

In the following three episodes, we turn our attention to the presentation delivery focusing first in episode 2 on the opening. In episode 3, we explore the content, structure, and maximization of retention with chunking and linking. Finally, we round out the series in episode 4 by identifying how to close your presentation on a high.

First, now to defining the difference between facilitating and presenting.   

       Facilitation     VS     Presentation

       Facilitation + Presentation = Training

A couple of items to clarify before commencing with the video of the preparation. Let’s first clearly define the difference between presenting and facilitating as the two are often confused.  

Facilitation in the purest sense and as defined in the Cambridge dictionary, “is the act of helping other people to deal with a process or reach an agreement or solution without getting directly involved in the process, discussion, etc. yourself.” 

– a typical example might be if we are chairing a meeting or workshop.

Presentation at its most basic level “is a platform for communicating information and ideas.” 

– there are many examples where we present, but in our case, we’ll be stick with meetings, conferences, public speaking events, or workshops.

While the difference between the two roles is quite clear, it’s also possible to combine Facilitation & Presentation. 

– there are occasions when we need to overlap the two activities, and this is most often seen with people that deliver training as they need to play both roles simultaneously.

Presentation framework and context

Presentation duration – 60 minutes

Target audience – executives 

Presentation subject – focus on Leadership.

One further distinction is to provide some context to this video series and place a framework around the type of presentations we will be discussing;

Any single presentation has a given duration – it can be extremely short, perhaps just a few minutes, or the other extreme can last several hours.

And, of course, anywhere in between. 

In our instance, we’ll suppose a typical 60-minute presentation.

As this series is developed for executives and leaders of our ELEVATOR-ESCALATOR TRIBE, we will target a similar audience group for these 60 min presentations.

The presentation subject is not as important, but again for the sake of this series and for any Use cases introduced in the episodes, we’ll focus on the subject of “Leadership.”

So, let’s look at the 5 specific areas of consideration related to our first video – “Preparing to present like a pro.” They are:

# 1 – Know your audience

# 2 – Structure your presentation

# 3 – Create great visuals

# 4 – Powerful questions & engaging activities

# 5 – Prepare through practice

Consideration #1:       “Know your audience.” 

adjust your presentation,  preparing the timing and flow,   where is the “power” is sitting

Consideration #1:             Know your audience – meaning know who will be participating and how experienced they are on the subject. This helps you stay “Participant Centred” by; 

  • Being able to tailor or adjust your presentation – with both content and your questions. 
    • It also enables you to gauge the timing and flow of the presentation so that you can maintain interest and engagement. 
    • Plus, and very importantly, particularly in meetings, to understand where the “power” is sitting in the room.

Consideration #2:       “Structure your presentation” 

  • clear objectives & include only the key points,
  • focus on participant needs – “think, feel & do.”
  • utilizing the “Rule of 3” and include a story 

Consideration #3:       Create great visuals

; remember simple is best, so they are easy to read and understand.

– this lets the participant digest the message quickly and then return their focus to you. 

For slides – minimize the text (preferably one or two items per slide) together with a grabbing image. Keep the text in the top half of the slide for ease of reading.

For handouts – keep them short, simple, and well-formatted. Use graphics to help illustrate so that the information can be skimmed rather than studied.

For flipcharts, wall charts, or other supporting graphics, they should bring to life the points rather than just restate what you’re saying.

Remember that approximately 65% of all adults have a visual learning dominance or preference. Don’t risk eliminating 2/3 of your audience from the start as a result of poor visuals…

Consideration #4:              “Powerful questions & engaging activities”        

  • Use funnelling technique, 
  • Closed questions for confirmation & closure,
  • Incorporate engaging activities

Consideration #4:             Prepare powerful questions and engaging activities.

– this is such a critical component and yet the area least practiced.       

To assist you here, do some research on questioning techniques such as “funneling.” The method helps you to extract greater involvement through open-ended questions before confirming the situation and then closing the discussion. 

In addition, as adults, we learn best through experience; therefore, if you can incorporate simple, quick activities to re-affirm to key messages you want the participants to grasp, then this is highly effective.

Consideration #5:             Prepare through practice 

– prepare the presentation script, convert the script into key points, practice the presentation,

Consideration #5:       Prepare through practice 

– experts say there are typically 3 presentation versions for every eventual delivery 

  • the presentation you prepare, the presentation you practice, and the final presentation you deliver. 

Each individual needs to develop their own method, which works best for them, but here’s how I do it depending on the level of importance and complexity.

  • Start by preparing the presentation script in detail and edit this until you’re happy when reading it out aloud. 
  • After reciting the script multiple times, convert this detailed script into clustered topics, utilizing techniques such as mind mapping to outline the structure and key points.
  • Finally, find a quiet location or location (somewhere preferably with a mirror) and practice the presentation repeatedly, including the stories. Try to anticipate questions and practice your response. Even better if you can record your delivery, then listen and watch for areas to improve. 

Consolidation of the 5 key considerations

#1 Know your audience

#2 Structure your presentation

#3 Create great visuals

#4 Powerful questions & engaging activities

#5 Prepare through practice

Episode 1 summary            

And that wraps up our 5 key considerations for this topic of “preparing to present like a pro.” 

– remember this preparation helps you to stay Participant Centred throughout the presentation. 

Let’s quickly recap on what we have covered so far.

#1 Know your audience

  • meaning know who will be participating and how experienced they are on the subject.

#2 Structure your presentation

  • by this, we mean actively chunk topics and create links or bridges between these topics, using the rule of 3 and incorporate stories.

#3 Create great visuals 

  • – remember simple is best, so they are easy to read and understand. 65% of adults have a visual learning preference. 

#4 Prepare powerful questions and engaging activities 

  • do some research on questioning techniques such as “funneling and develop simple activities.

#5 Prepare through practice 

  • experts say there are typically 3 presentation versions for every eventual delivery 
  • each individual needs to develop their own method which works best for them.

Thank you for listening to this first episode, “Preparing to present like a Pro.” from our series “Highly effective presentations for every leader.” 

If you enjoyed it, please hit the LIKE button below and be sure to join us for episode #2 called “What leaders need to achieve initial buy-in.” 

We’d love to receive your comments, and if you want to be notified of future material, please subscribe below.

Until next time, stay safe and prepare well. Bye for now.

couchTalk transcripts

Leaders need to learn how to close

transcript written by Wayne Brown

“Highly effective presentations for every leader”

  • Video 1 – Preparing to present like a Pro
  • Video 2 – What leaders need, to achieve initial buy-in
  • Video 3 – Leaders that chunk, link, recall and review, win
  • Video 4 – Leaders need to learn how to close

Welcome back to “Highly effective presentations for every leader” – you have reached the final episode of this series. And before moving onto our new material from episode #1.04, it’s important to recap what we’ve covered so far.

In episode # 1.01 – Preparing to present like a pro, we started by looking at the necessary preparations to enable professional presentations. 

Episode # 1.02 – What leaders need to achieve initial buy-in, we reviewed the critical considerations for that opening stanza of the presentation. 

And the previous episode #1.03, called “Leaders that chunk, link, recall, and review, win,” we looked closely at the essentials for presenters during the body of the delivery – and we’ll now summarize this in more detail.

OK, so lets at the consolidation of the 5 key considerations from episode #1.03.

If you recall, this episode is related to the “body of the presentation,” We touch on the 4 of the 7 concepts for memory retention.  

# 1 The art of chunking & linking – adults digest information best when it is broken into small parcels

# 2 Using body language to enhance the message – focusing on your facial expression, hand gestures, and body movement

# 3 Using voice to enhance the message – just as body language conveys a visual message, your voice conveys the verbal & vocal message 

# 4 Recall through activities – active learning is a powerful mechanism for assisting adults in locking in the message

# 5 Revisit and review – will deepen learning retention and create the potential for behavior change

As we have covered all 7 concepts of memory, let’s review them again here first and in order of importance 

  • Primacy, 
  • Recency, 
  • Chunking, 
  • Linking, 
  • Record & recall, 
  • review & revisit 
  • and outstandingness.               

Do you recall this topic from episode 2, where we said Primacy was the most important concept for memory? 

Well, now we look at the second most important “Recency,”meaning the last things we do before finishing our presentation – our close.

This is your final opportunity to ensure that all of the key points the audience has received and discussed are taken away with them in their minds and perhaps their hands. 

Let us now move into today’s topic.

During the next few minutes, we will explore the final 3 considerations in this 4th and final episode of the series – “Leaders need to learn how to close.”

  • Starting with “Summarizing topics & key take-aways.”
  • Followed by “Concluding the presentation.”

And finishing off with a Call to action     

Are you ready, then let’s start!

Consideration # 1:            Summarizing the topics and key take-aways 

  • this is where you bring it all together that one last time. 

Do you remember we spoke about the importance of reviewing a minimum of 6 times in the previous episode?                       

  • State the topics you have covered and those key points from each – recall something specific that was discussed with these points, so participants can recall.
  • Make the points visual so that there is a final chance to digest and retain – show graphically the link between all the topics which lead to the conclusion.
  • Take final questions and try to seek the audience’s involvement to review if your forum allows.

Consideration #2:              Concluding the presentation 

this is your chance to finish on a high!      

It is a great opportunity to practice your outstandingness – put on your dancing shoes (figuratively speaking) and make it special.

Leave the audience with something to remember the subject by – such as a closing statement quoted by someone famous or a dire prediction if no change follows.

During your preparations, you would have identified this, and now it’s time to live it and illustrate the lasting image you want the group to leave with – make it big and bold on and off the screen.

Consideration # 3:            Calling to action 

  • all great presentations have a follow-up request or requirement     

Try using the “challenge” or “call back” close – pose something which will require the audience to act immediately or commit to a post-workshop event.

Providing handouts, notes, or information on future events for the audience to take if interested is a good idea – but again create a reason why people would want to open it after they leave. 

I’ve been to way too many events where I have been given material that sits on my desk for a while when I get back to the office but eventually ends up on my shelf or in the bin.  

Don’t drag the ending on too long – bring the presentation to a close. 

If possible, stay for the remainder of proceeding to field questions outside of the event. 

To summarize episode # 1.04 and consolidate the 3 key considerations –  we’ve just learned how to effectively close a presentation.            

Start by Summarizing the topics and key take-aways – this is where you bring it all together.

Then conclude the presentation – your chance to finish on a high – Leave the audience with something to remember the subject by – such as a closing statement quoted by someone famous.

And finally, and very importantly, create a Call to action – all great presentations have a follow-up request for some form of immediate action or commit to a post-workshop event.

So that’s it for this episode. Thank you for listening to this series, “Highly effective presentations for every leader.” 

We’ve enjoyed making this short series 12 months back and are happy now that we have them available as a podcast series. We hope you can get value from the discussion and strengthen your presentation ability. 

It’s truly a key skill for all executives. During the series, we have covered  4 topics; 

– Preparing to present like a Pro

– What leaders need to achieve initial buy-in

– Leaders that chunk, link, recall, and review, win

– Leaders need to learn how to close

Please visit our site @ A Mentors Couch.com and subscribe to this channel called couchTALK, on Stitcher and Apple. Plus, if you haven’t already done so, you can watch this series as a video through our YouTube channel Mentors Rant.

We’re presently working on a series of meditation tracks for use during my coaching sessions. After that, we’ll be ready to start moving onto the Leaders Advance series available through our 3 pack approach – video, podcast, and blog.

So until the next release, bye for now, and enjoy presenting!

couchTalk transcripts

Constant change requires leaders to excel in the basics

10 skills at the heart of every leader’s arsenal.

“Topic 2 – Motivating your future team.”

transcript written by Wayne Brown

WOW, you have reached a truly vital stage in the overall Leadership basics series. 

Today our attention is squarely focused on how to motivate your team members.

There is so much great information in this podcast that we debated splitting it in half, but as we’re already committed to having one episode for each of the 10 skills, we’ve found a way to package it. 

Are you ready? Sit back, stay tuned in and remember the transcript and any links will be contained in the accompanying blog.  Here we go…

We’ll cover in the next 20 minutes broadly deals with seven key considerations when understanding and addressing the topic of motivation. We can split these 7 into 3 clusters.

The first cluster of 3 considerations we call our “Motivational Enablers”. This cluster are like the pre-requisites to motivating and cover Leadership behaviors, workspace & environment plus a healthy mind.

The second cluster – a group of 2 considerations, we call our “Motivational platform” – where we look closer at our workforce generational mix and the various motivational theories available to us. 

The final and 3rd cluster we call “Motivational techniques”. Where we dig into using rational and emotion when triggering action.

Under emotion, we explore both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators to satisfy the inner needs. The final area looks into the latest neuro-science model, called SCARF, which assists us in determining the right intrinsic motivators to use based on behavioral preferences.   

Before we go further, however, I want to pause here and add that to be successful in motivating the team requires effort and focus on your part. 

Seldom have we witnessed a motivated team where the leader hasn’t been fully engaged and leading the way. 

Hence all of the following 7 considerations require you to be in the center of the action. 

With that said, let’s move into our first cluster, the “Motivational Enablers”- these are a pre-cursor before attempting to motivate and, if addressed properly, will improve your chance of success dramatically. 

#1 in cluster 1 is you as the leader and the leadership behaviors you display and operate from. Your team wants a leader that embodies all 5 of the following behaviors.  Trust, Listen, Share, Accept and Enable;

  • Trust – the team wants to trust that you have their back and will stand by your word. In turn, you need to demonstrate that you trust the team and that they are working with you, not against you.  
  • Listen – remember the concept of having 2 ears and one mouth. Practice active listening and encourage dialogue. Give your team a chance to have their say.
  • Share – communicate openly, transparently, and frequently. Remove the potential for hidden agendas and rumors with regular townhalls, Q&A, and feedback sessions.
  • Accept – that the team is competent and capable. Seek opportunities to engage them in the decision-making process and learn how to delegate meaningfully.
  • And finally, Enable – building on the first 4 traits, ensure that you provide a way for your team members to develop and grow. Provide sufficiently challenging tasks which encourage their input and shared learnings. 

One last consideration here – as leaders today, we must accommodate diversity and virtual teams. This brings with it different cultures, work environments, and potential for communication challenges, which may hinder our ability to successfully demonstrate all 5 of these behavior traits. 

Leaders today, therefore, need not only to be effective in F2F situations and with their own local teams they must be clear of how to build that trust and relationships in all circumstances to effectively connect in our global operations.

The 2nd “Motivational Enabler” looks at our workspace & environment – not always something which is fully within our immediate control, given budget constraints and fixed facilities. 

As was just mentioned, we must also give due consideration to the reality of today’s virtual teams. These can be as simple as employees working from home or out of their vehicles, to more challenging scenarios in dealing with team members scattered regionally or globally.

But suppose you are creative and engage your team to participate in open dialogue and the decision-making process. In that case, you can and should develop ways to improve the working environment and meet the current day less formal, modern, and healthy workspace expectations – it’s something that nearly all employees we speak with want and appreciate.

Whether this is a fixed or mobile space, remote or local location, taking steps to transform your team’s surroundings, the ambiance, and creating an overall healthier atmosphere can generate a mindset change and positive impact on working attitudes.

The 3rd and final “motivational enabler” and pre-requisite to motivating are a little more challenging to ensure than the first two. It looks at enabling a healthy mind through 7 key foundational life and work practices. 

A detailed review of these 7 practices can be found in an article titled “The Healthy Mind Platter,” published by the NeuroLeadership journal issue 4, back in 2012. 

We’ve placed a link to the article in the blog notes.

To avoid becoming too technical with the explanation, we’ll leave you to read through and understand more deeply about each. You should notice, however, that it supports many previously held beliefs in similar areas of research. 

Here’s the list of seven daily practices required for creating a healthy mind;

  • Sufficient sleep each night (but also considers the use of 10-15 min daily power naps)
  • Get regular physical exercise
  • The ability to engage in playful activities during the day
  • Ensuring sufficient rest time (which is different from sleep)
  • Opportunities for socializing with colleagues, friends & family  
  • Importantly work-related focus time – doing this in chunks is highly effective 
  • And the last is the practice of mindfulness – the newest perhaps in the group and is the subject of considerable research – we see the practice becoming quite common and popular nowadays.

So, there you have it – start with your own mind – challenge yourself to see which of these you are or are not fulfilling, and then look to your team. 

Question your team’s current working & lifestyle – what might be changed to enhance or enable these 7 practices? 

Remember, any of the 3 motivational enablers may work as a motivator, but they serve to open the team to increased performance possibilities. 

Right, so we have addressed the Motivational Enablers and are ready to tackle the two topics in Cluster 2, which we call our “Motivational Platform.”

And the first is a major one. Today, our workforce spans 4 different generations – from baby boomers through Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z or iGen as they are regularly referred to. 

There is nothing new with the age spread – young employees have traditionally entered the scene around 18-20 years of age and worked beside veterans 60 years or more, thus offering a breadth of working knowledge and expertise spanning 40 – 50 years. – i.e., someone that entered the workforce in 1970-1975 is retiring as we approach 2020. 

The clan’s newest member is Generation Z and will soon form the second largest of the 4 groups mentioned. By 2020 it is estimated that the iGen’s will make up 20% of the workforce.

The difference, however, comes when we explore the era that these generations have grown up in and, therefore, the expectations that accompany them. 

In some instances, those expectations have compounded from generation to generation, while particularly in the Millennials and Gen Z case, they have been born into different eras – be it wealthy parents, the threat from terrorism, global financial crisis, or technology explosion and digitalization.

In the latter case, digitalization, we see the technology on every level continually reinventing itself at increasing speed. 

So much so that we’re now entering one of the most transformational periods in our history and certainly for this current workforce demographic. 

We are seeing a convergence of multiple technologies, each one singularly changing how we live, but collectively the impact is probably beyond most of our imaginations – and this in the space of just a few years.  

Your role as a leader is to come to terms with the varying needs and expectations as you look to employ the right motivational techniques.  

We provide links to several articles which discuss Gen Y and Gen Z.

OK, so we’re almost ready to start motivating, but “what should we focus on” and “how to do it” – these 2 questions need to be considered first & therefore forms the 2nd topic of this cluster. 

For more than a century, researchers have been asking these questions and the results are quite interesting. Here, we list many better-known motivational theories that have evolved from more than a century of studies. Theories from legends such as Freud, Maslow, Herzberg, Vrooms, and Adams, through to the more modern and less known neuro-science studies and people such as David Rock.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, that over time, as our workforce evolved, so to have the research findings. 

Of course, technology has played a significant role, enabling us to perform our studies in different ways – particularly in recent decades with the developments in neuroscience. 

With each new theory comes a new level of sophistication in our understanding. 

And as each theory gets accepted by the experts and adopted, we begin to glean a common thread linking past findings and while also identifying elements that bring something new to the table. 

Note that to move forward and onto our 3rd and final cluster, we will work mostly with modern-day theories – those originating during the 1970s through to the last decade. 

And so now to Cluster 3 and the last two of our topics, we’ll discuss the use of “rational & emotional strategies” and how to leverage these to motivate. In particular, we zoom in and explore our extrinsic and intrinsic inner needs.

We have learned that leaders need to address the rationale (i.e., provide a logical, well-structured, wholistic, and simplified communication) when introducing any change topic to the team.

To do this, the leader must provide the meaning related to the topic and enable the team to see the big picture and where they fit into this process. 

This helps individuals, when receiving the information, to digest and associate with it on a personal level. It offers the chance for clarity on the reasoning behind the action. By itself, however, is unlikely to be sufficient.

That’s because we often need a little emotional stimulus to kick start us into action. Here we identify two methods to generate this emotional tie – firstly, we have the traditional power play at our disposal. However, this is no longer the accepted approach in most cultures. 

It may be necessary for certain circumstances, but we try to avoid this method of leading through authority as a general rule. 

The preferred way to trigger buy-in and action is via motivation, and this is what we will focus on for the remainder of this discussion.

Starting with the understanding of two words, “extrinsic” and “intrinsic.” Extrinsic, meaning to provide a short to medium-term stimulus for individuals – through things such as incentives, pay increases, or bonuses. 

We often refer to this as the carrot used to derive an outcome, and while this may be necessary for some circumstances to bring balance and fairness, it not always possible, nor is it seen as a lasting solution. 

The most preferred approach is to address those inner needs by focusing on those intrinsic motivators – and depending on the individual, these will differ. Fortunately, there are various options available – recognition, empowerment, autonomy, challenging tasks, etc., each of these falling into this intrinsic category.  

We now know that we need to lead change through the use of both rational and emotional stimuli. 

For the emotional component, we do so through motivating, perhaps using a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators but leaning mostly on the inherent needs. 

And now for the final piece of the puzzle – an understanding of how to determine the best motivators for each individual in your team?

To assist us in the task, we turn to neuroscience and the latest study published in 2008 on motivation thru determining what triggers social behavior. 

There are two aspects – the first being the principle of threat and reward. The second being 5 domains of social experience, which depending on how each is triggered, can activate a negative, threat response or a positive reward response with our brains’ neuron circuitry.

The actual model uses an acronym called SCARF – and each letter relates to one of the 5 domains. They are Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. 

In the blog, we’ll include a link to the site where you can complete a free online assessment to determine your own domain mixture and which of the 5 are most dominant. 

Understanding yourself first helps you understand the tool and the theory better. It would then be useful to have your team perform this same assessment to have a clear picture about which domains you need to focus on when trying to motivate an individual through reward and which areas you need to be careful not to trigger as a threat. The good news is that this model works across our generations – naturally with differing dominant domains but still with the 5 in play.     

And that’s it – we’ve covered a lot of territory with this podcast, examining 3 clusters of 7 different considerations to achieve highly motivated current and future teams.

The more of clusters 1 & 2 you can incorporate into your preparation and planning, the higher the chance you will have great success motivating your team. 

Provided, of course, that you then incorporate the “how-to” actions – i.e. 

  • combining both the rational and emotive strategies 
  • blended with a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic needs
  • and coupled with what we have learned from the SCARF model on treating each individual based on their social, behavioral preferences. 

We’re planning an Advanced Leadership series to follow this 10-episode Basics series and a promo opportunity here. One topic will be Peak Performance – this is a continuation of this motivation topic and the next topic on delegation – with these two locked in place, the discussion around peak performance makes a lot more sense.

Right so we have finished with our 2nd of the basics

Basic 1 was about Understanding your place in the team

and this one

Basic 2, about Motivating your current and future team.

Next up we look at how to take our motivated employees and find creative ways for you the leader to engage and delegate tasks or projects.

Looking forward to you joining us as we explore what our 4 generations require and answer 3 questions related to delegation – “WHY WHAT & HOW.”

BTW, if you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to subscribe on our website to receive automatic notifications as each new podcast, video, and blog is released. 

Looking forward to chatting again shortly. Cheers for now.