Leadership

3 Ways to Lead Sustainable Change, Even When the Stakes are High

Leaders and high stakes conversations

“Lead Sustainable Change, Even When the Stakes are High”

What does it mean to be in ‘high stakes’and to lead sustainable change? Being in high stakes means being at high risk.

As a leader being in any type of situation that has a lot of risk can be called ‘high stakes’.

High-Stakes Scenarios leaders can learn from

A few examples of high-stakes scenarios and where sustainable change is needed include:

You have been going through a difficult personal time and your boss has ordered you to take some time off against your will.
When you gave your colleague a recent piece of bad news, he/she erupted, flew off the handle, and then later acted as if nothing had occurred.
A peer consistently spots deficiencies in what you do making it hard for you to deliver and yet that person appears to get away with not delivering.

As leaders, a variety of things ride on how we manage any situation at hand. While we might know change in senior team is unavoidable and coming, we might not know how we can best navigate and lead sustainable change in the organizational perspective of our team.

3 Ways to lead sustainable change

TeamCatapult coaches agile coaches, team and support business leaders, facilitators, and executives aka key stakeholders, in leading sustainable change. We know that leaders get stuck, especially when the stakes are high.

Here are 3 ways to lead sustainable business leaders to change a sustainable future, even when the stakes are high.

1 Read the room and a system behaviorally

To Read the Room (and the people in it, of course) is to know how to move forward and to lead sustainable change. It is the first step to take when you find yourself in a high stakes situation.

There are four kinds of conversational action in all of our communication.

Every sentence or phrase we say can be coded into one of these four actions that David Kantor calls “speech acts”:

Move
Follow
Oppose
Bystand

Did you know that the structure of our language informs our behavior and shapes our reality? So, by deconstructing these structures that sit behind our reactions, it becomes possible to understand and change the disruptive patterns of behavior that tend to erupt; sometimes without warning.Learn more about

2 Name the hidden dynamics

In our work at TeamCatult, we use Structural Dynamics to explore the range of powerful, but invisible forces that drive our face-to-face interactions when the stakes are high and organizational change is needed. This means learning to map patterns of behavior and understand how they show up at particular interfaces.

We prefer teaching how to map patterns of behavior in small groups and with an experienced team of coaches to lead sustainable change.

Learn more about

3 Work with human behavior in crisis

Last but not least, learning to work with human behavior in crisis is the last step to leading change. Naturally, this means when the stakes are high and often includes senior team members,

What does it look like to read reactive behavior in self and in others, and to develop the ability to lower the stakes for self and others? This work takes both personal reflection time and practical steps that help to integrate the concept and to develop the competency through practice.

TeamCatapult and how we support business leaders

Learn more about

Leading sustainable change: start your journey to leadership today!

Want to learn more bout leading sustainable change and how it changes at the organizational level? Want to put into practice to be ready next time you encounter a high-stakes situation in your team?

Our Changing Behavior in High Stakes workshop is designed for this purpose!

This is what you can expect to learn in this workshop:

Identify features of ‘contracting’ and preparing for high-stakes interventions
Know how to use Generative Dialogue to help a team and/or system reveal more about itself
Be able to discern the various voices and perspectives whilst remaining neutral and bystanding the system
Become skilled at observing, identifying, and transforming high-stakes behaviors that are contributing to reactivity
Work proactively with perturbance particularly when the stakes need to be raised and deal with associated escalation
Know how to lower the stakes for others using core principles for managing high stakes effectively

If you are ready to lead sustainable organizational change, in your team, you’ve come to the right team to support you on that journey!

How to Find the Most Impactful Leadership Stories of 2022

If you’ve come here to find the most impactful leadership stories of 2022, you are in for a treat. We’ve heard some incredible stories throughout this past year and can’t wait to share them with you!

I launched the Defining Moments of Leadership podcast in January with the inaugural season. Season 1 of the podcast ran from January until July with 14 episodes, while Season 2 kicked off in November with the goal of pushing out several episodes before year end before continuing into 2023.

Finding Defining Moments of Leadership

Before the first podcast episode went live, my goal was to find as many interesting, diverse and unusual stories of leadership.

While I started interviewing my first few guests with a specific ‘defining moment’ in mind, during the second part of season 1 I wasn’t always privy to a ‘defining moment’ until we recorded the podcast interview.

Finding defining moments of leadership is a journey of self-awareness. Not every guest could articulate their defining moment when I first asked them to be a guest. Yet every single guest was able to share their unique story of that defining moment when they stepped into a leadership role once the conversation started and we hit ‘record’.

2022 Stories of Leadership

After recording close to 20 podcast sessions I have a confession to make. Every single one of these stories have moved me and helped me grow as a leader. I learn something from every guest, and more importantly, I can relate to their struggle and triumphs as I too have struggled and triumphed.

Our podcast is not the only place TeamCatpult heard stories of leadership.

Here are three other places we’ve connected with leaders and heard their stories in 2023

Agile2022 Conference in Nashville

2022 was the year that gave us back in-person meetings with colleagues, friends and our online network. Several of our staff members attended Agile2022.

During the event in Nashville, we hosted a special event to launch a preview of my second book “Build Your Model for Leading Change”, handing out 250 early-bird copies of the book to leaders in the Agile community!

We laughed, hugged, learned and shared stories of leadership for three full days. What a wonderful time we had. Did you miss it? You can read the round up of Agile2022 right here.

“Build You Model for Leading Change” Book Club

After the distribution of those early-edition copies of my new book in July at the Agile 2022 conference, we launched a LIVE book Club in August to hear more stories of leadership while reading the new book together..

We used a four week 30-minute Zoom Book Club meeting model to allow for open and honest discussion about leadership and model building. We had fellowship, conversation, feedback on the book and we heard leadership stories.

These stories were incredible. If you missed the book club, don’t fret. The best of these stories will soon be told in season 2 of Defining Moments of Leadership podcast (HINT: early 2023!)

The book ‘Build you Model for Leading Change’ is currently in production and can be preordered. Stay tuned to our podcast, blog and social channels to find out when the full edition will be published

The Most Impactful Leadership Stories of 2022 by TeamCatapult

Last but not least, we want to share our Top 5 Leadership stories with you. These stories are our most-downloaded and listened to podcast episodes of 2022.

Lyssa Adkins on the Gift of Leading from Behind
Shannon Ewan on Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs
Mags Ng on Being Authentic and Extraordinary
Ahmed Sidky on Growing Human-Centric COO Leaders
Sarah Hill and Tony Melville on Co-Leadership

If you have never listened to our podcast, start with these 5 amazing stories of leadership. If you have listened, I encourage you to take a second listen and see how you can apply these lessons and insights as you prepare for 2023!

An Online Community of Leaders

If you love stories of leadership and want to continue this journey and listen to more stories, come join our Facebook community today!

Will I see you there?

~ Marsha

The Grateful Leader: 5 Ways to Lead a Team During an Economic Downturn

While we are in the middle of a holiday season, we are hearing story after story after story of disillusionment. People, our friends, being laid off from their dream jobs.

As leaders, we want to hold the responsibility that leads our teams to success and conversely to care for them during the “down times.” It’s easier through those times of happiness, but the challenge lies in those times of conflict or now during an economic downturn.

How do you show leadership when you yourself might be worried, scared and yes, possibly depressed as changes in the economy threaten your livelihood and your own job security?

5 Ways to Lead your Team During an Economic Downturn as a Grateful Leader!

Read. Learn. Implement!

1 Be Candid and Transparent with your Team

Be transparent and give people the ‘why’ when changes are coming to your company and your team. Tough news is somewhat easier to digest when you explain the ‘why’ behind budget cuts, team reorganization and possible layoffs. By speaking the hard truths, you can avoid pretending everything is fine one day, knowing massive changes are approaching. Being candid helps to reduce discontent and helps your leadership credibility.

2 Encourage Conversations

During an economic downturn people are scared of the unknown and uncertainty. It’s normal for your team to be scared. They are worried about job security, which translates into worries about their future, perhaps being able to provide for a family. One way to find out what your team is thinking and worrying about it to encourage conversations.

Expect these conversations to be about their personal life and worries, but also about the team. Team dynamics might shift as company wide reorganizations might be in the works. Talk about what this might mean for your team, and share how you’ll be present through all of it.

Ways to encourage more candid conversations:

Don’t skip meeting check-ins
Make it okay to hold ad hoc meetings specific to a situation
Dare to dialogue

3 Listen to your Team

As much as you can encourage conversation among your team members, be sure to listen as well. Listen with intent for what their immediate concerns are and if you can, provide space for candid results. Offer reassurances if they are available. Be willing to say “I don’t know…” and then find the answer.. Listen for potential roadblocks down the road, for grievances, and for conflict.

Ways to listen to your team:

Stay neutral in time of conflict
Stand in the storm when things are tough
Bystand in those high-stakes situations

4 Prioritize Resources: Products and People

As a leader, the distribution of resources is your responsibility. Prioritizing your products, services and people to get the most out of everything and everyone can be an exhausting task when resources have become scarce. Be prepared to shift when needed. If you have to move things around, go back to number 1, transparency. Tell your team what is happening and why.

Ways to prioritize resources:

Agile mindset
Avoid over-allocating
Find the BLUF and speak to it

5 Uphold your Company Strategy

Your company’s strategy should not change at the tip of a hat. A strategy is the long game. What can and should change, in times of economic downturn, are tactics. Tightening the belt might mean less marketing, less outreach, smaller projects, putting projects on hold. However, cutting all marketing, all outreach and all projects will not uphold your strategy if these are your main points of sales and revenue.

As a grateful leader, it is up to you to dive deep and come up with ways to uphold the strategy laid out previously, and take care of the budget, productivity and people all at the same time.

The Grateful Leader Leads by Example

Leaders lead by example, in good times and bad times.

Those who depend on you for leadership will be worried and scared in times of economic downturn. Your team needs your empathy, your listening ears, your attention and your devotion to them to be clear and present.

Let me end this with this beautiful quote: “When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.” ~ Kristin Armstrong

~ Marsha

3 Things to Never Compromise On When Building Your Career

No matter where you are in your leadership journey: at the beginning, in the middle or on top of your game, at some point in your career you will be asked to compromise for the ‘good of the team’.

Now, chances are high that we all experience this situation at one time or another. So it’s prudent to reflect on it and think about it so you’re prepared when it occurs. .

The truth is I was asked this question a few years ago. Fortunately, I was able to articulate three things I am not willing to compromise on. No matter what.

As I wrote them down, I found comfort knowing that if I feel myself wavering, I can easily go back to these three things. I encourage you to make your own list and to put it somewhere where you can reference it quickly.

Some might even consider that this is about your reputation and your self-preservation that’s at risk.

What Will You Never Compromise On in Your Career?

Here are the 3 things I’ve identified I will not compromise on.

1 Doing work for free

If you’re just getting started in business it can be easy to fall into the trap of giving away work for free.

Don’t do it.

It devalues what you bring and the product or service you have to offer. Instead, have a purpose driven strategy for when you might discount work or do pro-bono work and stick with it.

I have discounted rates in order to support a cause or non-profit mission that I believe in.

2 Doing work with others when it’s not a good fit

Early on in my company I was focused on revenue and keeping the lights on. That led to clients and partnerships that I didn’t really enjoy.

As Marie Kondo says, those relationships did not bring me joy.

Today, I trust my instincts and when I meet someone – potential colleague, client or business partner – and the relationship just feels ‘off’, or I’m having to work too hard to move things forward, then I know it’s not a good fit. I’m always asking myself ‘does this bring me joy?’

3 Saying yes to projects without clear goals

When asked to contribute to someone else’s projects, I don’t immediately say no.

I am often asked to contribute my

Time
Funds, i.e. sponsorship
Thoughts, i.e. podcast, blog, speaking

Before I say decline or accept, I honor the value of being curious and ask for distinct goals.

If there are no clear goals, no measures of success put in place, no data to be shared with myself and my team, I pause to evaluate if this is worth my (our) time? If not, I circle back up to #1 and 2 and I decline.

Ideally, goals align for all parties. If the goals set forth do not align with my own business goals, I will also decline.

Build Your Career Your Way

I encourage you to do this work soon.

Answer the question:

“What are 3 things I would never compromise on” and write down your answers.

Someday soon you’ll be glad you did.

You will save yourself a lot of headaches, frustration, time and ultimately money!

~Marsha

Women in Leadership: How to Find Your Authentic Voice

Do Women Make Better Crisis Leaders?

Leadership effectiveness is about the extent to which people are willing to follow the direction a leader sets. We support what we help to create. What makes people most likely to follow a direction is the opportunity to have a voice and contribute to the direction and to feel heard in the process. Leaders who are able to listen, be curious, take in multiple perspectives, navigate decisions that do not have easy answers, consider the impact on both people and results, and get things done are far more likely to build relationships and trust…someone that others want to follow.

There are three languages of communication that we speak in:

Power
Affect
Meaning

Men Vs Women Leaders: Who Speaks Affect?

Men and women both can and do speak in Affect, But organizations can have cultural biases that minimize or silence communication in affect. I’ve witnessed leadership teams where someone would inquire about how the staff might feel about a decision and the response was sentiments like – ‘this is work, it’s not personal’ or ‘I don’t know, I’m not their therapist’. Those beliefs hinder anyone from bringing the voice of affect, which is needed at all times, but most certainly in a time of crisis.

Our societal norms make it more socially acceptable for women to bring the voice of affect,which is one reason this skill might be more developed for women. Yet this is ultimately about having range in your behavior and communication;meaning that it’s available and accessible to men as well.

Obstacles that Dissuade Women from Actively Pursuing Leadership Roles

Many years ago as I took on a new leadership role I was told by the CEO “I don’t think you have what it takes to lead.”About six months later he came back to me and said “I was very wrong.”. Leadership is not a cookie cutter mold – it looks different on everyone and yet women often get told we are ‘too much’ of something or ‘not enough’ of something else. Women are often judged or critiqued against an old mental model of what leadership looks like. We need to change that. Our job in corporate America is to welcome differences in leadership – we need leaders who are effective and capable of bringing a whole range of behavior and communication propensities to their role.

Women Who Pushed Back Are an Inspiration

I’m inspired by many women who have a story to tell where they pushed back against feedback or norms that said ‘you can’t do it that way’. Oprah tells a story about when she first launched her talk show and after a bad experience with a guest segment she made a personal decision that she would no longer invite certain types of guests. She got lots of push back about how that would not work and people would not watch. Amidst all of that feedback she maintained her clear vision about the impact she wanted to have and what she believed was needed. It’s a real example to me of clarity of purpose and trusting your gut instinct that makes it your own brand of leadership – not someone else’s.

Advice for Young Women Entering the Workforce

Don’t take it personally if someone thinks your version of leadership is not leadership. Treat it as a data point and decide what you want to do from there. Keep in mind that the feedback is as much about them as it is you. Find your own authentic voice and then find the place that is the right fit for you. Pay attention to your gut instinct. When a team or company does not feel like a good fit – follow that instinct before you get locked into believing that you don’t have any other options and you have to just be miserable in order to bring home a paycheck.

Impactful Business Lessons From the Pandemic to Carry Forward

When I draw a timeline of my professional and personal life, what I have come to learn is that many of the high moments are preceded by a low moment – a time when it felt like everything was being pulled out from under my feet.

So coming into 2020 I already had a value of looking at those ‘low’ moments as a place to create rather than get caught up in the disappointment, fear or longing for what once was. So in March of 2020 I pivoted the whole business to go from executive coaching and leading workshops in the room across the country to coaching and leading workshops online – and it worked! My business had transitioned to completely remote since 2012, so we already knew how to work online.

I have learned the value of not being so attached to how we do things currently that I miss the moments to invent, create and pivot to something completely new. It’s important to observe what’s needed and be willing to try small experiments that you can learn from quickly. The pandemic taught me to be okay with things not being perfect and make it okay for others as well. I call it the year of our beautiful human imperfections – where it’s okay to bring your full-self to work.

Find your Superpower as a Female Leader

I know this about me: I care about and I frequently seek the perspectives of others. I do both of these without thinking, so they come naturally. I’ve learned to find the balance of not over caring – meaning filling that role for others. I have also learned that there are times to seek perspective and time to just make a decision and move forward.

I encourage you to find and nurture your superpower. It may take some trial and error to land on it, so start now and take notes. (or something to wind this up.)

Marsha

An earlier version of this article was published in HR.com as part of their Women in Leadership series.