leadercommunicator blog

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts I've seen over the past week. Given the current state of business today and how much has changed because of COVID-19, I'm continuing to use the Weekly Round-Up as a place to share some of the best resources I'm seeing to help leaders and communicators navigate this new normal with their teams. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• The 2 Factors That Drive Powerful and Productive Team Conversations
  By Randy Conley (@RandyConley), Leading with Trust
  
  Drive powerful and productive team conversations by finding the balance between these 2 factors: candor and curiosity.
  
  “It’s ok, you can admit it. We’ve all been there. Working in teams can be incredibly frustrating. Whether it was in school, work, or a community organization, you’ve probably had a dysfunctional team experience. It’s that team who can never seem to productively discuss challenging topics. Either they avoid the conversation completely and pretend the issue doesn’t exist, or when someone does get the courage to raise the topic, the discussion becomes heated and spirals out of control...”
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Many of you have likely not attended a business event – or any event, for that matter – in a few months with the sweep of event cancellations due to coronavirus concerns. Even as some states open up “nonessential” businesses and lift stay-at-home orders, large events remain off the table for safety. However, human interaction isn’t any less important than it was before the crisis. In fact, it’s a lifeline for people in isolation dealing with stress and anxiety. The only difference between then and now is how we interact, not why. 

The answer here might surprise you.

Both can be effective communicators, if they understand the implications of their preference, and flex their style. The variables to consider are about the quality and quantity of communications.

How to Be a More Effective Introvert

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts I've seen over the past week. Given the current state of business today and how much has changed because of COVID-19, I'm continuing to use the Weekly Round-Up as a place to share some of the best resources I'm seeing to help leaders and communicators navigate this new normal with their teams. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• Arianna Huffington and Julia Gillard on Leadership During Uncertain Times
  By CEO Magazine (@TheCEOMagazineG)
  
  Two leaders share why the pandemic is an important way to reset the world and describe their visions for the future of work.
  
  “Arianna Huffington and Julia Gillard have come together to share how they’re coping during the pandemic, hoping to uplift and inspire others. The Thrive Founder and CEO and Australia’s first female prime minister engaged in a heartwarming discussion about the importance of optimism and empathy during these testing times. “We have to use this time as a catalyst for building a world that’s better, fairer and more compassionate than the world we are leaving behind,” Arianna said...”
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Amid Pandemic, Employee Concerns Command Leader Attention

The Grossman Group recently conducted a survey of dozens of leaders and communicators, asking a frank question: “What’s keeping you up at night?”

It turns out that the answer was essentially, “a lot!” Here’s a sampling of one respondent who summed up the wide-ranging concerns in a hospital setting:

“I work in healthcare in NYC. My staff are already suffering on a personal level, dealing with all the changes brought on by COVID (risk of exposure, lack of social/familial support, childcare, spouse job loss, death and illness of loved ones). Added to that is the fact that we have had to completely change the way we work, resulting in a significant increase in individual workload to get the same work done. The hospital still has to function. Money is EXTREMELY tight. I can’t get any additional resources. And my staff are drowning. How do I support my staff (and advocate for them) in a situation that seems impossible to manage?”

As we continue to adjust and reinvent how we lead and communicate in today’s new normal, we wanted to take a look at what content has been most popular among our readers. So in case you missed any posts, here’s the content others found most helpful in Q2.

10 Most-Read Blogs in Q2 2020

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best recent leadership and communication blog posts I've seen over the past week. Given the current state of business today and how much has changed because of COVID-19, I'm continuing to use the Weekly Round-Up as a place to share some of the best resources I'm seeing to help leaders and communicators navigate this new normal with their teams. 

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• 6 Ways Leaders Build Trust During Change
  By Randy Conley (@RandyConley), Leading with Trust
  
  Randy Conley, Vice President & Trust Practice Leader for The Ken Blanchard Companies, provides six specific steps leaders can take to build trust during organizational change.
  
  “Death and taxes have traditionally been viewed as the two guarantees in life, but I think a third item has officially made the list: change. The pace of change accelerates with each passing, day, month, and year. The exponential growth of technology has enabled new products, services, and businesses to rise to prominence in short order, and has caused others to become obsolete just as quickly...”
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We were all a child once and now perhaps it is time to act like a child again.

That sage advice is not an exclusive thought. It originates from Mr. Fred Rogers, the same television personality who once advised us to look for the helpers in times of crisis. When you look for the helpers, you find hope. When you think, and act like a child, you find healing.

Over the last several months, we’ve all faced discomfort in new ways – from navigating the unknowns of the pandemic and making (and communicating) difficult business decisions, to facing unconscious bias and having important conversations about race – there’s no doubt we’ve gotten out of our comfort zones in new ways. If you’re like me, I’m committed to taking these lessons forward and pushing myself to embrace discomfort even more. If you were to commit to some additional chutzpah in your communications, where might you focus your energies?

Here are 9 ways to build more courageous conversations:

Welcome to my weekly round-up of the best-of-the-best leadership and communication blog posts I've seen recently. As we move forward through the COVID-19 pandemic and social crises, we wanted to share a few of the most thoughtful and compelling resources to help you respond courageously and compassionately as leaders, and take positive action as an organization.

This Week's Round-Up of Leadership and Communication Blogs:

• 6 Ways Humility Can Make You A Better Leader
  By Gwen Moran (@gwenmoran via @FastCompany), Fast Company
  
  Leaders who are humble and admit mistakes outshine others. Use humility to be more effective as a leader in these six ways.
  
  “When we think of traits leaders typically exhibit, many come to mind–including strength, charisma, enthusiasm, and vision. One important component is often overlooked: humility...”
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