Business leaders across the globe are coming to an unexpected—and undesirable—realization: Their work cultures suck.

Of course, we can’t and shouldn’t label all company cultures as toxic. But the odds are good they’re not ideal and are less than inspiring. In many organizations, poor company culture is the root cause of low employee engagement, poor retention rates of key employees, low productivity, and many more undesirable outcomes.

Difficult questions. We all get them. Particularly in this challenging period, there’s no shortage of tough questions on people’s minds, with employees wondering whether and when they’ll go back to the office or about safety protocols and childcare once they’ve returned.

In my latest book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything, I devote an entire chapter to leader tips for answering tough questions. I often find that with just a little preparation, leaders can accomplish a lot just by educating employees and putting some of their concerns to rest.

Being prepared and practicing these three tried-and-true techniques can help you field with ease that challenging employee question (or reporter who’s looking for a compelling angle).

3 Tips to Facilitate Dialogue and Understanding

I don’t know any senior management team that doesn’t spend days, weeks, working tirelessly on their organization’s strategic plan. And for many of our clients, we’re privileged to help as thought partners throughout that process. 

Senior leaders review the data, envision the future, and shape it into a cohesive entity that fits on a piece of paper. It’s pretty amazing, really. And it’s one of the toughest challenges any team faces: to articulate the strategy that’s going to get you the results Wall Street and others expect. 

You spend hours as a management team working tirelessly on your organization’s strategic plan. Data points are reviewed, the future is envisioned, and words are carefully chosen to describe where you go from here.

You leave your two-day meeting confident in your strategic plan and energized about your path forward.

But what do you really have? A document summarizing your management meeting.

It might contain your strategic plan, but it’s just another document until it is shared and activated through your employees.

It can be tempting at times to adopt a leadership style that you appreciate in a boss.

Want to be that amazing motivational leader who delivers killer presentations at the sales conference? Or the CEO with a knack for sizing up the numbers in a moment’s notice? Or how about that executive with the classic, outgoing style that has everyone circling around him or her?

We’re a few months into 2021, a year that couldn’t come soon enough for many, and we wanted to take a look at what content has resonated most with you – our readers – so far this year. There’s a great variety of posts to help you lead and communicate. Top content from Q1 ranges from how to show your employees you care and ways to smile more, to how to differentiate communication from information and effectively plan your next communication in 5 minutes. There’s also guidance on how to create a line of sight to the strategy for your employees, building feedback channels, strategic messaging, and more.

So, in case you missed any of these, here’s the top content others found most helpful in Q1 of 2021.

10 Most-Read Leadership & Communication Blogs in Q1 2021

I remember the day well. I began working with a leader who was promoted to join the senior management team and had taken on significant new responsibilities. This was an incredibly smart, capable, and deserving leader. 

As we were talking about his new position, I shared with him what I’ve learned from working with other leaders in the same situation who, with the best intentions, pushed forward without considering some of the new skills needed to succeed in this transition.

New Leadership Role, New Skills

A senior executive once commented to me about the repetition of her messages. “I’m tired of sharing these same messages and stories,” she lamented after the umpteenth communication on a crucial topic.

My response – “I hear you. That’s progress. Since it means you’re being consistent across a myriad of audiences.”

Now more than ever, leaders play a pivotal role in connecting, calming and inspiring their teams. Even as you and your organization are challenged during this time of uncertainty and change, employees also have a lot on their minds, and often a mix of emotions about themselves, their families and their work situation. A little empathy and thoughtful communication can go a long way to help employees know you care.

Here are some simple, yet powerful, steps you can take to show employees they are cared for: