Five Tips For Listening To Employee Needs Better During A War For Talent

In my many years as a leadership and communication consultant, I’ve often heard from leaders that they’re doing their best to listen more—to their employees, customers, peers and direct reports.

Yet when I probe a bit more, I find that what they view as listening is often just scratching the surface. Rather than truly getting to the bottom of what their organization needs to be successful and build a stronger employee culture, they go through the motions with a haphazard or incomplete effort to hear what’s on employees’ minds. In some cases, there’s even fear of what they’ll hear when they ask.

15 Tips For Hosting An AMA Session For Your Business

One of the most popular social media trends right now is the “Ask Me Anything” session, where influencers, celebrities and other prominent figures will candidly answer questions submitted by followers or fans in an online forum. But AMA sessions aren’t just for famous individuals. Businesses can also leverage the trend on any social platform as a culture- and trust-building activity.

The Pandemic Was A Wake Up Call For The Power Of Employee Communication

In my decades of work as an employee communication and leadership advisor to Fortune 500 companies, I can’t imagine a more tumultuous time for leaders than the past two years.

A Change of Heart Leading Into the New Year

When I look back on lessons learned from the past two years with all the upheaval in business and the world, the top point that jumps out is how much leaders learned about the power of effective communication.

This may appear to be a self-serving observation coming from someone who has spent his entire career talking about the critical need for strategic communication. But it doesn't come from just me. This idea was abundantly clear as I conducted interviews with more than 30 leaders from top companies for my new book, "Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything."

Report: Company leaders and employees are operating under a striking disconnect

The progress made by corporate leaders in adjusting to pandemic-related challenges may not be quite as rosy as they think.

A huge disconnect appears to exist between the views of executives and those of employees regarding the future of work, according to a new “Global Workplace Report” released by NTT.

Leaning into leading with heart

David Grossman is the founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning communications consultancy based in Chicago. Through his work, he helps organizations unleash the power of communication to engage employees and drive performance. He recently wrote a book that outlines some of his vast experience in leadership with companies such as Amazon, McDonald’s, SC Johnson, Microsoft and more.

SmartBrief recently had the chance to ask him some questions about that book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything. Here is the insight that he shared:

Heart First Leadership in Unprecedented Times: Guest Post by David Grossman

I am delighted to share this guest blog post from my friend David Grossman. I’ve been a fan of David’s work for years. I had high expectations for his latest book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything; and I wasn’t disappointed. This book is visually stunning and filled with rich lessons and guidance for leaders at any level. In this post, David delves into one of the critical requirements for leading with Heart First: communication.

How an Audience-Focused Approach to Communications Helps You Lead with Heart

Leave it to leadership and communications expert, David Grossman, to decide to write a book called, Heart First, Lasting Leadership Lessons From A Year That Changed Everything. David is so in tune with providing timely, critical, actionable advice, how-to’s and tips for leaders.

Heart First is engaging, inspirational and packed with powerful stories of lessons learned by a wealth of leaders with diverse backgrounds. It’s a book you’ll want to read and then refer to time after time. And, if you read only one leadership book this year, make it this one.

How an Audience-Focused Approach to Communications Helps You Lead with Heart

I started out in 2020 wanting to explore the concept of leading through change with a new book.

In more than three decades working with leaders across industries, I’ve seen a lot of what works, and what doesn’t, and I wanted to share those findings to help others.

And then the global pandemic happened, followed by social unrest that forced a reckoning for business leaders and employees across this country. This was the biggest level of change any of us had experienced in decades. The layers of change felt endless.

Heart First: How Self-Care Enables Effective Leadership

At the start of 2020, my “to do” list included further exploration of the concept of leading through change with a goal of creating a new book. I wanted to share what I’ve learned in more than three decades working with leaders across industries. I thought my experiences would provide good examples of what works, and what doesn’t, and wanted to share those findings to help others.

And then the global pandemic happened, followed by social unrest that forced a reckoning for business leaders, employees and all of us across the country. This was the biggest level of change any of us had experienced in decades. The layers of change felt endless.

6 Leadership Tips for the COVID-19 Crisis

My husband Steve has often said to me, “As long as we have our health, we’re OK. As long as we have each other and our girls, we’re OK. And as long as we have jobs we’re passionate about, we’re OK.”

Now, enter COVID-19. Amid the uncertainty the pandemic has caused in recent months, much of what used to give us comfort and help us operate on solid ground has gone up for grabs.

As leaders during this crisis, how can we rise to the occasion and lift our people up, instead of sinking them further into uncertainty and despair? Here are some strategies to consider:

Top 3 Approaches to Make Your Communication Even More Strategic

Tactics. We love ‘em. Many of us can’t get enough of them.

It’s often what we gravitate to because it’s what we know how to do really well. We can execute like nobody’s business!

Sometimes, too much of a focus on tactics is a trap I see clients fall into, and they’re not alone. Our business partners too often embrace tactics, and even when there’s a need for the strategy to change, stay focused on their execution plan (versus adapting it as you go).

Guide: Financial Services Leaders Can Accomplish A Lot More Through Enhanced Communication

The list of issues to impact the financial services sector in the past decade is long – mortgage fraud, insider trading, money laundering, hackers and identity theft, to name a few. It’s issues like these that have companies in a number of industries understandably concerned about how to communicate with employees and consumers, to protect and grow their brand.