"In a small organization how do I manage staff and provide effective leadership with my staff that have turned into friends?" WHY FRIENDSHIP AT WORK? The intersection of management and friendship can be a tricky one. What makes it tricky for you? Some concerns I have heard in conversations with leaders are things like: I’m afraid to hurt the feelings of my friend if I have to confront something. What if I believe I am supposed to move on? How would I tell my friends? What if some of the team members get along and others don’t? Isn’t it better to just keep it professional and avoid clicks?     I’ve also heard some of the benefits: There is this synergy that really has helped us achieve a whole new level of work I look forward to work everyday because of the great people I get to do this with Friendship at work made it possible for me to walk through tough stuff and still do my job   You are not alone on being torn between the pros and cons of this one. Historically, leaders have viewed friendship at work as detrimental to productivity.  People lingering at lunch break or stopping by workstations to chat or hanging out by the water cooler. In that moment, they aren’t working so it seems that productivity would be down, right? Did you know that Gallup research is showing that friendship actually improves productivity? Shocker, right? Time spent doing actual work is not the only measure of productivity. Let’s add effort to that equation. You can manage someone’s time by requiring a schedule or a timesheet and think it equals productivity, but it doesn’t. Time is a factor, and energy or effort is what can make that time actually productive. The Multiplier Effect: Time X Effort = Productivity WHAT IS FRIENDSHIP? Think about friendship and what we mean when we say friends at work.  Friendship is important; but it doesn’t mean doing life with everyone. There’s different layers of friendship. Gallup shared with us that people who have a friend at work report: A sense of belonging, a close bond Someone who “has your back” – someone who looks out for you   I’ve seen the benefits of friendship at work in my own life and in others. Instead of the hard and fast boundaries of work vs. home, it’s living in the tension between the two.  But, what if friendship goes all wrong and negatively impacts the work of the team?  HOW CAN YOU ADDRESS THE DRAWBACKS? I’ve heard concerns and you can’t just ignore them >> because they won’t go away on their own. I’ll throw a few there that I hear often.  READ MORE LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Why We Need Friends At Work The Tenth Element of Great Managing More of Annie’s Story: Community of Healers SIGN UP: Bringing Out Your Best Blog Series Learn more about Annie

"Now that our roles on the team are getting clear, it seems like our weekly team meetings aren't that effective. How do I decide when we should meet and what we should meet about?" Let’s make meetings better . . . or as I like to say, make meetings matter. WHAT SHOULD WE MEET ABOUT? What happens at necessary meetings? People are dialed in, focused and engaged. If you aren’t seeing that kind of response, then you need to ask, “Is this meeting necessary?”  A recent meeting I attended was all about reading the status report. Then, on the last bullet something surprising happened. Questions emerged. Discussion started. People were engaged. Who knew that this status report would turn into a rich conversation?  Well, maybe we could have known because the last bullet was something new. That was the CLUE! Anyone in the room could have probably identified the last bullet needed discussion before the meeting even started.  So, if status updates isn’t a good enough reason for a whole meeting, then what necessitates a meeting? Well in my story – the discussion on that last point really needed a meeting. It was a topic that required some collaborative problem solving, sharing of ideas, evaluating how it was working and deciding on how we wanted to make a minor shift. What are the things on your meeting agenda that gets people sitting on the edge of their seats ready to contribute, where ideas are flowing and better decisions are made? Those are the things that should get on your whole team agenda. Find another way to communicate the rest. A NOTE ABOUT “WHO” You probably used to need meetings to collaborate because there was more fluidity in the roles and in the discussion you were able to decide who was going to do what. Team roles are getting clearer now. Not everyone needs to be involved in the same level of detail.  It’s a tricky transition – try this. Take your typical agenda for the team meeting. Create three columns on your paper and divide your agenda items into one of these columns: Whole team discussion and collaboration A subset or working group  Empower that leader to decide in their specialized area   WHEN SHOULD YOU MEET? One team that used to meet weekly moved to every other week and started using the in-between week for work groups. What I like about that is you aren’t just adding the working meetings onto the weekly meetings. I’ve seen that a lot as organizations grow they start adding more meetings – that are needed – but they don’t subtract (or re-evaluate) other meetings. It starts to impact productivity when we have too many meetings.  If you want your meetings to meet the needs of your team and be worth the time, you need to facilitate them well.  Set an agenda in advance – even a framework that you repeat every meeting Start it on time and end it on time Use a parking lot when discussion gets off topic Don’t be afraid to pause and delegate a complex topic to a separate group    That doesn’t mean it isn’t relational!!! You don’t want to lose the camaraderie of the whole team that you’ve gained up til now. Nurture the relationships because everything hinges on that. Links to check out: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Blog Series on Meetings Michael Hyatt’s No Fail Meetings Episode 6: Leading Differently in a Remote World with Christa Hutchins Learn more about Annie

 "How do I lead someone that has more expert knowledge than me, they are used to leading others -- maybe they have even done my job before -- and now I have to give them direction and figure out what I can offer them? What should my approach be?" What an awesome opportunity for you as a leader to have people on your team who are smarter than you. That’s a great problem to have . . . but I know it can also present some challenges as you lead. WHAT MAKES A LEADER GREAT? Step back and reflect: STEP 1: Think back to a great leader in your own life, what are 3 qualities would you call out? Being able to articulate three qualities that matter to YOU will tell you a lot about how you like to lead and what approach you are naturally inclined to use. STEP 2: Think about the person you are now leading. What do you think is important for them? If you’re not sure, it’s okay to ask.  While experience is still important, once you know what is a great leader for you and what is a great leader for them …. Then you can start deciding what your approach will be. LEADING FROM STRENGTHS You already know that leading is so much more than a position or you wouldn’t be asking the question and you wouldn’t have hired someone who has more experience than you. Leadership is influence and influence flows from doing what you do well and doing it authentically.  So, what are your strengths and how can they guide you in leading all kinds of team members no matter their expertise or experience? DON’T DESPISE “YOUNG WISDOM” There’s a possible underlying concern you might have. Let’s see if this resonates. I’ll call it young wisdom versus seasoned wisdom. Seasoned wisdom is for someone with more experience – on the job or in life – seasoned by those experiences and even expertise they may have developed over time.  This kind of wisdom is even more valuable when paired with what I am currently calling “young wisdom”. It's a wisdom that some possess before all the experience has been added on. You just see things and can speak into them with insight that some would call “beyond your years.”  Think about when the Apostle Paul tells Timothy … “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” You’ve probably heard of mentoring and how powerful it is. Someone who is more seasoned and experienced (like Paul) and can impart wisdom into us as leaders (like Timothy). Well, there’s also this thing you probably haven’t heard as much about, it’s called reverse mentoring.  WHAT IS REVERSE MENTORING? You guessed it – it’s this opportunity for those with young wisdom to speak into the lives and leadership of those with seasoned wisdom. We can benefit from each other and this mutual mentoring can create a powerful synergy that helps you develop your own leadership and invest in the leadership of others around you regardless of their experience or their “seasoning”.  You have a great opportunity to build a team with wisdom and experience that leverages strengths and values each person’s contribution. So, have fun, be you! Know the qualities that are important to you and leverage your strengths to build those qualities into your leadership approach.  And keep asking questions … LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Episode 1: Asking Powerful Questions Learn more about Annie  

"How do you lead well when Covid has changed the landscape of how to lead people now that they are mostly working from home?" It has been fascinating to see how leaders and teams have risen to the challenge of being forced to do something so differently with the shift to suddenly working remotely. Listen into today’s episode with Christa Hutchins on how expectations for the way we lead have forever changed.  Our past leadership paradigm involved managing expectations by trading time for money. You track hours or set the number of hours someone needs to be working and manage to that expectation. In our remote world, the paradigm must shift to clarifying expectations based on the desired outcomes or the results you want to see rather than the time it takes to do it. You can ease up the tension of this transition by having conversations to clarify outcomes. In a remote team, we’ve moved from trading time for money to trading money for outcomes. Our teams are experiencing new kinds of stress at home and work. The more you can remove the stress of “time” and point to “outcomes” instead – the more motivation and engagement you will experience with your people.  Clear expectations can create security in an uncertain world. QUICK TIPS TO LEAD REMOTELY: Schedule intentional “stopping points” to replace the natural check-in’s that happen in the rhythm of a day or week when you are in the same building Be bold and create your version of a “water cooler” conversation remotely Pay special attention to integrate new team members into the virtual social rhythms that occur naturally and can be easily missed in a virtual workplace Offer reassurances when people are in transition either moving remote or moving back into the office Set a block of time that becomes “core” meetings and the other time offers flexibility to get work done or address family issues and then finish tasks later in the evening Talk about changes in work style expectations: video meeting etiquette, meeting structures, team interactions, personal connections, work check ins Thank  you for joining us for ideas to help you get more savvy in leading in this rapidly changing world where remote teams will shape our leadership experience. Our special guest today, Christa Hutchins is owner of Do A New Thing, equipping busy communicators and leaders with project management and problem solving skills so they can turn their big ideas into a successful ministry or business. She is passionate about teaching women to find practical application of the Bible in their personal, professional and ministry lives. Christa lives in south Louisiana with her husband in their delightfully empty nest.  And answering questions is our gig here . . . if you’ve got them we want to answer them, so send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Get in touch with Christa Hutchins of Do A New Thing Or follow her on Instagram or Facebook @doanewthing Learn more about Annie

"We need to make some role changes on our team. Should I write the job description around their strengths or based on what the organization needs?" SO, WHAT ARE THEIR STRENGTHS? This might be a really good time to use assessments if you haven’t. Or, pull out old assessment results that might have been shelved for a while.  Plot the strengths of each individual on your team to see how they all fit together. Step back and simply make observations. Is your team’s strengths lopsided? Meaning you have a lot of similar strengths? Are you easily able to spot matches between the strengths of the team and why the team does certain things really well? Are there “ah-has” where you would say to yourself – “That explains a lot” A word of caution: Assessments can tell you about natural inclinations of a person on your team – they cannot predict performance or tell you how well someone might do a particular task or in a particular role. So, they really need to be one piece to the puzzle to answering your question.  Assessments are not a replacement for conversation. A conversation can help your team members put their strengths into their own words then they own it – it’s not just on a piece of paper. A conversation can also keep you from stereotyping or making assumptions.  (3:55) I’ve used an activity from the book by Marcus Buckingham, Go Put Your Strengths To Work.  Ask every team member to make two columns on a piece of paper or a computer doc Label on column “I loved it” and the other column “I Loathed It” In the loved it column: when they feel strong, meaning it gives them energy In the loathed it column:  when they feel weak, meaning that it costs them energy. Then, have a conversation about it (6:40) WHAT DOES THE ORGANIZATION NEED? You already know that as you are re-thinking roles on your team - the whole reason you are making the change is because it’s in the best interest of the organization. As a leader you don’t take that responsibility lightly.  So, just like you need the strengths of the individuals on the team you also need to assess what the organization needs, too.  Listen to the episode to learn a quick sorting activity on tasks and roles Utilize this activity to help your team identify what the organization needs Then assign roles to the tasks that need to be done based on strengths While it doesn’t create a 100% match to strengths, you will see higher engagement and willingness to pick up that 20-30% of things people don’t like to do. Then, re-do this conversation regularly! HOW DO YOU MAKE A MATCH? Imagine a slider with individual strengths at one end and organizational needs at the other. Every role you assign is moving that slider around somewhere in between. For a particular job you may slide it a little closer to the individual strengths because you see potential for that person to be a future fit for the organization. You might put the slider more toward the organization in seasons where a role is critical to the success of a particular program or the organization is in a season where the role is necessary to achieve goals or move the organization forward. Take the time to think through your criteria though because if you don’t you could erode trust in that person’s competence or your leadership. Neither of which will get you the team you’ve always wanted –  Don’t adjust roles to fit individuals just because you like someone Don’t create work-arounds so individuals can avoid what they don’t like Don’t push the tasks they don’t like on other team members – think bigger strategy Got a mismatch on your team? Not sure how to address it? Own it – you hired them and you can help them Have a strengths conversation and find out what fits and what doesn’t Be honest about the mismatch and co-create a plan to help Connect them to strategies that would help them grow (skills development, mentoring, more frequent check-ins from you, etc.) Then, you need to give yourself a whole lot of grace because it’s not easy to dial that in perfectly, so an honest, open, and frequent conversation is your friend.  I’ve partnered with Amplify Mission Network and together we are offering a 6-month cohort learning group on February 23rd. So, if you want to grow together with other leaders in the same boat as you, sign up by January 31st!!  Amplify Mission Network Mid Manager Training: Learn More and Sign Up! Links to check out: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Episode 2: Giving Feedback Well Learn more about Annie 

"I heard from a team member’s direct report that they feel micromanaged. I probably need to talk to the team member about it, but isn’t it micromanaging if I step in?"   You’re cautious to jump right in and control the situation because you want to lead well. You’re building a team and if you jump in too often it defeats the purpose of having the team you want and need. And you certainly wouldn’t want to talk to your team member about micromanaging others by stepping across the line and actually micromanaging them.  WHAT IS MICROMANAGING? It's interpersonal. Feeling talked down to. Having abilities questioned. Different communication styles. It could mean they don’t feel empowered to make decisions even on simple things. Or they have to circle back too often. It might mean completed work gets redone or projects are taken over before they're finished.    With so much ambiguity about what micromanaging really means, you are right to be cautious to step in and micromanage.  CRAFT THE CONVERSATION You’ve probably already thought about sending them back to talk to your team member about their experience. More than just sending them back, what about helping them shape the conversation.  Ask them some questions that help them bottom line what is important to them. “Next time this comes up, I would like to be empowered to make that decision. What would it take to do that?” “When you talk to me about something I’ve done that you don’t like, could you please assume the benefit of the doubt and ask me some questions that allow me the opportunity to explain my thinking.” “Rather than random check-ins, could we get agreement on what you want to be informed on and then set up regular check in times instead?    You’re sending them back to the leader they think is micromanaging but with clarity and with a plan. They will feel more confident to handle it themselves – and that’s worth a million bucks.  OFFER DIRECT FEEDBACK It’s not micromanaging at all, though, if you have seen something personally. That makes it a great opportunity to address it directly.  Be specific with some examples of how you see micromanaging. So, ask questions that might create some self-awareness for them >> with things like, What are ways that this might be true? might not be true?  What might people be seeing that would lead them to that conclusion?  What are some of the ways you want to shift perceptions going forward?    Let them come up with what they want to do differently to become the leader they want to be. MANAGE IT DIRECTLY All of these things we’ve been talking about are some more direct approaches. I bring them up first because they are harder for most of us to do. It’s okay though, if it’s not a long-term pattern and relationships are all still in tack >> you might just deal with it as part of your general leadership development conversations.  Amplify Mission Network Mid Manager Training: Learn More and Sign Up! LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Episode 1: Asking Powerful Questions Simon Sinek: How Do You Confront Someone Effectively Blog by Annie: Avoid Micromanaging by Keeping Tasks Delegated Learn more about Annie

"How can I help my team when everything is so overwhelming? I want to be encouraging so they don't leave but I don't want to give them false hope that it will get better when it's been this way for a while."   There is something about the last two years that has made the “load” we carry a little heavier. More work, more stress with less staff is a story on repeat. And, we might be facing the situation for a while yet to come.   So, I hear ya! It’s time to look at this a different way.  LENS OF CLARITY One lens we could use is the lens of clarifying what overwhelm is for our people. You might try offering some ideas of what might be contributing to overwhelm and see what resonates with their reality. Work-related overwhelm says there is not enough time in the day to get things done. The to-do list is too long. It’s impossible to prioritize. I’m pulled in too many directions.  Confidence-related overwhelm is more internal than external. Not feeling supported or able to get help or maybe a little “imposture syndrome” has set in. Mission-related overwhelm says that if you slow down the mission is compromised. Doing less means that someone isn’t going to get what they need.    LENS OF EMPATHY Stepping back and pausing to acknowledge that it’s hard. And that it’s real. Living from urgency to urgency isn’t the way it should be – even though that’s what it might be right now. It’s easy to miss the signs that people are getting tired, frustrated, discouraged. You get used to living in “crisis” and it is hard to break that cycle. What if instead of dismissing it AND before starting to solve it, you acknowledged it? Let people feel it. Talk about what makes it hard. How it feels to be overwhelmed in this moment. LENS OF ACTION But, there is that lens on taking action. It's the one that we normally look through FIRST. We want to solve it, manage it, stop it >> any action that is going to help us overcome it.  Overwhelm is risky business.  If you are going to assume the risk and just keep doing what you are doing knowing that it’s risky because your mission needs it to happen then your “action” lens is to: Tell everyone what you are doing and why  Add in a high dose of empathy  Hire more people and assume the financial risk to get the work done   If you want to mitigate the risk and reduce your chances of experiencing all those nasty side effects of overwhelm, your “action” lens might be:  Make sure people use their PTO Increase PTO if the overwhelming season is getting long Plan brain breaks and body breaks in the middle of the day Make small shifts based on how each person describes their own overwhelm I f it’s really bad and you and your team have been overwhelmed for a while, it’s time for an intervention – you probably need to eliminate some of the risk: Sort through all the things and decide what not to do Prioritize everything and then draw a line – focus above the line    I hope the conversation stirs up more questions for you and I hope you ask away!! You can submit your questions HERE! Let’s dig into those real-life, feet-on-the-ground kinds of questions! LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Blog by Annie: Adjust Your Pace for Perspective Learn more about Annie

"We just finished a big event. Some things went well and others we need to improve. How do I offer feedback? Especially the corrective feedback?"   Let’s start by asking three questions to help you find YOUR way of offering feedback. WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF YOUR FEEDBACK? Embedded in the question, you’ve got a two-fold purpose already stated – highlighting what went well and what to improve. Now what I’m curious about is what makes communicating those two things really important to you? When values are clear you are going to see evidence of them show up in what you do. HOW WILL THE FEEDBACK BE HELPFUL? I was on a team for a volunteer appreciation event for our 1,200 volunteers. Those of us on the team put in a lot of creative energy and a TON of hours to make it happen on that Saturday night. Then, came Monday morning debrief with all the staff. You know the meeting when we spend most of the time talking about all the things that we could do better. I looked around the room and watched those staff in the circle who had worked on the event. This tired team sank in their chairs.  I share that story because to be helpful, feedback needs to come from the right people in the right doses. It's not that the feedback of all the staff wasn’t helpful, it just wasn’t helpful in high doses.  WHAT DO THEY NEED TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK WELL? We typically give feedback in our own communication style – it’s our natural tendency.  If you can step back and ask the question – what do they need? It can change the conversation. It’s definitely more work to push yourself out of your natural way of communicating, but it can make ALL the difference in how feedback is received. THREE KINDS OF FEEDBACK Distinguishing the kind of feedback you want to give could make your conversation easier. The three types the book Thanks for the Feedback: The science and art of receiving feedback well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen talk about are evaluation, coaching and appreciation. Evaluation Feedback Evaluation feedback measuring against some standard or expectation. It can be seen as corrective because you are giving feedback on what does and doesn’t meet the standard. We tend to be more “scared” of this kind of feedback. And, yet, most people really want to know where they stand and in the absence of evaluation feedback they will fill in the gaps with their own assumptions.  Coaching Feedback A lot of feedback, though, can fall into the coaching feedback category. Especially for an event that creates an opportunity to develop leadership, decision-making or problem solving skills in your team. And as you try to develop skills or experiment with new responsibilities, coaching feedback might actually be a better choice. You might offer suggestions or share experiences, but the primary goal is to ask questions to give them the opportunity to identify their own gaps and design their own plan for growth. Appreciation Feedback Going back to the story I shared about the volunteer appreciation event, what was needed in that situation was more appreciation feedback and less evaluation feedback. Appreciation feedback says “I see you.” “I know how hard you have been working” “You matter to me.”  Imagine the power of all three kinds of feedback working together when you offer feedback on your event – listen into the podcast audio and hear some examples you might use of all three types of feedback. If you have a question about feedback OR any other leadership questions that come to mind, submit it HERE! Let’s dig into those real-life, feet-on-the-ground kinds of questions! Links to check out: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Book: Thanks for the Feedback: The science and art of receiving feedback well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen Blog by Annie: Let Empathy Influence How You Lead Learn more about Annie

Leadership is exponentially better when accompanied by the skill of asking powerful questions.   If you are a problem-solver like me, you might be driving to solutions too quickly and people start running to you to solve the problem instead of taking the ball and running with it. That can be tiring!!! And it limits the team’s potential when leaders become a bottleneck to solving problems. Questions have the power to turn the tables – to change that conversation.  When I married a scientist who makes a living asking questions to find solutions to seemingly unsolvable things, that’s when I saw this question-asking skill in action. He would answer every question with another question. Only problem in a marriage that can be rather irritating. Maybe in leadership, too!  Observing this question-asking skill in my husband was like a confrontation to my well practiced problem solving leadership skills. I felt like it slowed us down every time we were trying to make a decision and get this show on the road. My drive to get to a decision and take action had the potential to make me skip steps or miss out on important information that would help make a better decision. I actually have become a keen observer of people who ask questions. I admire them and want to become better and better at asking powerful questions that help others move toward their own solutions or decisions. One of my observations is that Jesus in the gospels asked a lot of powerful questions  …. EXPAND SELF-AWARENESS You know, those kinds of questions that get people thinking. The ones that turn the mirror around so you see a truer reflection of who you are. They have the power to confront lies with truth, blow up limitations that are holding us back or turn around those false beliefs that keep us trapped.  Like when Jesus said to the man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6) or to the two blind men in Matthew 9:28 when Jesus asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” In both instances, the questions require the hearer to look inward and do some self-assessment.  CHALLENGE OUR ASSUMPTIONS Another kind of question that Jesus asked that always gets my attention is those questions when he challenged assumptions. We are all set in our ways and have our own biases – this is the kind of question that unsettles us. They can be confrontive, yet they are gifts because they shake us out of narrow thinking to broaden our perspective Like when Jesus pointed out hypocrisy in the Pharisees about healing on the Sabbath by asking, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or destroy it? (Luke 6:9) OR with the story of the Good Samaritan where he poses the question, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” (Lk 10:36). In both situations, Jesus demonstrates the complexity of a situation by sharing a story or a parable and then asks a question that challenges their thinking. INVITING OTHERS IN Just as much as Jesus used questions to confront, he also used questions to invite people into a deeper relationship or understanding. He asked questions that let the disciples think for themselves – to find their own solutions or recap what they had been learning through an experience. Questions that would lead down the path of deeper knowledge and insight. These kinds of questions are an opportunity for us to grow and to expand our thinking. With these questions, Jesus was able to invite participation instead of telling people what to do or think.  When Jesus was having a conversation with the disciples and he asked, “Who do men say that I am?”, they answered him and then he takes it deeper and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:27-29). He often used these kinds of inviting questions when he was talking with the disciples.  LET'S ASK MORE QUESTIONS! I am not saying Jesus always used questions. He gave answers, too. He offered a whole lot of teaching. Sometimes he told the disciples what to do. I’m just amazed at how he used questions so artfully.  As you have probably guessed by now: I am intrigued by questions. I certainly like answers!!! It’s still my default >> and I am learning to enhance my default with more questions.  That’s why I am inviting listeners like you to ask questions so together we can take it deeper and find the questions behind the question. Because, there usually isn’t one right answer. Our leadership is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Listen to the episode to get a question asking exercise that will help you become more savvy in asking more powerful questions. HERE'S AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU: For the next 2 weeks, keep a question journal. Write down questions as they come up – capture them like brainstorming without judgment, without grammar editing, just “brain dump”. If you want to make it extra challenging. Set a daily goal of 5 questions a day. Check in at the end of each week and watch how your questions are evolving as you ask more and more questions.  www.leadingbettertogether.com/questions LINKS TO CHECK OUT: Send your question HERE – in writing or by recording  Blog by Annie: Turn Your Advice Into A Question Learn more about Annie 

Lead your Leaders is a podcast to answer those tough questions that surface when you're trying to build teams that work better together. You’ve got questions that need answers if you are going to develop your own leadership and make an investment in your team so they can become better leaders, too. Tune into a few of the questions leaders are asking about how to get the team they've always wanted: "I heard from a team member’s direct report that they feel micromanaged. I probably need to talk to the team member about it, but isn’t it micromanaging if I step in?" "We need to make some role changes on our team. Should I write the job description around their strengths or based on what the organization needs?" "How can I help my team when everything is so overwhelming? I want to be encouraging so they don't leave but I don't want to give them false hope that it will get better when it's been this way for a while." "How do you lead well when Covid has changed the landscape of how to lead people now that they are mostly working from home?" "We just finished a big event. Some things went well and others we need to improve. How do I offer feedback? Especially the corrective feedback?" "In a small organization how do I manage staff and provide effective leadership with my staff that have turned into friends?" Join in the discussion and get answers to your questions in each episode. Got a question you would like answered? 1. Record or write your question and submit it here: www.leadingbettertogether.com/questions 2. Email your question to [email protected] Leader Your Leaders: A podcast to get the team you've always wanted is a production of Leading Better Together Company.