Priority Learning November 2020 Newsletter

November Greetings

What a difference a month makes. We are on the other side of the election, a vacine is in the works and we are experiencing pandemic peaks. We live in very interesting and trying times. 

Please, allow me to introduce Deb Sparrow as this month’s guest article writer. Deb has been a friend of Priority Learning for a very long time and she is one of the best authors around. Her article is first up this month. Please enjoy and give feedback.

From The Leadership Maker this month, we bring you an introduction to leadership tools. This was one of the hardest sections to write and we will bring it to you in pieces over the next few months.

From all of us, to all of you, please stay safe, enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday, and keep the faith. We will all be on the other side of this before you know it.

Warmest Regards,

The Lessons of 2020

“Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver, and our world could stand to be a little kinder and braver.”

-Brene Brown

As we head into the holiday season and the home stretch of this highly unusual year, how are you doing?

A recent report by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, cited by CUNA Mutual’ s Risk and Compliance Solutions Group, suggests that 78% of the workforce has been negatively affected by tension, fear, and anxiety. According to the report, “7 out of 10 people are saying this has been the most stressful year of their working lives.”

As leaders, how well-equipped are we to acknowledge and assist with this change in the workplace dynamic? And what about personally? How are we handling our own stress and anxiety?

Among the first things we can do is acknowledge that this is a year like no other and it is normal to feel unsure and uncomfortable. It is okay not to have the answers. While it may be part of a leader’s job to see around corners, this sharp curve caught us by surprise and we were soon scrambling for hand sanitizer, online meeting platforms, and Covid-19 policy updates.

Our responsibilities are to listen to concerns, practice empathy, allow for flexibility, and make good decisions while being aware of what is and what is not within our control. Things can change rapidly, as evidenced by the additional 1 million cases of Covid-19 in the United States over the past week, and we must adapt. 

What is needed and expected from leaders? I would wager that we are all looking for a sense of calm, consistency, and strength, especially as virus rates increase. Taking care of business means taking care of people. It is our most important job.

Read the rest of the article.

Tools That Work

“Give us the tools and we will finish the job.”

Winston Churchill 

In our work, we learned long ago that the audience is always split. Many want to learn the “why” of business and people, and many want tools to help them execute. This section is filled with some of our most often used tools. The “why” is touched upon, but I have used much of them in previous sections and saved some for future sections. Early in my career, these tools were a revelation to me. I have included them because it occurred to me that many of the people who come to us have not had a lot of exposure to them, thereby losing the ability to get real value from their group or team.

If tools are your thing, you will probably enjoy what follows.

With tool kits, managers can enhance their effectiveness.

If you were planning to build a shelf or repair a plumbing problem, what’s the first thing you might do in order to make the project go smoothly? You would likely find the needed tools and have them at hand along with your materials. While that may be the tedious part of any project, the right tools are essential to building the perfect shelf. It’s the same with managing people. Knowing what tools to use in different situations can make a tremendous difference in your outcome. There are a number of tried-and-true management tools. If you are not fond of details, this might be a tough section, but please bear with me. My goal is to provide a few tools that give managers a variety of ways to work with their teams. Over the years, I have learned everything from fish-bone diagrams to Gannt Charting and I always come back to just a few of the easy ones. You may not feel that all of the application tools apply to your business or team but, honestly, each has value in different situations. While I invented none of these tools, I have applied each and have seen each applied successfully. Each can be applied in a variety of business situations from manufacturing to banking and everywhere in between.  

Read the rest of the article.