Talent Revolving Door? The Soft Stuff is the Real Stuff: 3 Steps to Engagement

Photo Credit: Craig Neal

---

"Patricia and Craig recently presented at GTS Government IT Symposium, Dakota County employee development, Work/Life Expo for Women, and other venues with the focus of purpose, leadership, connection, engagement."

---

70% of American workers don’t feel secure in their job and with their company/organization.

What most want in life was to be “valued” as an “individual”.

An avalanche of research shows the most common reason talent walks out the door is their manager who is either micromanaging, not recognizing others’ contribution, and/or disengaged. More research shows that a sense of purpose and related skillsets are essential for authentic engagement. How are the two connected?

GTS Government IT Symposium

Patricia and Craig recently presented at GTS Government IT Symposium, Dakota County employee development, Work/Life Expo for Women, and other venues with the focus of purpose, leadership, connection, engagement. The “soft stuff”, the “touchy-feely” stuff. Right? Well, to quote Seth Godin* in a recent blog post, “Let's stop calling them the 'soft skills'.” 

What is at the heart of the matter? Your values as a leader are on show with every action. The “Talent Revolving Door” is a direct indicator of values of the

leader and/or the organization. Authentic engagement is an attractor and creates greater ease of communication and delivery because it builds trust. Trust is everything.

Organizations are scrambling for value-add for their product or service, differentiators to attract great talent, and increased productivity to do more with less. Authentic engagement is not only an expression of leadership values, but creates the conditions for collaboration at a truly different level.

HR is now recognizing that hiring for emotional intelligence skills is crucial to an individual’s ability to integrate into and connect with your culture, build trust, and deliver results. It is a key indicator of success.

Here are 3 steps to engagement:

1. Commit to building authentic engagement as a skill set
2. Commit to practice
3. Commit to measure progress

1. Building authentic engagement

What are the essential elements? Engagement is more than creating exciting events or one-time recognitions. Fundamentally, engagement is about connection. The ability to connect with others in a way that lets them know they have been heard and you are seeking to understand and clarify what is needed, is foundational to building trust. In order to do that you must build the "muscles" of purposeful leadership: purpose, emotional intelligence, conversational intelligence, convening intelligence. 

2. Commit to practice

Just like an athlete building new muscles, building new skills requires practice, practice, practice! Learn, Practice, Repeat!

Some of the tools and concepts CPL employs include:

• 9 Steps to Collaboration from The Art of Convening (CPL)
•  
• Conversational Intelligence Assessment (CPL)
• Trust Changes Reality (Conversational Intelligence, Judith Glaser)
• The Business Case for Trust (Vivian Jenkins-Nelsen)
• More resources listed below

3. Commit to measure: informal and formal ideas

• Give people stretch assignments and new opportunities to contribute and learn. This shows you have paid attention enough to measure their current condition, progress and can identify opportunities for them to grow.
• Recognize and reward your people for their contributions.
• Walk the floors to initiate regular conversation.
• Convene virtual “town hall” conversations for new ideas.
• Pulse Surveys. Short, frequent surveys are a great way to maintain a consistent pulse on the vibe in your office.
• One-On-Ones.Another great way to measure engagement is through one-on-one meetings with employees.
• Stay/Exit Interviews.

#Talent #AuthenticEngagement #Purpose #PurposefulLeadership #Collaboration

---

Resources: 

The Art of Convening book

Seth Godin blog

A Primer on Measuring Employee Engagement

Why Talent Walks Out the Door

What It Costs When Talent Walks Out the Door

Conversational Intelligence

Message from Houston: Navigating the Road to Renewal

photo credit: daniel scotton

---

"The capacity to renew is an essential strength. Both women and men need renewal and resilience."

---

Today's guest blogger is Kim Kristenson-Lee, CPL Team Member, who, as a resident of Houston, TX, is drawing on her resilience reserves!

With over twenty-five years of experience in increasingly challenging roles at a Fortune Five energy company, she brings thought leadership and unique approaches to overcoming difficult situations and changing times.

We are delighted she is part of the team for CPL's program When Women Lead. Here are her insights in a recent essay:

Navigating the Road to Renewal

Resilience for Women Through Purpose and Practice

Are you seeking renewal, in your life or work? Wanting more resilience? Perhaps you are being pulled by possibility, or perhaps you are being pushed by pain. How will you navigate your way forward?

The capacity to renew is an essential strength. Both women and men need renewal and resilience. Women may find they need more access to resilience than men. Women more frequently must confront conflicting roles at home and at work, and overcome unique obstacles in the business world. It is important to become aware of the great amount of resilience you already possess, as well as learning how to expand resilience. 

It Begins with Finding Your Own Authority

In our 24-7, e-enabled, and consumer-oriented culture, at least three areas demand that we learn and apply our own authority:

1. Defining purposeful use of our time and energy
2. Managing our energy expenditure
3. Finding communities that renew us

These are all life elements that avoid burnout. But no one is going to require you to renew. You must make your own commitment, chart your path, and take your journey.

1. Purposeful Use of Energy – Where Goes Your Attention?

At the heart of the matter is purpose. A clear purpose guides wise use of your energy. Richard Leider, founder of The Purpose Company, identifies two universal purposes each of us can utilize: to grow and to give.  Where are you going to grow today?  Where are you going to give?  “Save the world AND savor the world”, he advises. 

What questions now focus your energy and attention? What percentage of your attention goes to “why” questions (purpose based question about what matters most each day) versus “what and how” questions (activity based questions about what you feel compelled to do). Both are worthy. However, a daily pause to focus on the “why” questions is a cornerstone practice of self-renewal. 

1. Managing Our Energy – A Paradox

You might think avoiding stress is a good thing to manage energy. Not true! We grow our capacities by stretching them. With great challenges, great growth is achieved.  Like any athlete, full engagement of our entire being is an important aspect of training. 

However, what differentiates a “self-renewer” from a “burnout”, is also placing a specific emphasis on downtime.  Deep rest and disengagement between challenges is essential.  Stretch and stress.  Rest and regenerate.  Repeat. 

It is essential to carve out undisturbed rest time on a regular basis, and that may mean letting go of other perfectly worthy things on the “to do” list. 

Your calendar is a great aid. Go to it and make a regular habit of booking downtime, with in-depth rest along a regular timeline that works for you. Do you have a day retreat in view?  How will you master cycles of both stress and downtime in your day, week, month or year?  With practice, you will learn the cadence.

1. Finding Communities that Renew Us

Photo credit: pexels.com

I live in a suburb of Houston, Texas. We just survived Hurricane Harvey. Humanity has taken a hit. Friends have lost their homes. It is a disruptive time. But, the storm gives each of us an opportunity to inquire, with fresh eyes. “Is there some way to take this hit as a gift?” In other words, what can we learn?

One of the most touching aspects of the hurricane has been the way people drew together in community, to assist one another. Both neighbors and strangers formed new bonds. I was reminded of the importance of community. We can find, build and sustain communities that encourage rebuilding internally as well as externally, and we don’t need to wait for the storm to awaken the need. 

A community can be as small as two people. Purpose-based teams or groups, that meet on some regular basis, can support renewal in any or all areas of your being - Mind (reading, writing, discussion, critical thinking); body (relaxation, exercise, time outdoors, mindful eating); heart (authentic communication skills, staying current with yourself and others) or soul (uncovering a set of values that have meaning for you). 

Whatever your current priorities, engage with one or more others who share common aims. Find some regular basis to do so. This is one of the most significant hallmarks of women on the road to renewal. Nothing succeeds like resilience. 

Kim Kristenson-Lee, September 2017

#renewal #resilience #resiliency #purpose #purposefulleadership #practice #energy #leadership #transformation #attheheartofthematter #learning #thoughtleadership

---

How Are Internal Stakeholders and Team Performance Connected?

Photo credit: todd photography

---

by Rachel Harris

In a periodic series, we share reports from the field about our work with clients. Recently, a client contacted us for strategy to retain top talent and enhance workplace dynamics. Here is the challenge our client was facing:

For the past few months, a group of senior managers, mostly women, have been meeting to re-organize an internal group of stakeholders. The quandary they were facing was retention of top female talent in a male-dominated workplace. By re-energizing the workforce through a special interest group (SIG) they hoped to curb the exit of female staff. 

This SIG hired Center for Purposeful Leadership (formerly Heartland) to re-focus the mission and vision, design a kick-off meeting and provide convening training. Over a period of five months, the design team met monthly. The SIG leadership team, along with key HR staff, took the Art of Convening workshop to learn effective communications and staff engagement techniques.

After the training, the SIG leadership team applied the meeting design principles to the re-launch kick-off with great effect. The SIG relaunched in March with over 70 people in attendance - double the expected turnout! With the SIG firmly in place and staff reengaged - both men and women - employees are seeing one another in a new light, taking time to collaborate and supporting one another professionally.

The internal stakeholders in the SIG have acted as champions for the organization and teams have transformed.

Looking back on these past months with the client, they benefited from executive coaching and training on more effective meetings, and exceeded their goals and expectations. Now that the SIG is up and running, they have requested a quarterly tune-up. 

You may think of tuning up cars on a periodic basis, but how about teams? Consider tuning up your team or a special interest group. Quarterly trainings and monthly coaching enable staff to embody positive business practice adaptations - for the long term. 

If you would like more information, we are happy to talk with you. Call Center for Purposeful Leadership at 612-920-3039 or email

Rachel Harris

---

Each Voice as Key

Photo credit: Craig neal

---

P R I N C I P L E:

Each voice is needed to reveal the authentic wisdom in our engagement.

We often refer to this principle as letting go and let come. We let go of our preconceptions of who the others are in the gathering and we let come the truth, quality, and essence of each. We suspend judgment (certainty) so that we are open to the possibilities of others. We must know, internally, that we, and all the others who are here, belong here. Each is needed and is here to contribute to the potential wisdom and creativity that we want in order to allow for the best possible outcome. There are no mistakes or outisiders in the universe, or in our gathering.

We must know, internally, that we, and all the others who are here, belong here. Each is needed and is here to contribute to the potential wisdom and creativity that we want in order to allow for the best possible outcome. There are no mistakes or outsiders in the universe, or in our gathering.

When we acknowledge that each voice is needed, we recognize that we are gathering the parts of something, just as a gardener gathers tools, seeds, and soil in the creation of a garden. As in a garden, where these necessary elements come togather, it is so in our gatherings: every person contributes by coming together to create something new. We orchestrate the opportunity for each individual to participate, producing a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. When all of the voices are heard, everyone sees and is seen by one another. Authentic engagement has begun, and an organic whole begins to emerge. (93)

This principle lays the foundation for maximizing the capacity for possible outcomes that may surprise even the most savvy and creative facilitator (convener) or manager (way-shower, guide). What has been missing in most meetings is simply this very recognition. Coming at our Team meetings and interactions on a regular basis with colleagues, how can we ignite that spark that dissolves the "I" and bridges to the "We"? Once we let our self-interests and expectations down, it is amazing what happens in the Boardrooms and meeting spaces. A new capacity forms. Granted, there will be moments of noodling through the currents of control, ego, and multiple opinions and views. This is all well and good and can be deftly navigated when the convener and the convening circle is coming from this space of understanding--the understanding that All Voices are Key.

Enjoy a copy of The Art of Convening for 30% off list price! (Offer ends April 7th 2011)

Here's to Hearing All the Voices!

Warmly,

Craig and Patricia

---