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Empathy in the Workplace
When it comes to making sure you and your coworkers are operating at the highest rate of efficiency, there are a ton of factors to consider. Things like communication, cooperation, and leadership are commonly discussed elements of a successful team, but what underlies all of these things is a little thing called empathy. Empathy, not to be confused with sympathy, is the ability to experience and relate to thoughts and emotions of people around you, and it is a vital skill often overlooked in the workplace.
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10 Important Actions of Leadership
Being a leader doesn’t come from a position or a title, but rather actions and examples. People choose to follow those they admire and respect. In order to gain a followership or lead a team, certain qualities, characteristics and actions need to be implemented. The following are 10 Important Actions to building leadership status:
- Put others first. Making others feel important will gain their trust and improve the relationship.
- Have a vision, set of values or common goal people can get behind. When others believe that the cause is worthwhile, they will be willing to get on board.
- Practice praise and gratitude. These are important to others, especially if they feel unimportant or unappreciated.
- Be there. Leadership takes commitment to be visible to the followers or team. If they don’t feel everyone, including the leader, is fully part of the team, the overall atmosphere suffers.
- Communicate effectively. Make conversations interactive and get the point across efficiently.
- Be decisive and lead by example. Be the person worth following and make the important decisions quickly and effectively.
- Delegate to competent team members. There is no one-man-show in a team. Take the tasks others might not want, but ensure those with the skills to be effective are being utilized.
- Practice respect. Respect is easier to give to people who already show it.
- Inspire and motivate. Focus on the positive aspects of each team member and motivate them to grow their skills and competencies.
- Keep momentum up. There may be times were morale is lower or goals are not being met in the timeframes set out. Every plan needs to be adaptable and it is up to the leader to ensure things stay on track.
The best leadership advice is to follow other leaders to see their example. Outside of this, the above actions are key to building a strong leadership presence and a loyal team or followership. The start of good leadership is caring about others and wanting to see everyone benefit from success. Even if leadership isn’t the goal, these actions can help improve relationships and build to success.
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5 Steps for Creative Problem Solving
The old adage, “think outside the box” is well known and somewhat overused, but the theory behind it is sound. Not every problem has a straight forward solution just like every road isn’t flat and straight. Sometimes it takes insight, creativity and sheer determination to get the solution necessary to solve a difficult problem.
Here are some steps to help with creative problem solving:
- Identify the problem or goal and clearly define the parameters. The purpose of this is to completely understand what the issues are; it isn’t always exactly as it seems and breaking it down can help challenge the original interpretation to best identify strategies moving forward.
- Review any steps already taken to deal with the issue and what the results were. Research solutions others might have also used and their outcomes. This may help with processing the right information to find a solution.
- Simplify with challenging questions to find solutions and then generate creative ideas for solving them. For instance, if the issue is making more money, a challenging question would be “How might I go about making more money?”
- Realistically evaluate these ideas. It may be worthwhile to take a break between steps 3 and 4 to let things set in. Additional ideas may come to mind in the meantime or focusing on other things in life could provide a necessary break to help with better concentration upon returning.
- Make an action plan and pursue it. Base the plan, or plans, on the ideas that work for the goal. Creative ideas may mean taking risks and this can sometimes dissolve some of the motivation, but a simple action plan can help alleviate this concern with straight forward steps that one can focus on. Follow these steps but be prepared to adapt them as situations change. Don’t be afraid to come back and re-write if the situation changes – nothing is set in stone.
Creative problem solving is a thought process and not necessarily just a series of “Aha!” moments. The ultimate goal is to move through the problem to the solution as efficiently as possible. The steps above will help to form processes for not only current situations but future ones as well. It may also lead to automatic creative solutions based on previous experiences using these steps. Never underestimate the abilities of the mind to find solutions to all of life’s problems, even if they are “outside the box”.
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7 Steps to Becoming a Better Listener
Mindful listening is an integral skill for any coach, leader, or friend. Holding a simple conversation may not seem like it requires skill, only participation, but to really get to know someone, you need the ability to listen to them. Good listening habits are the key to seeing things from another person’s perspective, and to building connections between yourself and others.
- Listen mindfully to what the other person is saying. To put it another way, avoid thinking about your response while they are still talking. Pauses in the conversation might feel awkward initially, but most people will appreciate that you don’t jump to conclusions right away. Say, “You make an interesting point. Let me think about it for a second,” and they will usually be happy to.
- Repeat back what the other person has said to show that you were listening. This allows you to make sure that what you heard is what they meant. Paraphrasing their information and hearing it again allows you to better understand their point of view.
- Keep your body language appropriate to the current conversation and show attentiveness. Appearing to be interested goes a long way in providing a space of comfort and trust. Keep your stance casual, nod when appropriate, and make eye contact without staring at them.
- Watch the other person’s body language for more information about what they are saying. Equally important, watch for clues into how they are responding to what you are saying. Not all communication is words.
- Avoid distractions. Ignore your phone and turn off the ringer unless you’re expecting an emergency call. Find a quiet place where interruptions from passersby will be less likely. Keep video screens out of your line of sight so that they don’t catch your eye.
- Don’t assume that you know what somebody is thinking or what they meant when they said something vague. Ask for clarification so the conversation can continue to flow in a positive way.
- Be honest in your responses. If you don’t know something, say so. Improved listening can help you in both your work and personal conversations. It improves your ability to establish relationships and build bonds with others. Practice these habits with each conversation to improve your skills and, by doing that, make conversations more valuable for everyone involved.
If you are looking for an in-depth approach to becoming a better listener, consider our Coaching Fundamentals™ program.
3 Steps to Improve Dialogue with Laser Speaking
A common thread among people is to want to be heard and understood. In both business and personal life, opinions, thoughts and ideas are communicated and often reiterated time and time again in an effort to ensure those words are received effectively. Unfortunately, the time and energy spent in recycling the same conversation is often wasted. This can be especially true in a business meeting where time is of the essence and people’s focus often wanders to their to-do lists and projects piling on their desks. Laser speak can be the answer to these issues and improve not only time management, but communication. This efficiency tool helps to keep conversations to the point and eliminates unnecessary additional information and reiteration. It focuses the attention of both the speaker and the listener by not allowing the point to be lost in an endless barrage of words and metaphors. The key to laser speech is to use as few words as possible to identify the point or to respond to another person’s comments. It helps to maximize the time spent in meetings or group communications, including written format and requires people to focus their thinking specifically on what is being said and the shortest response they need to make an impacting statement.
Implementing laser speaking is as simple as these three steps:
- Identify the reasons for laser speaking and demonstrate it personally. If members of the team understand the reasoning behind this approach, they are more likely to get on board with it.
- Help focus the discussion by encouraging only laser speech responses. Using positive dialogue, identify when someone is not quite grasping the technique or has forgotten to focus their point effectively.
- Ensure everyone has had an opportunity to speak within the time allotted. With this technique, additional persons who may otherwise have remained quiet may take the opportunity to speak up. This can help create a more rounded conversation overall and bring a better outcome to the discussion.
Once this technique has been implemented and understood, team meetings can take on a whole new level of productivity and the team dynamic can positively move forward with a renewed momentum.
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