Learning Curve: Recent Episodes
Laura Curvin
I help 6- & 7-figure business owners harness employee performance and scale operations without losing their sanity in the process.
Cover art by Samuel Zeller: https://unsplash.com/@samuelzeller
This episode contains zero sci-fi or fantasy references, therefore I absolve myself of any concerns related to appropriating Nerd Culture. I do, however, shamelessly use nerd as a verb to convey what it means to enthusiastically share our expertise. You know how talking about your product or service gets you so excited you need a hit off the ol' proverbial inhaler to calm down? Tap into that with the 3 tips covered in this podcast.
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How do introverted leaders deal with the whole "belonging" thing? You have to get friendly with your employees, but you hate small talk and all the social stuff that you were only too happy to avoid when you first started a business for yourself, and by yourself.
I've got 4 good reasons to quit worrying about this immediately. You can lead a successful 7-figure workforce without EVER abandoning your true self, pretending to be more social than you are, or learning to master the artless art of small talk.
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You said Zing, but your employee Zanged! What happened?! Before you reach out to get to the bottom of it, ask yourself just three simple questions first.
Spending a few minutes on this quick mental exercise will have you feeling prepared and grounded when the two of you talk.
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After chatting with a colleague at a water cooler, you're often more patient or forgiving the next time that person says or does something on a conference call that might otherwise annoy you.
This is one of the most valuable aspects of co-located working. Humanizing your teammates is SO much easier in person, where you actually see their human form, and their beady human eyes.
In the absence of that, you've gotta craft encounters in the virtual realm. This episode looks at one way you can do that, and the best part is it doesn't take any of YOUR time as the leader.
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Last Tuesday we talked about getting your words right when it comes to communicating team culture. This week we look at the most important component of all: Everything else. The biggest reason businesses fail at culture is they fail to align their systems and budgets behind their aspirations.
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Do you want a biz-culture based in reality, or one where a pegasus delivers your coffee on clouds made of reel whipped kreem? Tight-lipped smiles and perfunctory Yesses don't mean you have a team that gets along. It means you have a team that's terrified of speaking up, taking risks, or being real. This episode looks at some signs you might be suffering from artificial/ false harmony, and ways you can combat it by helping people trust each other enough to be genuine.
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How do you describe your work culture? Do you use buzzwords that are more aspirational than authentic? It's great to aspire to a better culture. Just be sure you communicate in a way that acknowledges the tension between current reality and future goals.
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Wouldn't it be nice if, when you hired people, they immediately let down their guard and started lots of positive self talk and rock-star performance? Instead of feeling insecure or tentative, or worried about fitting in, their mental loops would kick in with reassuring thoughts like "This company is so cool, which must mean I'm cool, and these people like me. I feel like I belong here. Yeah! We are totally going places. This is gonna be GREAT!" If only... In reality our brains default to defense. They are ever and always on alert for dangers and threats. Employees will keep up their guard until they've been given sufficient reason to believe it's safe to relax. If you want people to feel part of something special, and have them contribute something special in return, you've got to help their hypervigilant amygdalas relax by sending the right non-verbal signals. The most successful leaders in business (and sports!) do this by flooding their team environments with belonging cues. This Tuesday Tip looks at the three characteristics of an effective belonging cue and some ideas you can implement today for creating more belonging and safety even if all your employees work in different states.
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This quick addendum to yesterday’s episode about 1x1 meetings reveals what the best team coaches do every week, and what it has to do with famous author and introvert Susan Cain.
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"Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." --Vince Lombardi Use the tips in the podcast to shape expectations and outcomes for your standing team time.
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Your leadership might be on display in a team meeting, but its reach goes deeper during the one-to-one coaching sessions you have with your direct report. This episode offers tips and recommendations for getting the most from this vital connection time.
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Freelancers often come to us not fully formed and in need of hand holding, which is counter to the image many people have of the independent, self directed idea of freelancing. On the other hand, lots of FTE perform with exactly the kind of proactive style we want from a freelancer. We often make misguided hiring decisions by over-focusing on these assumptions, and also by under-focusing on the full scope of the work we want someone to do. If we bring on a freelancer to handle a marketing function, for example, but our fledgling business is still in the process of figuring out internal processes and team dynamics, whoever we hire might also need to be savvy at navigating interpersonal tension and a high degree of ambiguity. If we recognize that we need those skills, in addition to the marketing skills we're hiring for, we're much more likely to get the right person for the job, regardless of how they might be categorized (freelance vs FTE).
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The leaders at Basecamp only schedule meetings as a last resort. On the other end of the spectrum, in my last corporate job we started and ended with meetings as a default setting: Nothing happened without meetings. We had meetings to plan meetings and more meetings to debrief meetings we'd already had. It was absolute madness, and part of the workaholic compulsion driving everyone to act without thinking. But YOU have a choice. Don't make meetings the default mechanism for getting anything accomplished. Make meetings that actually matter.
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Workaholism is a counterproductive addiction, and lots of business owners are enablers.
Don't kid yourself into thinking a bunch of workaholics will do wonders for your business. Being busy is not being valuable. In fact, it's a colossal waste of time no matter how much we obsess and celebrate "hard work" instead of focusing on results.
This episode of The Learning Curve looks at signs and symptoms that your team has a workaholic problem, and the two most important things you can do to steer your company out of (or around) a workaholic tailspin.
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Let’s punch holes in the idea that you should hire full-time internal employees (FTE) if you want to cultivate team engagement and loyalty.
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A team eavesdrops on their boss then accidentally gives themselves away with a misdirected IM. + Two leadership qualities I hold in high esteem.
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