The Modern Manager

Latest Episodes:

50: Workplace Bullying with Matt Paknis May 07, 2019

Show notes

Unfortunately, bullying is not limited to kids and playgrounds.

This week’s guest, Matt Paknis, is a senior management consultant who focuses on lessening bullying in the workplace. He was a former assistant coach at Penn State under Joe Paterno and has spoken publicly about being abused as a child. He is the author of Successful Leaders Aren’t Bullies and has over twenty-five years of experience helping global clients embrace healthy management practices.

Warning: The content of this episode is likely not appropriate for young audiences.

Matt and I talk about what makes a person act as a bully, what bullying is, what to do if you are bullied or observe someone being bullied, the legal stuff and more.

Join the Modern Manager community to get 10% off a speaking or consulting engagement with Matt. Plus, get past and future episode guides and guest bonuses to support your learning journey!

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: Dealing With A Workplace Bully

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Bullying in the workplace is repetitive, intentional, very negative, even derogatory language and actions that undermine motivation, capability and trust.
Bullies are often afraid that you’ll outshine them so they set you up to fail.
The best employees are often the targets of bullying because they're the ones that are most apt to trigger the incompetence fear of the boss.
A tough boss sets high expectations and then supports you, even if it’s with tough love, to meet them. You always know they’ll go to bat for you and you’re on the same side even when they’re being hard on you.
Organizations without clear goals, roles and processes are primed for bullying. Bullies take advantage of the lack of clarity while victims don’t have the structure to back up their concerns.
One of the best things you can do as a manager to prevent bullying is to be clear about roles, goals and processes. Encourage other managers to do the same.
5% of the people in an organization will be perpetrators of bullying. 10% will be targets. 85% will be bystanders.
If you are experiencing bullying or observe someone else being bullied, report it to HR and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In most states, recording is legal with one party consent - be sure to check your state’s laws. If you're being bullied, you're the one person that's consenting to that recording so you can record the conversation. Then bring that to a labor attorney or the EEOC, or the human rights commission and they'll refer you to a reputable attorney in the area.

Other resources:

Episode 6: The Importance of Healthy Workplace Culture w/ Fran Sepler

KEEP UP WITH MATT

Website: http://www.mattpaknis.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-paknis-7227454/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattpaknis?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_paknis/

49: Engaging and Productive Virtual Meetings Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Virtual meetings are laden with problems. Incorrect or missing call-in numbers, strange echoes, and the occasional choppy connection delay and interrupt what is already a difficult situation. But even without technological issues, virtual meetings have all the typical challenges of in-person meetings and more. So how do we make virtual meetings engaging and productive?

Get the free mini-guide with suggestions for virtual meeting practices and how to use technology to enhance your online gatherings.

When you join the Modern Manager community, get the full guide with step-by-step instructions for using Trello to facilitate brainstorming, along with access to prior episode guides and guest bonuses.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Key Takeaways:

Virtual meetings feel less important than in-person meetings, so we treat them with less respect.
It’s easy to hide during a virtual meeting which enables multi-tasking, coming unprepared and not being noticed, and/or avoiding participating in general.
For teams that are not generally co-located, virtual meetings may be mis-used for relationship building.
To make virtual meetings more engaging and productive, treat them more like in-person meetings:
(1) Have a desired outcome, agenda, and prework. Be more intentional in planning them and take them seriously even though they may feel informal.
(2) Clarify your virtual meeting practices as a team. Consider norms for processes, technology, and participation so everyone is aligned and expectations are shared.
(3) Use technology to drive focus and engagement. Use video over audio. Use Trello to mimic sticky-note brainstorming. Use Zoom breakout rooms to mimic small group discussions, etc.
(4) Use a chat tool to build relationships between meetings. Create ‘water cooler’ channels so people have a place to talk about interests outside of work instead of using meeting time to connect.

Additional Resources:

episode 33: Do You Really Need That Meeting

mamie@mamieks.com

48: Becoming Your Best with Rob Shallenberger Apr 23, 2019

Show notes

What sets apart great leaders and high performers from everyone else? Why is it that some people seem to create magic over and over again for themselves in their personal life, with their team, or their organization?

This week’s guest, Rob Shallenberger, is one of the world's leading authorities on leadership, planning, and execution. Rob is the CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership and has spoken to and trained more than 200 organizations around the world.

Rob and I talk about two of the 12 principles of highly effective leaders. Rob shares stories and examples of how these principles can transform your life and your team. We also get into the process of pre-week planning, what Rob calls a “game changer” for managers and employees alike.

Join the Modern Manager community to get 30% off the Becoming Your Best Planner plus episode guides and other guest bonuses to support your learning journey!

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: How to Become a Great Leader

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Rob and his father studied high performers in a variety of roles and industries and distilled 12 principles of highly successful leaders.
Putting the 12 principles into action together creates a chemistry of excellence that is predictive of success.
Principle 2: Lead with vision - This means having an articulated, written down vision for the team as well as for yourself. And, as a manager, helping each of your team members to define their own vision which will help them achieve their highest potential.
It’s incredibly powerful when everyone knows the vision, is inspired by it, and takes actions in line with achieving it.
Principle 4: Prioritize your time - 68% of people feel their number one challenge is how to prioritize their time. In order to be a transformational leader or effective manager, you need to focus on the things that matter most.
The things that matter least will always be pulling at us, whereas often, the things that matter most, get lost in the chaos.
This single biggest game changer for most managers is doing pre-week planning. For 20-30 minutes, between Friday afternoon and Sunday night, look at your vision and goals, the roles you play (parent, friend, spouse, self, etc) then do a mini brainstorm on what you can do this week that matters for each of the topics. Then schedule these onto your calendar.
The pre-week planning process is simple, but developing the habit of doing it can be hard. Set two reminders for yourself over the weekend to trigger you to do the pre-week planning.
Read Becoming Your Best with your entire team, practice together applying one principle per month.

KEEP UP WITH ROB

Website: www.BecomingYourBest.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/byb

47: Managing Stress and Avoiding Burnout Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

We all experience stress at work. Ideally, it’s short lived and easily manageable. When a heightened state of stress becomes the new normal, you may be on the way to burnout. While burnout is the extreme and typically rare case, it’s critical to notice when stress, frustration, overload and overwhelm are taking over. They’re the signs burnout may be coming.

Get the free mini-guide with questions to help you identify stressors in your life and your team members’ lives.

When you join the Modern Manager community, get the full guide with suggestions for how to manage stress, along with access to prior episode guides, guest bonuses and 30% off personality based coaching to help you better understand your preferences and learn new strategies to help you be a rockstar manager.

When you join before midnight Eastern April 23, 2019, you are eligible to win a free coaching session with Amy Born, guest from episode 44: Manager as Coach.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Key Takeaways:

Job burnout is different from depression or other mental or emotional conditions.
Burnout occurs when you are physically or emotionally exhausted from work in ways that lead to a sense of lack of accomplishment, reduced motivation, and loss of personal identity.
Burnout is caused by a number of factors including (1) lack of control, (2) unclear expectations, (3) extremes of activity, (4) dysfunctional workplace dynamics, (5) lack of social support, and (6) work-life imbalance.
Look for signs of stress, frustration, overload and overwhelm so you can manage stress and avoid burnout.
Find a de-stressor that works for you which you can use ‘in the moment’ to regain a sense of calm.
Change your situation or change the environment. Do something to get yourself out of the stressful situation if only for a few days.
Plan a no-meetings day each month to catch up on work, have uninterrupted focus time or do some self care.
Admit when you’ve got too much on your plate and ask for help or let things go.
Know what’s most important so you can make choices and not feel guilty.
Invest in your health by getting enough sleep, exercise and healthy eating.
Nourish your soul and recharge by doing things you love.
Remember why you do the work you do and what about your role you find meaningful.
If all else fails, consider if it’s time to change organizations, fields, roles or careers.

Additional Resources:

mamie@mamieks.com

46: Team Building and DJing with Amani Roberts Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

Team building can develop relationships in ways that profoundly impact the team. When people get to know each other, they are able to work together more effectively and efficiently.

This week’s guest, Amani Roberts, is a DJ, music producer, podcaster professor and creative who loves to help people unlock their creativity by teaching them how to DJ. After a successful career as a corporate executive, Amani took the leap into the creative space.

Amani and I talk about his experience in both corporate and creative settings, lessons learned, and his new business of team building through DJing.

Join the Modern Manager community to get 25% off Amani's team building program plus episode guides and other guest bonuses to support your learning journey!

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: Insightful Management Lessons from a DJ

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Creatives and those with an arts background tend to be more comfortable taking risks and being vulnerable. It comes from years of practice in their art-making of creating something new, pushing themselves and the boundaries and getting feedback.
As DJ or manager, it’s helpful to be able to read the room - to look around and recognize when the energy has dropped, people are mentally checked-out, feeling frustrated or uncomfortable. Look for signals of disengagement such as: leaning back in the chair, eyes wandering the room or glazing over, starting to speak but then stopping.
Music is a universal language that brings people together and helps them learn about each other.
A great team building activity will transform a group of uncertain participants into a high energy, engaged group. At the end of the exercise, the people will still be talking about the experience and connecting personally.
Team building should be fun with times of laughter, but also serious in that people are authentically connecting. With music, it’s not unusual for people to become emotional and that enhances the relationships.
Team building brings people together into a tighter team, enabling them to work more effectively and efficiently together. It’s like a shortcut that speeds up the getting to know each other process, even if you’ve known each other or worked along side each other for years.
Especially for geographically dispersed teams, the relationships and bonds that get formed in these activities can have a halo effect that lasts for weeks, months or even years afterward.

KEEP UP WITH AMANI

Website: amaniexperience.com/teambuilding

Twitter: twitter.com/amaniexperience

Facebook: facebook.com/amaniexperience

Instagram: instagram.com/amaniexperience/

Pinterest: pinterest.com/amaniexperience/

45: Invest in Meaningful One-on-Ones Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Your team members are your greatest resource. When they succeed, you succeed. Taking time to focus on each of them rather than the work can have exponential impact on employee engagement, quality of work, productivity, trust, and more. That is the power of One-on-Ones.

Get the free mini-guide with the One-on-One agenda template I use.

When you join the Modern Manager community, get the full guide with suggestions for how to introduce One-on-Ones to your team, plus a Manager’s Guide and Team Member’s Guide to preparing for productive One-on-Ones. In addition, get access to prior episode guides, guest bonuses and 30% off personality based coaching to help you better understand your preferences and learn new strategies to help you be a rockstar manager.

When you join before midnight Eastern April 23, 2019, you are eligible to win a free coaching session with Amy Born, guest from episode 44: Manager as Coach.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: Turbocharge Your Team Members with Meaningful One-on-Ones.

Key Takeaways:

One-on-Ones are a specific type of meeting that focuses on the employee rather than the work.
The manager’s role is to ask questions and support the team member to reflect honestly on their performance and areas of growth.
Spend time building your rapport at the start of the meeting. End the meeting with a recap of any decisions and next steps. Capture them in writing for future reference.
Focus on celebrating successes and offering praise, sharing critical feedback and planning for growth, and removing roadblocks or frustrations that are inhibiting the individual from doing their best work.
The manager reinforces and enhances the individual’s reflections by agreeing and adding additional thoughts.
Together you brainstorm and identify specific steps the individual will take to move forward on growth areas.
Always ask, “what might I do differently as your manger to better support you?”
There is no right frequency or length to these meetings. Most managers start with an hour per month per employee and adjust from there.

Additional Resources:

mamie@mamieks.com

PYB 5: What happens when you die? Mar 30, 2019

Show notes

This is the fifth bonus episode in the Parenting Your Business series. In these episodes, I talk about my experiences as a parent and manager / entrepreneur, comparing situations and learnings.

In this episode, I reflect on moments when we are asked questions that make us uncomfortable and how we might be underestimating both our kids and our colleagues.

Get in touch and join the conversation!

mamie@mamieks.com

mamieks.com/podcast

patreon.com/modernmanager

44: Manager as Coach with Amy Born Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Managers play many roles throughout their day: leader, task-master, visionary, advisor, facilitator, cheerleader, etc. One of the most important roles any manager plays is that of coach. When a manager puts on their metaphorical coaching hat, they’re shifting out of the role of telling people what to do and into one of encouraging team members to discover their own answers.

This week’s guest, Amy Born, has spent most of her professional career in the field of organizational development and organizational psychology. Amy and I talk about strategies and approaches to help managers be good coaches for their direct reports.

Join the Modern Manager community to get episode guides and guest bonuses to support your learning journey!

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: How to Coach your Team Members

Key Takeaways:

When managers play the role of coach, they focus on asking questions to get the other person to discover the answers for themselves.
It’s surprisingly difficult to switch from giving the answers to asking the questions. Try saying, “what ideas have you considered?” before giving your thoughts.
Coaching is not always the right approach. Coaching is appropriate when you’ve clarified what success looks like, defined the parameters or boundaries, and you trust that the individual has the capability to come to their own conclusions with a bit of help.
Instead of coaching, use a more directive approach when the questions are for clarification and/or the individual is new to the role or still developing.
No one wants a manager who has completely disconnected or is micromanaging. Coaching requires regular check-ins to maintain alignment and ensure the individual is moving in an appropriate direction.
To make the shift more incremental and avoid creating unnecessary stress on your team members, let them know that you’ve got ideas but you want to hear from them first. You can also offer for everyone to spend a day thinking it over and regroup the following day to share thoughts.
Most patients ask their doctor the most pressing or sensitive question just as the doctor is leaving. Encourage your team members to ask you whatever question they have. Try shifting from “do you have any questions” to “what questions do you have?”
Coaching doesn’t mean you avoid accountability. You still need to hold others and yourself accountable to deadlines, metrics and progress.
Communicating internally is critical. Many organizations spend more time thinking about how they communicate externally than internally.
As a manager, you’re striving to find the right balance between over- and under-communicating with your team.

KEEP UP WITH AMY

Website: www.leadingedge.org

Email: amyborn@gmail.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyborn/

43: Learning from Experience Interviews Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

Managers are often expected to be natural interviewers with a discerning ear, able to determine if a candidate is both capable of doing the job and a good fit with the team. I had to learn how to interview and assess a candidate because it's way more complicated than a gut check.

This week, I explain learning from experience interviewing and the process I use to understand a candidates capability, competencies and culture fit.

Get the free mini-guide to help you prepare for your next interview.

When you join the Modern Manager community, get the full guide with competencies and questions I often use when interviewing. In addition, get access to prior episode guides, guest bonuses and 30% off personality based coaching to help you better understand your preferences and learn new strategies to help you be a rockstar manager.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: How to Lead Learning from Experience Interviews

Key Takeaways:

I typically seek to assess whether a candidate has the hard skills (capability), soft skills (competencies) and culture fit to thrive in the role.
Use the interview to primarily assess competencies. Use a simulation to assess capability. Culture fit can be assess during the interview and simulation.
How a person behaved in the past is a great indicator of how they'll be have in the future. Use "tell me about a time when..." questions to explore how a person has behaved in the past under certain conditions.
Explore prior behavior, how they understand a competency intellectually, and what they've learned from an experience where they didn't apply the competency well or over-used it.
Prepare for the interview by know what competencies are important for the role, what questions you'll ask, and what you'll look for in their answers.

42: Deep Listening with Oscar Trimboli Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

Are you a good listener? Like breathing, listening is something we do every day yet most of us struggle to do it well simply because we were never taught how. A lack of listening skills in combination with the many distractions vying for attention can have a profound impact on our ability to work effectively, make good decisions, and connect with other people.

This week, I speak with Oscar Trimboli, speaker and author of Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words. Oscar is on a quest to create 100 million Deep Listeners in the world.

Join the Modern Manager community to get 10% off the Deep Listening book. Plus, access additional guest bonuses and other resources to support your learning journey when you join.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.

Read the related blog article: Going Beyond Active Listening to Deep Listening

Key Takeaways:

Deep listening involves listening to what isn’t said in addition to what is said. It means making space for and exploring the thinking behind the words.
People can think much faster than they think. Often what we initially say is only part of what we’re truly thinking.
In order to listen well, you must quiet your mind. The worse distractions are our own brains.
Put your phone on airplane mode so you won’t be tempted to sneak a peek at it.
Drink plenty of water so your brain can function at its best.
Take deep breaths. Your mind follows your breathing.
Make space for silence. Silence allows people time to think and go deeper.
How we listen impacts whether people feel heard, whether a group generates insights that lead to good decisions, whether a team is aligned and works harmoniously.

KEEP UP WITH OSCAR

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartrimboli/

Podcast: https://www.oscartrimboli.com/podcast/

Books: https://www.oscartrimboli.com/books

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