Tag: Leadership Development

  • A Blueprint to Help Companies Fully Capitalize on Social Media Investments

    Social media has proven to be a powerful tool to reach relevant audiences, uncover new insights and opportunities, and drive deeper, more personalized relationships with customers. Brands recognize this and have steadily increased their budgets to fuel social media initiatives. But they also know they are leaving many benefits on the table as they struggle to deliver on expected ROI, which can limit further investment.

    In the face of these challenges, many marketers admit their attribution models still need work and that they need to do a better job integrating social media across the full breadth of their marketing efforts. But the path from today’s largely brand-building use cases to a more sophisticated realization of social media’s potential is not always clear.

    Those who dive deeper into social media’s capabilities in both research and direct customer engagement are seeing an increase in performance that creates compounding value across the business.

    Meltwater has sponsored research by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services to further examine how brands can capitalize on their social media investments. Through interviews with brand leaders and social media experts, this report shares effective strategies to optimize the use of social media tools, resources, and capabilities across the entire marketing spectrum.

    To read the full report, click HERE

  • Transitioning Back to Work: Recognizing the Signs of Stress, Anxiety, and Fatigue

    It is hard to look around without acknowledging our common experience. From the empty streets and shuttered cafes in response to the pandemic to the crowded and passionate streets in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, we can easily apply the term social disruption or witness the spark of cultural change to mark the time we find ourselves in.

    Your Most Valuable Resource: Your People

    An internet search on June 10, 2020, using the phrase “returning to work after coronavirus” brought up more than 8 billion hits in less than a second. Most links apply checklists and guidelines, roadmaps and schedules, legal spreadsheet to protect against risk, and resources to call upon to reconfigure workspaces. For those interested in what to do, there are a multitude of sources to reference.

    However, few pages address how employees are personally affected, let alone how organizations can offer support after prolonged periods of the stress, fatigue, and emotional strain. Now that employees are beginning to return to the workplace, paying attention to clues and warning signs will reinforce how organizations are living into their value proposition and remaining an employer-of-choice through these significant events. Leading with empathy and concern will go far in helping engage and retain your most valuable resource—your people.

    Recognize the Typical Change Process

    This experience is more closely aligned with the transitional change model associated with William Bridges and the stages of grief model established by Elisabeth Kübler Ross. These models highlight the time and performance continuum that moves from shock and denial, through anger and depression, and finally to acceptance and ultimate integration of the experience.

    Considering that each of us is experiencing the same cultural disruption, recognizing where employees are in this continuum will also allow us to engage others where they are. Successful managers who recognize that people move first through negative emotions before rebounding into a more productive and positive state will leverage empathy before getting down to the tasks at hand.

    Stay Alert to Different Experiences

    Remaining alert to signs and having candid conversations without crossing boundaries is critically important. Remember, each employee experiences our current environment differently. Some live in early COVID-19 hotspots or areas where activism is more visible, while others are just beginning to confront these issues. Organizations vary with their level of comfort discussing issues like PPE access or health in general, let alone race, politics, class, and the multitude of social concerns coming to the forefront of conversations today.

    Look for Signs

    Pay close attention to how employees were before in relation to how they are today. Where they seem to show up differently, take the time to engage in conversation. When needed, refer them to your employee assistance program services or other outlets for support.

    How people react. When major organizational change occurs, people may become depressed or passive or show disengagement from colleagues. They may:

    • Exhibit unexpected or inappropriate behavior or be slow to respond to requests
    • Stop taking initiative or stop being a good team player
    • Abandon loyalty to their manager or company
    • Become physically ill or increase their absenteeism
    • Demonstrate poor performance, sloppiness, or disinclination to prepare

    What people express. Listen carefully as some may express intense sadness and resentment or articulate uncertainty or fear of the future. Remember, the work-from-home environment has tested boundaries with work-life balance, childcare issues, and people being “let in” to their home environments through sometime incessant videocalls.

    Necessary Meetings

    One-on-one or skip-level meetings between manager and direct report are fundamental to effective performance management. These are now more compelling and may require greater frequency. Acknowledge people’s feelings and call on your greatest active listening skills as you encourage open and active communication. Reassure them of their value and help them to confirm their workplace goals. And give them the time they need to adjust but be sure to walk the fine line between counseling and showing appropriate empathy and concern. Offer appropriate professional referral sources if their needs indicate deep emotional distress or signs of hopelessness. A manager also needs to coach and motivate as well as track performance, behaviors, and responses, and look for resilience and bounce back.

    Support is more important now than ever.

    Content Originally Posted on td.org

    Author: Adena Johnston

  • Is Remarketing The New Free?

    Let’s face it, we’ve become increasingly numb to the lead capture bait for email address exchange. In fact, I think it’s become so bad that while people still sign up for the free thing, they often don’t even bother to download, rarely if ever actually read it or watch it, and unfortunately, don’t represent the opportunity for marketers that they once did.

    The bar for starting a relationship with a prospect has evolved, and the stakes are higher.

    Today, we have to create awareness before a prospect understands they have a problem or certainly before they are seeking a transformation.

    In my opinion, this is still done by offering the right content, in the right context, but with the right delivery mechanism.[tweetthis]To reach the greatest number of prospects in your market, the first contact can’t be an ask.[/tweetthis]

    Creating awareness through targeted content

    People still want to find answers to their challenges and will probably always seek information in many forms. Smart marketers are grouping and personalizing content by specific category or problem-solving advice and offering that content without strings in targeted advertising environments such as Facebook.

    The content may be a short video or series of video, a group of blog posts or even a series of templates and checklists.

    The key is that this is bite-sized, useful, easy to access and easy to consume. It’s the start of a relationship without commitment.

    Building trust before the ask

    So, how does totally free content create a lead? It does so by giving and giving and giving before asking anything. High-quality content without strings attached builds trust and authority – two of the primary objectives of all marketing today.

    The key to making this work as lead generation tactic is something called remarketing or retargeting.

    Now, you may be familiar with retargeting if you’ve ever reviewed a product you were researching online.

    A few years ago I wanted to get standup desk and looked around at a variety of products before finally settling on one made by Varidesk.

    I did my research one day and visited the manufacture’s site and sure enough everywhere else I went I started seeing ads for Varidesk.

    In fact, even after I had purchased the desk from Amazon I continued to see the ads on many news type sites I visited.

    This is retargeting not so much at its finest.

    Or perhaps you downloaded a free report on a site and when you returned to get the next one in the series they already knew your name and email and automatically completed it in the form. This is another type of very useful retargeting in a way.

    Essentially what retargeting involves is placing a cookie on a visitor’s browser that indicates they have come to your site. This cookie then allows ad networks to show certain ads when you visit one of their sites.

    Many people dislike this technology, and you can manage it by changing your privacy settings to disable it. Of course, a lot of things you do like, such as a website you frequent remembering your settings is activated using this same approach.

    One of the more effective ways to use retargeting in a gentle lead nurturing sense is by using Facebook’s retargeting tool.

    You simply run sponsored ads at highly targeted, useful content or a series of content and let Facebook tell you who visits and consumes the content. Once this mechanism is in place, you can start building custom audiences of the people that visited your free content with the knowledge that they may indeed be interested in a more substantial version of the content in exchange for an email address or opt-in.

    This approach, while requiring more patience, opens up a much larger potential audience and will likely make your list conversions triple or quadruple.

    Here’s a nice little tutorial on Facebook retargeting from Social Media Examiner

    And another, more technical one from WPCurve with specifics for WordPress users

    And, you might want to look for retargeting services outside of the Facebook walls, so take a look at PerfectAudience for a super easy approach or one of the pioneers of retargeting, AdRoll.

    Hyper segmentation for relationship building

    One of the beautiful things about this approach is that it not only allows you to nurture people who visit your website, but it also allows you to create segmented campaigns for people based on what they visited.

    For example, I attract many small business owners who are interested in tips and tactics for growing their business, but I also serve a growing network of independent marketing consultants who are interested in ways to grow a more profitable practice and serve more customers.

    Using a retargeting approach, I can create a highly personalized experience for these radically different audiences based on an understanding of the content they visited.

    Now, understand that this approach is certainly not limited to Facebook – Facebook just offers a nice way to use it to build awareness and trust.

    This is essentially the same technology that powers inbound marketing tools such as Hubspot or many CRM and marketing automation tools. It’s the same technology that powers many of the more sophisticated lead tracking tools such as ClickMagick or Kissmetrics.

    The real lesson in this is that marketers today must understand that as brands big and small continue to take advantage of the technology to serve more personalized, useful and relevant experiences the more our prospects will come to hunger for and expect the same from any business they engage – whether they know it or not.

    Content Originally Created by Duct Tape Marketing

    Author: John Jantsch

  • Becoming a Recognized Expert

    Nowadays, it’s possible for virtually anyone to get their message out into the world. As a result, we’re often overwhelmed with an endless stream of information and noise.

    So if you’re a professional who wants to become known for your expertise, how do you stand out from the crowd?

    Ron Carucci is a fellow Harvard Business Review author and member of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches, a partner in the consulting company Navalent, and a member of my Recognized Expert course and community. In a recent #LinkedInLive session that I had with Ron, we discussed what it really means to be a recognized expert in business today.

    To ensure you can join me for my next LinkedIn Live interview, follow me on LinkedIn. Click this link to my profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/doriec/ – and then click “follow.”

    Here are five pieces of advice from Ron about how you can start your journey as a recognized expert:

    Expand your audience. A few years ago, at the start of his journey, Ron realized he needed to grow his network – because as it stood, he was mostly in dialogue with people who already knew him, and he needed to get known by new audiences. He therefore doubled down on content creation, and actively began writing for Forbes and the Harvard Business Review.

    Create content to attract your ideal clients. One can’t simply create content and expect to go viral or suddenly gain a massive following. Ron says, “It’s not enough to write or put ideas out there, even if they’re brilliant. They have to be the brilliant ideas you want to represent you. That’s how you invite the kind of people into your life whom you want in your life.”

    Swim against the stream. Right now, consider what everyone in the news is writing about. Sometimes, it pays to do the opposite, such as Ron’s successful recent piece in the Harvard Business Review talking about ambition (at a time when almost everyone else was focused on writing about the pandemic).

    Get proactive with your social media engagement. We all appreciate the fanfare of a well-liked post, picture, or article, but every single reaction to your content is a potential opportunity, as Ron suggests. “Every one of those reactions, tweets, LinkedIn follows, the comments on the article, is a new relationship,” he says. “Just responding something like, ‘Hey, thanks for your engagement’ or ‘Hey, interesting question- what do you think?’ grows both your recognition and potential business down the road. I would leverage every one of those interactions far more aggressively. In terms of just being diligent and engaging, try to start a conversation with them.“

    Play the long game. Everyone envisions a “break-out” moment on their journey to success. The truth is, you don’t reach your goal by taking just one really good step. As Ron says, “We all think that maybe this article, maybe this video, maybe this TED talk, maybe this podcast will be the one – that breakout moment. There’s no such thing. Each of those moments becomes a diligent step on the journey to advance the cause. Be diligent in your content idea sharing, in your strategies, how you create content, whom you talk to, and what you talk about. That’s all really important. But prepare yourself for the psychological and emotional journey of resilience. This is a long game. The recognition part of the recognized expert is a long game. Don’t keep looking to your left and right and getting into the ‘Well, how come them and not me?’ It’s not about meritocracy. Don’t be looking for the merits of your ideas to stand above somebody else’s or not. That’s not what this is about. It’s about people getting to know you better.”

    By following the steps Ron suggests above, you can advance much further on the journey to becoming a Recognized Expert.

    To watch the video replay of my interview with Ron, click this link here.

    And if you’d like to see how far along you are in the recognized expert journey, sign up to receive a free PDF download of my Recognized Expert Self-Evaluation Toolkit.

    Thank you for reading this week’s newsletter! Make sure to comment below, share your questions and ideas, and click “share” so your colleagues can join in on the discussion, as well.

    Author: Dorie Clark

  • Evolving Forward: The Indivisible System

    How systems thinking, focused intention and trust are essential for our future

    Meatpacking plants are a microcosm of what we are all experiencing right now—the indivisible system. As the contextual environment more aggressively imposes itself into our everyday world, the resources we used to call upon, while necessary, are insufficient to get us through this real crisis. The leaders at meatpacking plants must operate on all cylinders and become agile sense-makers of their environment to address the needs of their workforce, the needs of the communities they operate in, and the needs of the world’s food supply. This is not the time to think about themselves, their professional development or their personal assessment results. They are in chaos and complexity, and the leadership strategies previously applied will no longer work. There is no going back, there is only evolving forward.

    “The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) is a 101 course for leadership right now.” This spot-on statement was made this past week at CCI Consulting’s monthly virtual Executive Coach Café— something that has been taking place for much longer than the pandemic. We were, like so many others in the industry, discussing coaching strategies that are particularly important to help leaders right now; some of whom are dealing with bottom-line crises resulting in their businesses precariously perched on the brink of insolvency. Other leaders are navigating the needs of virtual staff and the mechanics of returning to a face-to-face office environment while simultaneously adjusting to the legal issues involved with protecting their employees. Whatever the particular situation, the workforce is in dire need of help and support.

    But the statement made about Emotional Intelligence, or EI or EQ, has never rung truer than it does today because EI is not new. Most leaders already know about the 1995 book, “Emotional Intelligence,” by Daniel Goleman even if they haven’t read it or put its guidance into practice. Some are even aware of the 1990 John Mayer and Peter Salovey article that first used the term emotional intelligence, or the seminal work of Howard Gardner and Reuven Bar-On in the 1980s that dug into multiple intelligences and the psychological well-being and drivers of success outside of IQ and academic or hard-skill proficiencies.

    One does not turn on the EI switch and suddenly develop the capacity to marry self-awareness and the awareness of others any more than after one reads a book or listens to a TED talk and suddenly becomes attuned to the needs of psychological safety, authenticity or courage. All of these concepts require leaders—and all of us for that matter—to zero in on the foundation that allows these concepts to turn into everyday actions that move the needle on interpersonal effectiveness and leadership strength.

    Our society needs interpersonal effectiveness and leadership strength now more than ever. But, more important than that, we need to shift our perspective to the indivisible system we live in. To do that, we need to turn up the volume on the foundational skills of systems thinking, focused intention and trust.

    Consider these scenarios:

    Pre-pandemic: The office reception area was always sparkling, but the building scheduled individual offices and cubicles to be cleaned on a bi-monthly basis.

    Upon reopening: Your direct report walks into the office environment and wonders privately if the building manager allocated the proper resources to procure the ethanol or cleaning solutions necessary to disinfect their cubicle space or thinks that perhaps they diluted materials in favor of cost savings. They say nothing because at least they still have a job.

    Pre-pandemic: Your Asian American lab manager received an award for facilitating a successful clinical trial.

    Upon reopening: On her way to work, your Asian American lab manager was harassed and called names for bringing the novel coronavirus to America. When she came into the office, she said nothing and moved quietly to her workstation wondering if anyone at work felt the same way.

    Pre-pandemic: A key member of the senior leadership team launched a new initiative, setting the stage to acquire a competitor.

    Upon reopening: With schools still closed and summer camp postponed, that same key member was distracted by family concerns and schedules, as well as figuring out coverage for staff, and the acquisition opportunity was not only missed but they experienced a hostile takeover.

    If we peel back the surface…if we move deeper than the mechanical needs of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), social distancing, work schedules and remote technology, we will see that these things are simply tools. And who uses the tools? People. It is the experience of people that matter more right now than ever before.

    The three foundational concepts that can help to move all of us forward require strategies that involve:

    Systems Thinking – None of us likes to think of ourselves as living in a bubble and now, more than ever, we see how siloed thinking causes unnecessary conflicts and contributes to misinformation and delayed decision-making. Systems thinking is not new, but its perspective is enjoying a resurgence. People everywhere are noticing its value when addressing complexity and the VUCA environment. As we move through the current pandemic, it is critical to call on a systems perspective to help organizations and people adapt to change. Russell Ackoff defined a system as, “a whole, which cannot be divided into independent parts…the essential properties of any system, the properties that define a system, are properties of the whole which none of its parts have.” When adopting a systems mindset, we see that our internal or operating environment (yes, our bubble or our organization) exists within a transactional or stakeholder environment where we act and interact with those around us, beyond which exists in our contextual or global environment.

    To be a true systems thinker requires consideration that the changes taking place in this contextual environment place pressures that cause changes in behavior of the stakeholders in the transactional environment. And, as changes in the transactional environment take place, they naturally place pressures on the internal and operational environment of the organization.

    Ah…the pandemic. But not just the pandemic.

    Change is not linear, and we are seeing in real time that what we are experiencing around the globe requires us to address the contextual environment of the pandemic and the economy but, more importantly, the changes we need to make FOR people. Leaders must accelerate considerations for how technology and digital productivity can enhance and not replace workers. Leaders must address shifting ways of generating business value through agility, innovation and new customer strategies. And how about where our employees come from? Entire categories of people are impacted when geopolitical and economic powers shift, but more so when the well-being of people and purpose of work dramatically change.

    Re-envisioning work as opposed to returning “back” to the way things once were is the new mission- critical competency leaders must embrace now.

    Focused Intention – The game has changed and our global existence has come into sharp focus because we now understand that even if we work hard, develop ourselves to be at our best, provide opportunities for others, and focus on our mission and values, there are still things we cannot control. The word intention often brings to mind a goal or target, such as we find when we have good intentions. However, our good intentions don’t always have the intended impact with either people or outcomes. There has never been a better time to take a step back and think about the kind of person you want to be…how you want to show up as a leader, friend, colleague, parent and citizen. Then, if you are honest with yourself and solicit feedback from others, is this the person you are today? Is there a gap you can fill?

    There are those who choose activities that quiet the mind or activate the soul. Whatever you choose is not really at issue. What is at issue is that you place focused attention on your intentions and exercise behaviors that support them, reflect on how you did, and adjust where needed. Hopefully, your intentions are supportive to those around you.

    Trust – At the core of everything is trusting the “other” person, but also ensuring they trust you. Without trust, we cannot communicate; without communication, there is no trust. If we choose to widen our perspective and allow greater transparency in the system, we must open ourselves up to the ideas of others and fill the gaps of understanding to make sense of our global system. During times of uncertainty and fear, people need to feel grounded that their leaders and organization are reliable and have one another’s back. Recognizing our own assumptions and biases are a good start here. Are we making assumptions that those around us are not interested in remaining healthy and alive? Are others making the right assumptions about us? In a way, it is the same as wearing masks right now: I wear a mask because I care about you and want you to wear one as an expression of how much you care about me.

    Begin by treating everyone—and I mean everyone—with complete positive regard. And, if you can’t, ask yourself how to approach the other with curiosity and kindness. Learn how they are experiencing everything right now. Learn how they are struggling and laughing and tell them about how you are experiencing things right now. Together, and through courageous and caring conversations, it will be easier to build an environment where people reconnect with one another after we reduce our distance, where we all begin to challenge our own limiting beliefs, and where we can co-create whatever our future has in store.

    There are many important leadership tools out there, but without thinking in systems, intention and trust, everything else falls flat. Together we lead.

    Author: Adena Johnston, D. Mgt. MCEC Vice President and Practice Leader, Talent Development

  • Your Leadership Legacy Is Now

    How will you be remembered for leading through these times? What will people say about the way you showed up? What will be your legacy?

    Today and tomorrow – into the foreseeable future – will be painful and destabilizing as we manage through this pandemic. Our days will also bring new ideas and plans, and the chance to relate differently to others and to the world. Everything has changed and is changing every day.

    Will they say you were centered, calm and present in an environment of fear and uncertainty? Will they recall how you focused everyone on what was most important? Will they think back and remember how you communicated every day about what you knew, didn’t know and couldn’t know about the Covid crisis and its impact?

    Will others look back at how you took charge of details to solve urgent problems and then included others in the plan for getting through the worst days? Will they say how inspired they were by your vision for what your organization could be post-pandemic, a vision that was realistic and bold and challenged them to bring their best?

    Will they recall feeling connected to you and cared about? Will they talk about how you checked in often to ask about their families’ safety and how they were handling the stress of working from home? Will they hold in their minds the thought, “he was going through this with us?” Will they talk about how you were present and grieved with a team member who lost her mother?

    Will they say you showed your humanity, your fear for your own family’s safety and your own concerns about the future of the organization and business. Will they remember you saying, “I don’t know?”

    The future is not some far-off time when others will settle back in their chairs to review how you showed up as a leader when the world changed. Your leadership today will be talked about tomorrow and for days to come, and it will carry more significance, or not.

    So, don’t wait for history to remember you. Your leadership legacy is now.

    Author: Ken Giglio

    Ken Giglio is a highly experienced Executive Coach, Consultant, and Coach Supervisor focused on Mindful Leadership, the courage to confront and shift the self-limiting mindsets and behaviors that undermine personal, team, and organizational effectiveness. As Principal, he leads a global team of highly experienced executive coaches and supervisors who link leadership to an organization’s strategic business objectives. www.mindful-leaders.com

  • 5 Steps to Stay Focused When Teaching Online

    Try Balancing High Intensity Activity with Periods of Recovery


    It’s only noon; you’re halfway through teaching your third virtual class of the day, and you just can’t take it anymore. Even with the air conditioning on full blast and slurping down your third cup of coffee, you can’t stare at the screen any longer. You feel increasingly distracted, increasingly frustrated, and you’re not even sure why. Worse yet, you know your students are feeling the same way. In your gut, you know there has to be a better way to keep focused and energized.

    In-person classes and meetings are challenging enough; after all, there’s a reason why Patrick Lencioni’s book Death by Meeting was such a hit. Then came COVID-19 and everything moved online, presenting a familiar yet even greater challenge for educators: how can I ensure my classes are efficient and engaging in a virtual setting?

    The good news is that, right now, as we think ahead to upcoming semesters, we have the opportunity to change how we approach and design virtual classrooms. With a few simple shifts, we can make virtual classrooms more efficient, productive, engaging, and collaborative, all while ensuring our sanity and focus as educators. It may surprise you that we can turn to the nearby (likely closed) gym for tips on how to optimize online teaching—and make it more enjoyable.

    High-Intensity Interval Training: Not Just for the Gym

    Maximizing results in a minimal amount of time is a mantra echoed in the fitness world with a concept known as high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. According to Medical News Today, HIIT is exercise that involves short bursts of challenging activity followed by rest or lower-intensity exercise. Studies have found that even a short HIIT workout, done a few times a week, maximizes health outcomes including reduced body fat, improved cardiovascular and metabolic health, and improved mental health.

    Imagine yourself in a workout class. The sweat is pouring from your face and arms as you push yourself to do just one more sit-up. You hear the voice in your head telling you that you just can’t do anymore.

    Tell yourself you can do this! There is no magic pill, yells the instructor. You surprise yourself by completing two more sit-ups. Your heart rate slows as you sip water, wipe down your station, walk to the treadmill, and give the instructor a beleaguered thumbs-up.

    While many gyms are quickly adopting this trending technique, the idea of maximizing results by balancing intervals of performance and rest is grounded in the basic theory of human well-being. In The Power of Full Engagement, authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz talk about energy as a resource, a currency for performance. Loehr and Schwartz make the case that it is maximizing energy, not time, that will give you the edge you need to perform and renew.

    If balancing rest and movement supports healthier bodies, it can also help our mental focus and attention. Short intervals of a complex work or learning task followed by periodic breaks ensure that when we re-engage, we are cognitively ready to give our best effort to our work.

    5 Steps to Make Virtual Classes More Productive

    So how can educators apply the benefits of HIIT to their virtual classes? It’s a five-step process.

    Step 1: Get into the Right Mental Zone

    Virtual classes are different from in-person ones, but that doesn’t mean they have to be worse. Embracing a positive mindset is the first and most important step in changing how you approach virtual classes.

    For your students, you need to be a supportive coach. A positive outlook has a long-term impact on achieving learning goals. Reward students with a virtual high-five. Invite classmates to offer each other appreciative feedback.

    And for yourself, adjust your mindset about how much you can do in a class session. To be realistic, cut your expected outcomes and productivity goals by half. If you have four desired outcomes to achieve in an in-person class, plan to accomplish one or two virtually. In other words, retain the outcomes and activities that are most critical, so that you have the leanest, most essential program.

    Step 2: Hold Concise, Purposeful Class Sessions

    In a HIIT program, you might target arm strength on Monday and cardio and core on Tuesday. This ensures that you can work out consistently, building habits for success and not burning out any single muscle group. Apply this to your virtual teaching approach. Avoid squeezing a whole week’s worth of activity into one day. Remember that each activity takes longer online, while the attention span of your students shortens.

    You would never spend a whole workout watching your coach demonstrate the exercises. Participation—not presentations or lectures—is the most important part of a class session. Presentations are a one-way delivery, the equivalent of watching a YouTube video or the evening news. Reserve class time for participatory work that requires collaborative discussion.

    For long lectures, consider sending out a pre-recorded video or podcast. This enables students to engage with the content when they are ready to listen attentively. Then, when you do get together online, you can use your time discussing or working through the material.

    You might also consider creating a reverse classroom, where each small group learns a different part of the lesson and teaches it back to the entire class. In other words, think of your large class as several small group modules, and give students as much time as possible to get their hands (metaphorically) on the content.

    Step 3: Regulate Activity in Short-Burst Intervals

    Approach the design of your class session the same way you would design a HIIT program, in short-burst intervals like the ones shown in the figure below. Avoid presentations that run longer than 10 or 15 minutes before you have students engage in some way. Even a light activity, such as asking questions via the online platform’s chat function or taking a quick poll, is enough to hold focus.

    Favor small-group work and experiential learning whenever possible. If you have an hour of class time, think of ways to break it up into intervals of presentation, participation, reflection, and individual silent work and study, with the educator on hand to answer any questions that arise.

    Vary the activities you use to deliver content. Avoid too much frontal teaching or “talking heads.” Mix it up with engaging videos and breakout groups. Experiment with using an online shared workspace, such as a Google document or a MURAL board.

    You could splice up a long lecture into 15- to 20-minute chunks. Deliver a small chunk of content, then put the students into virtual breakout groups to discuss what they learned.

    Don’t forget to build in time to towel off and grab a sip of water. Ninety minutes is as long as a group can go without a break. A five- to 10-minute break every hour is recommended.

    Step 4: Set the Group Up for Success

    No one wants to do a workout they dread. Design your sessions to be ones people want to attend. Just as it takes time to transition from one workout circuit to the next, build in extra time for people to connect before diving into the next activity. Especially right now, people crave social connection. Build in five or 10 minutes for socializing in breakout sessions, if you can.

    And just like there is no one-size-fits-all workout, each person has different needs, attention spans, and energy for participation in an online class. Small-group breakouts give extroverts the space to talk through their ideas. Time for individual reflection gives introverts the space to think through what they would like to say.

    Step 5: Safety First—Warm Up, Cool Down, and Transition

    To work out without injury, we must warm up, know our equipment, cool down, and stretch. To lead a virtual class without “injury,” we must also take a few steps to ensure the well being of the class. This could mean incorporating agreements or ground rules up front to provide a safe space for collaboration. A few important agreements for virtual classes include the following:

    • Be present and eliminate distractions
    • Mute yourself when you’re not speaking
    • Use chat and virtual hand-raising when you want to speak

    The term “ice breaker” is often accompanied by eye rolls. Think of an ice breaker as a warm up, something that you do to help a group get ready for the hard work. You don’t run without walking first. You don’t lift weights without stretching first. A virtual ice breaker not only gets the group connected and ready to work, but also gives everyone a chance to play with the technology before beginning a session. Build in energizers (see sidebar) before each large content piece, as a way of warming up and maintaining a steady burn.

    Cooling down is just as important as warming up. In working with students online, this means three things:

    1. Summarize the learning objectives. Today, we learned about what led to the Great Depression.
    2. Clarify any remaining questions. Are there any parts of today’s lesson that were unclear?
    3. Announce the next topic and any upcoming assignments or examinations. Next time, we’ll look at what led to World War II, and your essay on life during the Great Depression is due Tuesday at 3 p.m. EST.

    Teaching and Learning at Our Best

    With the world in a constant state of uncertainty, it is hard to find things we can control. How we spend and share time in class is something that can be shaped. Applying the HIIT formula to virtual classes is one way of finding our balance, focusing, and performing at our best with the tools and resources we have.

    Original Content Courtesy of Harvard Business Publishing Education

    Written by: Rae Ringel, Brian Tarallo, and Lauren Green

  • Do Great Leaders Work Hard or Work Smart?

    The answer is – Yes.

    As leaders we invest a tremendous amount in our work, and there are two ways that we can approach it. We can work harder than everyone else, and we can work just as smart as we work hard. Both are equally important. 

    Those who are in a position to assess other leaders will usually take note of a leader who is putting in 30% or 40% more hours than their colleagues, while showing the same results.  These leaders are typically the subject of conversations that call into question exactly what they are doing with all those hours.  

    Working hard without working smart does you no favors.  So, do both.      

    Let’s examine what it looks like to work smart.  When you work smart you are continually looking for efficiencies and the kind of simplicities that help you get things done effectively and efficiently.  It means you are building a vast and varied network of resources and people that you can call on to help you accomplish the three or four dozen things you need to achieve each day.  And to reciprocate as you find as many ways as you can to help these good people accomplish what they need to in return. 

    Smart means understanding the nuances that help leaders in your organization and your industry be successful.  The leadership competencies that we call organizational savvy and leadership agility go a long way toward describing this leadership quality.  I lean on these two competencies most often, as I coach leaders to be their most productive.  Within our organizations, we spend our time determining which levers to pull, who we can lean on, which approach works best in the culture, and those that don’t.  

    How We Achieve is as Important as What We Achieve  

    When we’re presented with challenges to resolve, we have two things that we need to focus on.  We are expected to deliver on what it is we need to deliver.  And, just as important, we are responsible for cultivating relationships with those we partner with along the way.  The reason the relationships are so meaningful is that the people we get to work with are the ones that help us get things done. Pretty simple.  The other reason they’re important is that we are going to be working with those same people tomorrow, and next week and next year.  It helps if we enjoy working with each other.   

    So the relationships we establish and enhance are as much of a commodity as the deliverables we achieve.  As we go about delivering on our goals, it’s vital to demonstrate our organizational savvy and focus on both what we deliver and how we deliver.  We need to be constantly aware of how we build relationships, sharpen our leadership intelligence, and cultivate our leadership brand.

    John Wooden
    “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.”

    Author: Scott F. Burns

    Visit his website:  leadership-scottfburns.com

  • Is Your Business Ready for the Post-Shutdown ‘New Normal’?

    If you lived through the trauma of 9-11, you know that the way we do some things –such as travel – changed forever. The reality of doing business post-COVID-19 will be no different, and its reach will be far more impactful.

    Unlike the sudden shutdown, reopening may happen gradually and with various caveats, such as wearing masks, moving work spaces further apart and checking employee temperatures at the beginning of the work day. Regardless of what government and health guidelines require or suggest, now is the time to prepare for doing business in the new world of coronavirus, which likely will be with us for many months – or perhaps years – to come.

    As you plan for re-entry, evaluate your current practices during the shutdown and consider which are applicable when you re-open. Create workflows that consider the following questions:

    Questions to Ask Yourself and Team

    1) What changes have the virus forced upon you?
    2) What processes are you doing differently? Which are working? Why? Which are not working? Why not?
    3) How is the virus and shutdown affecting each product or service? Are there special considerations for some and not others?
    4) How are you communicating with employees? Is it the same? Different? Better? Worse?
    5) How are you keeping your team engaged and motivated?
    6) What is causing your and your team’s stress? How are you handling it?
    7) What innovations has your team developed during the crisis that could be implemented post-shutdown?
    8) How well have you – and team members – handled change? Have new “stars” emerged who showed greater leadership?
    9) Has remote working been a positive experience? Should you continue it at some level in
    the future?
    10) Has providing flex-time hours been a positive experience? Should you continue it?

    Working through these questions and developing new “rules” for each scenario will help you anticipate your business life in the future. Depending on the size and type of business, you may need to consider different procedures for each division, department or individual employees.

    Once you have evaluated your situation and developed your plan for the various scenarios, you may want to consider reopening your business in phases on a priority basis. Here is one possible re-entry schedule:

    3 Phases to Work Through

     Phase One: Return employees onsite who aren’t able to effectively or efficiently work remotely because they don’t have all the necessary tools or need to be more
    closely managed.

     Phase Two: Employees working well from home are returned onsite as needed and work on a flexible schedule.

     Phase Three: Employees working extremely well at home can continue working remotely longer, or they may never need to come into the office daily.

    While this unplanned shutdown has been painful and will require us to work differently, it is providing an opportunity to reassess business practices and make changes that will create a more positive company culture. With the right changes, your team can become more productive, and your business can become more profitable.

    For More Information

    About the Author: Shelley Smith is a company culture curator, author and president of Premier Rapport www.premierrapport.com. Culture isn’t built in a day; it’s built every day.

  • How To Survive A Toxic Workplace And Shift The Company Culture Before It’s Too Late

    Executives often understand the importance of goals and solid business strategies. However, many fall short in understanding, embracing and shifting the culture to meet or exceed those goals.

    In the following white paper and the accompanying book, How To Shift Your Company Culture, I address and layout the methods I designed through my years of working in corporate America and in my business with clients.

    The white paper includes all my methods, processes, survey explanation and client results. For most businesses, employees are the largest line item in the budget and the number one differentiator in the business over competitors. The company culture can make or break the overall success (profitability) of an organization. The culture is made up of its people, those people are the culture.

    I hope leaders use this white paper to help teams shift their companies’ culture in the direction they envision to achieve their goals. As my tagline says, Culture Matters.

    Shelley D. Smith is the CEO of Premier Rapport, Inc. and also a best-selling author, consultant and highly sought-after speaker.

    Her experiences over the past 35+ years have earned her a reputation as “The Culture Curator.”

    Forward thinking organizations use her I.M.P.A.C.T. Leadership Model to help them shape the culture they’ve envisioned, increase profitability, decrease employee turnover and retain top talent.

    If you’re like other business leaders who still believe in the people and the mission of your organization, I’m sure you’ll find all the information written by Shelley D. Smith to be helpful.

    To access this comprehensive overview of how to remove the contaminants that pollute peace of mind, productivity and profits, visit the title below:

    How To Survive A Toxic Workplace And Shift The Company Culture Before It’s Too Late.

    Shelley D. Smith encourages everyone that she can answer any questions that arise while reading the book.

    Shelley can be reached at shelley@premierrapport.com.