Strategies for Inspiring Your Disillusioned Team

As leaders, how do you align your team's purpose with the company's mission in a way that not only resonates with employees but also drives your business forward? We've got the answers wrapped in this riveting discussion, offering a roadmap to success when the lines of power between employer and employee seem to blur.

This episode is a must for executives seeking to reconnect with their teams amidst a shifting socio-economic landscape. We'll delve into the profound impact of personal motivations on business outcomes and provide actionable strategies to ensure every team member feels integral to the organization's success. With end-of-year appraisals and promotions on the horizon, you'll discover how to navigate the evolving dynamics of the workplace, the so-called end of the Great Resignation, and the power shifts influencing corporate culture today.

In this episode, we discuss the following:
1. The significance of bridging the gap between an individual's role and the local purpose of their team or department.
2. The importance of leaders encouraging teams to define their shared purpose, promoting a sense of ownership and active involvement.
3. The necessity for leaders to embody the values and attitudes they aim to instill in their teams, emphasizing consistency in words and actions.

This episode is sponsored by LucidPoint
Are you struggling to take your IT organization to the next level?
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https://www.lucidpoint.io/

CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/

CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Welcome to the Quick Take Podcast, the show where you get targeted advice and coaching for executives by executives. I'm Suzy Tominczuk.

Speaker 2: 0:24

And I'm James Capps. Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to address the complex topic of issues that are challenging executives like you today.

Speaker 1: 0:35

Hey, welcome to Quick Take. I'm Suzy, along with my favorite co-host, James. How are you, James?

Speaker 2: 0:41

I am fantastic. How are you today?

Speaker 1: 0:43

I'm good. I'm good. I was talking to a few clients this past week and they're getting ready for the new year and feel like they're still struggling with where are we in this economic time with engagement with employees? Am I in power? Are they in power? Is this over? It's kind of like this fog and I'm not sure what to do with it. I thought this might be a really good topic to talk about.

Speaker 2: 1:11

It's so good we're having the same conversations with people I speak with. We're at the end of the year, we're in promotion time and we're in appraisal time and bonus time and all these times that you examine your people and the question is is the great resignation over what does exactly?

Speaker 1: 1:30

happen with that?

Speaker 2: 1:33

And it's interesting because I think that the reality is that we are still in a time where people are disconnecting, people are still finding a challenge to align with their purpose and, while the economy can be whatever you think it is it can be good, it can be bad, it is what it is but the reality is, as employers and employees, we've gone through a period of time where that relationship has changed and I think companies are trying to grapple with that relationship. There's generational factors, there are socioeconomic factors, there's coastal factors. All those things come into play. But as leaders, I think it's fair to say that the game of boggle has been shaken. The pieces are that the Jenga has tipped over and we need to assess ways that we can reconnect our people with our purpose to ensure we're getting the most out of them.

Speaker 1: 2:32

So what do you mean? Is it the purpose of the business?

Speaker 2: 2:35

like really looking at the focus of the business, okay, yeah, I think, just generally, we all better off if we're working towards a common purpose. I think that's critical, and while there's thousands of anecdotes and stories about how you can tell people there's stories of, I think that the one that everybody hears is the janitor working towards getting man on the moon and that whole trash can story. We've heard that a thousand times. But really, how do we ensure that people feel like that they're doing something that matters and are giving everything they can and should towards the firm?

Speaker 1: 3:15

So are you thinking that we've changed the focus of that and people have been focused on the individual and not the business? Do you think that's a shift back?

Speaker 2: 3:28

I think what happens is in an economy where the employee is more empowered, where the hiring market is extremely hot, people start to evaluate what is important to them, and this is where you have different benefits that matter Time how many days of the week are they in the office? Can I bring my dog? Is there? What kind of benefits? So people start to evaluate that. Not only that, though. They also start to evaluate is my purpose aligned with my company's purpose?

Speaker 2: 3:59

And the market is really really, really leaning towards the employer and there's lots of layoffs and people have a difficult time finding a job. People will take a job with a massive misalignment. They will absolutely do more than they're willing to do because they need a job. I think we've gone through a very interesting time where, hey, there's still layoffs and companies overgrew perhaps, but we're also seeing extremely tight labor market, and so there's an opportunity for people to adjust all of their perspectives and determine what's important for them, and companies are looking at adjusting their perspectives and determining what's important for them, and now we've got to find a way to come together and align those two and so we can all maximize the output and all meet the goals that we want to meet.

Speaker 1: 4:48

You know, when they've looked at the research around engaged employees, there is a direct correlation between people understanding exactly what they do, and I want to make sure that we make this point really clear. It's being aligned with what the mission of the company is, or what they sell, or being aligned with what they do as an entity, a business entity. But the other nuance to that is helping me, susie, understand how my accounting things, the to-do list, have a direct correlation to moving the business forward and helping the person understand how there is a direct plug-in to what they do, because then they feel like what they do has more purpose and more value to the overall company, and that's what it's hard to do.

Speaker 2: 5:42

It is very hard to do and that's really my first recommendation is you know you've got to ensure that people understand the company's mission. You should know what the company does, right. You should know what we kind of do here and that's what your leadership team does. We talk about that in platitudes and high levels. But the first recommendation is you've got to tie your employees' function to your group and departments' function, because many times there's a huge chasm between what your Java developer is doing and the fact that your firm is actually generating the first human machine hybrid. I mean, that's a really big step. If you're in healthcare, it's a very big step. So, while people need to appreciate the mission of the organization, you as a leader need to find a way to sit down with that employee and show how what they do makes a difference, because that, you know, my favorite phrase is you know all politics are local and this is a local politic thing where they've got to understand where their function is and how that meets with the goal of that group and your department.

Speaker 1: 6:44

I completely agree, but I would also add that this shouldn't be a one-time, one-year conversation. You really need to not only define what that is, but recognize, you know spot when it's happening and reinforce that to them. See, this is you doing that? This is the impact it had. That's really great. Keep it up.

Speaker 2: 7:09

And it's hard for a company that does lots of things, but the reality is you've got to be able to reinforce that over and, over and over.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Yeah, make it local. I love that.

Speaker 2: 7:19

Yeah, it's local. I think the second one is, you know you've got to have that collaborative purpose right, and so it's kind of a correlated second one which is helping. A first one helping people understand their connection to the goals of the department as they lead to the broader ones, but also helping teams create that collaborative purpose. So everyone's on board. You have to get the buy-in of what you're trying to accomplish. You know you can't if you join a company, you take a job at a bank, you have technically bought into the mission of the bank because you work there right, and so you're only going to have a somewhat associated connection there. But if you can collaborate with your team, your local team, your department, your division, and build that and understand that connection to what they're responsible for, that is going to drive a better sense of purpose. And so I think it's important that you as a leader, help bring your team together to help them understand their purpose and collaborate on that and create a shared vision for what is what you're responsible for.

Speaker 1: 8:23

And I would also add that is when, if you're a leader of leaders, have this conversation so that you have consistency and brainstorming about how do you make that come alive, because you can't just do it and expect people to understand the context of that and how they can pass it on.

Speaker 2: 8:43

Totally agree, and you know that that leader leadership opportunity dovetails really well into my third one, which is acting and behaving as an example. And when you lead leaders and you sit down with your team and you talk about this, the best way you can enforce and enable this is do a skip level, go to their meeting, let them hear the language coming out of your mouth. You've got to walk the walk and talk the talk, all right. And so often I catch junior leaders or those who haven't had the opportunity to deal with difficult situations, not speaking in the most positive light, deferring the problems to leadership. You know, if only our board of directors would do XYZ. You know that doesn't help.

Speaker 2: 9:29

I'm not saying why I'm saying if you're going to try to create a cohesive vision for what your team is responsible for and the value they bring to the table, you've got to tell them. You've got to tell them again and you got to tell them again your job as a leader is as much of anything as to create that environment and then maintain that environment. And the way you act, the way you behave, your body language, your eye rolls, your smiles, your sarcasm all just cuts like a knife and you really need to think about that all the time.

Speaker 1: 10:03

Yeah, your role is you're training the trainer, you're helping them understand, because those up and coming executives need to understand that they also need to tow that line and have the business frame. You're right, it's not lying. But you need to support the senior management that is over you and the only way to do that is to really make sure that you're reinforcing that and taking those. You know, if you need time to gripe or complain, do it with your partner. Do it with somebody outside, have a safe. Do not do it with your people.

Speaker 1: 10:39

That's what your dog is for.

Speaker 2: 10:40

That's what your dog is for, yeah, I think it's so important too that you get excited about that mission, right? Yeah, I'm lucky that I can get excited about the most seemingly unexciting things, because everything is an opportunity in my mind, and even the problems that nobody wants to deal with, even the most thankless of opportunities, is still an opportunity, and so my team here's me getting excited about what we will get to do here and the value we bring to the table, and that I hear it in their voices, I hear it repeated by the leaders that report into me to their teams, and creating that connection. You know, like, what we're talking about here today is a disillusion staff, and how do you address disillusionment? You provide the light, you provide the vision, you provide the direction, and so these three things are really intended to help people see and understand and viscerally appreciate their connection to what they're doing every day.

Speaker 1: 11:41

Yeah, it's like you have to believe. If you don't believe it, you're not going to be able to. Those words are going to be flat. They're going to see right through them. So you really do need to hone. Own that, own that.

Speaker 2: 11:53

Sure Sure, all right, so what?

Speaker 1: 11:54

are those three. I think this is really important right now to really reinvigorate these tips.

Speaker 2: 12:02

Yeah, and I think that the market is where we are and people need to understand that. So the first one is I think you need to find a way to connect an individual's function to your local purpose, and by local I mean something that is below the board, the platitudes that are on the wall in the lobby or the thing that's in your annual report. Connect your people to their purpose. Two, you need to find a way to connect your people to a purpose that they have had opportunity to create. Use collaboration to create a shared purpose so they can participate in that conversation and feel like that they had a voice. And then, third, walk the walk. Be the leader that they need to hear. Provide them with that shining beacon. Make sure that they see you have bought into this as well.

Speaker 1: 12:55

Yeah, I'm going to use this in my coaching with leaders that I work with. This is really helpful.

Speaker 2: 13:02

Yeah, it's a hot topic right now and a lot of people say that they're struggling with their staff attitude and the way that people are thinking and their attitude is also challenging. So it's an interesting time and, at the end of the day, we're leaders and we need to show that leadership.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Awesome. This was a good one, james, thank you.

Speaker 2: 13:21

Good topic. Hey Susie, I have a question for you. Which one of your daughters is your favorite?

Speaker 1: 13:30

That's not fair, I do not have a favorite.

Speaker 2: 13:33

I do not I love them.

Speaker 1: 13:35

as equal as it could be Like a morsel of salt doesn't even like their exact, exact measurements so there is no favorite period. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the mind of executives everywhere. Connect with us and share what's on your mind.

Speaker 2: 14:00

You can find us on LinkedIn, YouTube or whatever nerdy place on the internet. You find your podcasts. Our links to the show are in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 14:08

We appreciate you.