Employees want more meaningful and purposeful work. Few experience happiness or commitment in the workplace. Research indicates that only two in ten U.S. employees are satisfied with their place of work. Despite this, 71% of executives recognize an engaged workforce is critical to a company's success. You're not alone if you are on a quest for the perfect career or feel stuck in a rut. A recent study found that nearly three in ten employees are looking for a new job in the new year. However, the best solution for many may not be found in switching positions or companies . There's a saying that if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. Discovering purpose and meaning at work begins with a clear picture of what it looks like rather than simply thinking, "Anything but this." Here is what you need to know about an ancient Japanese concept called ikigai and three steps to finding purpose and meaning at work. Starting with the end in mind matters Career fulfillment and satisfaction are found in balancing your passions, skills, and interests. It is a positive response to an actual or felt satisfaction of needs, desires, or aspirations. Athletes are trained to visualize themselves successfully achieving their goals before events. Numerous scientific studies link creative visualization (the ability to start with the end in mind) to improved performance, goal achievement, and stress management. Research supports that beginning with the end in mind through creative practice boosts your confidence and competence. Here is a short video on the concept of mental imagery used by athletes. Ikigai ( e -key-guy ) is a Japanese concept dating back to 794 AD that refers to your direction or purpose in life, providing fulfillment, satisfaction, and a sense of meaning. The literal translation consists of two words, 'iki' meaning to live and 'gai' meaning reason. Evidence suggests that the positive psychological effects of ikigai include: professional success well-being academic success physical benefits such as longevity of life Evidence from a study of over 40,000 adults found that both men and women with ikigai had a decreased risk of death from external causes. Visualizing your ikigai/career fulfillment Clarifying your ikigai unlocks the ability to visualize success (career fulfillment and satisfaction). Here is a short video on the meaning of ikigai. The key to understanding your professional ikigai is to explore the following four questions: What do you love to do? What does the world need? What can you get paid for? What are your strengths? The intersection points of these four questions help you clarify your passion (love and good at), mission (love and world needs), vocation (world needs and paid for), and profession (paid for and good at). The busyness of a fast-paced digital world has a way of keeping us from achieving our life's goals. Although this concept may appear straightforward, the value lies in the hard work of uncovering your answers to each of the four questions. Here are three steps to clarify your picture of career fulfillment: Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #1: Ask Yourself This is a potentially obvious point, but crucial. Planning is often the most significant barrier to reflection. You get too busy or distracted and move on to the next thing before reflecting. It doesn't have to be long, but I recommend scheduling at least 20 minutes in a quiet place. Then, ask yourself each question and journal what comes to your mind. Don't filter. Just write it down. Remember that discovering your answers to these questions is a journey rather than a one-time process. Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #2: Ask Others Find a few people who know you well, that you trust, and will be encouraging. Ask them how they would answer the questions for you. Consider hiring an executive coach . An effective executive coach will challenge assumptions and views and encourage, stretch, and challenge you. Coaching is a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires clients to maximize their personal and professional potential. Finding Purpose and Meaning Step #3: Reflect Reflect on what you heard. Consider themes rather than specific points shared and, as needed, edit or delete points you journaled. Once you understand your ikigai well, you can use the four questions and a simple Likert rating scale, where one is low, and five is high, to score every professional opportunity you might be considering along with your current work. The higher the score, the higher the alignment with your ikigai. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Garcia, H. & Miralles, F. (2018). Ikigai: The Japanese secret to a long and happy life. Penguin Life. Personio (2021). Counting the cost: How businesses risk a post-pandemic talent drain. Schippers, M., & Ziegler, N. (2019). Life crafting is a way to find purpose and meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , 2778-2778. Tanno, K., Sakata, K., Ohsawa, M., Onoda, T., Itai, K., Yaegashi, Y., Tamakoshi, A., for JACC Study Group, & JACC Study Group. (2009). Associations of ikigai as a positive psychological factor with all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality among middle-aged and elderly Japanese people: Findings from the Japan collaborative cohort study. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 67 (1), 67-75. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Job openings and labor turnover summary. Economic News Release.

If you are like most people, you're facing unprecedented levels of daily stress. Working harder than ever before has become the norm. While we can point fingers at staffing levels, remote work, and rapid technological upheavals, there's a deeper issue at play. The pursuit of happiness has morphed into over-scheduled calendars, feelings of inadequacy, and dwindling time for real relationships. Businesses can't afford to ignore the holistic impact of workplace stress. It's not just about those under stress - evidence suggests it's a trillion-dollar problem affecting all of us. The complexity can be overwhelming, creating uncertainty about the best course of action. What's the answer? Here are ten often hidden workplace stressors and one game-changing step every leader can take to create a healthier and better workplace. Why you need a workplace stress reduction strategy Managing long-term stress can lower your risk for conditions like heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. According to a study by the Mayo Clinic, the personal and organizational side-effects of executives experiencing long-term stress and burnout include: broken relationships substance abuse depression decreased customer satisfaction reduced productivity increased employee turnover Employees are stressed out. A global study of 14,800 knowledge workers across 25 countries revealed: 49% of leaders and 42% of non-managers are struggling with anxiety 74% of those surveyed are looking to company leadership for help dealing with workplace stress. The costs of workplace stress and burnout are severe for individuals and organizations. Manufacturing organizations like General Motors report spending more on healthcare than they do on raw materials for their products. A recent study to quantify the costs of workplace stress found that workplace stressors in the United States account for more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5-8% of annual healthcare costs. Here is a recent TedTalk on the surprising cost of workplace stress. Also, we are more connected to each other than we may recognize, and stress is an emotional contagion. Evidence suggests that co-workers can spread stress within a workgroup. For example, someone on your team who is feeling down enters a meeting. Within a few minutes, the entire team's emotions  begin to mimic their behaviors and non-verbal expressions. The following short NPR video discusses how emotions are contagious. The American Association of Psychology polled more than 1500 employees in the US and found: 87% believe their employer can take action to improve their mental health 59% experienced adverse impacts of work-related stress 44% intend to leave their current company in the next year 21% had a hard time focusing at work “Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody.” George Carlin Workplace stressors There is a long and rich history of research into workplace factors with the potential to create stress for leaders. Here is a list of ten common stressors: Role Ambiguity— A common stressor in the workplace is unclear roles and responsibilities. Whether being asked to do more with less or reporting to a new leader, when leaders feel inefficient and are unsure how to prioritize their work, it creates stress. Self-doubt— Questioning your knowledge, skills, and abilities can result in feelings of being a fraud. Being assigned a task for the first time and not hearing any feedback can amplify these feelings and create anxiety. Organizational Culture Misalignment – A lack of alignment or conflict between the company and personal values. Mergers and acquisitions can be a common source of this stress. For example, when a company values rapid decision-making, and the leader prefers strategic thinking, it can add misalignment stress. Expectations Conflict— Starting your day feeling like you cannot win is not good. When leaders are handed a scorecard that can't be executed with the current team's capabilities, it creates stress. Role Overload - This type of stress occurs when you are given too much to do and expected to deliver it on time and with high quality. It is unrealistic and stressful. Inadequate Resources - A lack of staff, tools, materials, equipment, information, and other resources needed to complete the job. When budgets are reduced, investments are delayed, and expectations are not adjusted, it is common to feel stressed from a lack of resources. Work-Life Boundary Mismanagement— In the distraction economy, many  leaders have given up on managing work-life boundaries . However, evidence suggests that not committing to managing personal and professional expectations increases stress. Stalled Career -  Dissatisfaction with career growth opportunities and a lack of hope for a better future. Role potential stress can lead to increased turnover and decreased workplace effort. Isolation - When you are alone and feel disconnected from others, you can feel you lack the support needed to succeed. The opposite is team cohesion. This is when members are committed to one another and collectively to a task, mission, or cause. Underemployment – Feeling like you have more to offer than the company currently asks of you. Career transitions, reorganizations, and outsourcing job responsibilities can leave leaders stressed from wanting more out of their work. How gratitude makes a difference Grateful leaders experience less stress, and expressing gratitude helps both the giver and the receiver. Gratitude is a positive emotion that balances a negative mindset . Many studies link gratitude with improved health, increased happiness, and decreased anxiety and depression. An interesting recent study found that those who wrote gratitude letters showed greater activation in their brain's medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in the fMRI scanner three months later. This evidence indicates that simply expressing gratitude may have lasting positive effects on your brain. Similar to the saying, you are what you eat. If you allow only negative thoughts and feelings into your life, it is harmful to your well-being. Consider the negative emotion of envy. It is impossible to be both envious and grateful at the same time. Gratitude helps create a barrier to negative thoughts and feelings. The following short video explains some of the science behind why gratitude matters. Feeling appreciated is linked to well-being and employee performance.  A study involving over 1700 working adults revealed that those who feel valued by their leader are likelier to report higher levels of physical and mental health, engagement, satisfaction, and motivation than those who do not. What is gratitude? According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude is a sense of thankfulness and happiness in response to receiving a gift, either a tangible benefit given by someone or a fortunate happenstance. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others." – Cicero. Gratitude consists of an affirmation of goodness and a source outside of ourselves. Gratitude involves both the ability to acknowledge the good in your life and feeling a sense of thankfulness. Empathy, kindness, and love  are closely related to the virtue of gratitude. Take the following six-question survey to determine and benchmark your likelihood of experiencing gratitude. The following video is from Robert Emmons, the creator of the survey. In it, he addresses what gratitude means. Getting Started Step #1: Cultivating Your Attitude of Gratitude Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is something we can all do and is a healthy leadership habit. The best way to get started is to make gathering and giving gratitude easy and gradually increase the practice. Gratefulness.io  is an app that makes getting started easy. I have used it for a few years and found it effective in cultivating an attitude of gratefulness. The app will send you a simple daily prompt asking you about what you are grateful for, and it stores your responses in a private online journal. What you record can be as simple as what comes to your mind or a purposeful reflection on something good that happened that day and why you felt good. I find scrolling through my journal very encouraging, and it also serves as a way for me to track my progress. Stop. Look. Go.  The following video explains how to get started practicing gratitude. It begins by getting quiet, looking through our senses, and then taking the opportunity presented. If you are feeling stuck about how to get started or have tried to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, executive coaching can help. Coaches work with their clients to foster a mindset shift and implement practical strategies toward meaningful goals, including gratitude-related ones. Through thought-provoking partnerships, coaches guide clients to reflect on achievements and strengths while deepening awareness and appreciation. Getting Started Step #2: Expressing Gratitude to Others Giving gratitude reduces your stress, makes you happier, and improves relationships. After listing what you are grateful for each day, take a few moments to practice giving gratitude. Not only will reflecting and journaling what you are thankful for make you happier, but showing appreciation will multiply the positive effects on your emotions. Simply send a thank you note or, better yet, deliver it and say thank you in person. Here is a simple template from Mental Health America. So, what is the real workplace stress challenge for you and your organization? References: APA. (2021). Facing compounding stressors, many American workers plan to change jobs in coming year. American Psychological Association. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Gallup. (2022). State of the global workplace 2022 report. Gallup. Harms, Zhang, J., & Perrewé, P. L. (2020). Entrepreneurial and small business stressors, experienced stress, and well being . Emerald Publishing Limited. Joshi. (2005). Stress from burnout to balance . Response Books. Williams, N. (2016). Top ten types of workplace stress. Bartell and Bartell.

Exceptionally talented leaders are life-long learners. The most creative leaders are at the helm of the most successful organizations, constantly driving innovation and growth. Approximately 50% of annual US GDP growth is attributed to innovation by economists. Yet several studies suggest that disruptive innovation has declined since 1970. The wave of change driven by artificial intelligence and the evolving dynamics between employers and employees is reshaping the competitive landscape. Medal of Freedom recipient Eric Hoffer wisely noted, "In times of change, learners inherit the earth." Have you considered the skills you need to develop to stay ahead? Does your business strategy encompass the factors likely to shape the future? Here are three future-ready leadership traits, two ways to extend your strategic foresight, and one leadership habit to spark a brighter future for you and those you lead. Why being a life-long learner matters during times of change Most economists believe that a more efficient workforce leads to competitive advantage and lowers the costs of goods and services. As the world changes, people and businesses must change too. Advances in technology always attract attention because of their potential effect on employment. The scale and speed of advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have raised fears about the possibility of widespread job displacement in the near future because these advances are fundamentally different from previous technological advances. Employees with less education who handle routine tasks, such as cashiers or file clerks, are at the highest risk of job automation. Nevertheless, automation is expected to have broad impacts. Experts predict that between 9% and 47% of jobs might be automated in the future. You likely know someone who has personally experienced the impact of technology-assisted work or had their work replaced by innovation. Automation is everywhere and is a controversial employment topic. This video and news clip of an automated McDonald's went viral with people on both sides of the debate. Evidence suggests that more than 40% of the required skills in three-quarters of jobs have changed over the past three years, indicating that the future of the workplace involves change. Economists are mixed on the employment impact of automation. A recent MIT study revealed that wages in the U.S. have declined by 0.42%, and the employment-to-population ratio has declined by 0.2 percentage points for each robot added per 1,000 workers. None of this is to minimize the hardships experienced by displaced workers. However, robotics and AI may be simply another in a long A.I.ne of waves of innovation whose effects on employment will unfold at rates comparable to those in the past. Leadership and organizational development are essential investments in realizing your organization's potential and preparing the next generation. Becoming future-ready is a clear benefit for today's leaders. Falling behind in a fast-changing workplace is career-limiting and a competitive threat to your business. Although the amount of change today may feel overwhelming, it is essential to never give up on the person you can become. Check out this motivational video for some encouragement. 3 Future-ready leadership characteristics Leadership qualities are not something you are either born with or not. The following future characteristics may seem complex and challenging to articulate, much less measure. However, executive coaching and assessments offer deep insights into areas that, with attention, can lead to enhanced potential. When you think about the future of work and consider the leadership skills and qualities you will need technical and analytical skills will likely come to mind. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, you are justified in thinking this way . It is projected that by 2030, in the US and Europe, the time spent during a workweek on information technology and programming tasks will increase the most. While some skills will be less in demand, it is essential to consider the human leadership skills that remain in the technology-driven workplace. Leadership is a relationship, and technology is changing the relationship. Selfless love, humility, and data-driven decision-making are a few timeless leadership skills and qualities to enhance your leadership effectiveness: Leadership Characteristic #1: Selfless Love Without selfless love, the best of what might be is impossible for you and others. When leaders adopt a selfless love worldview, they desire to bring out the best in their followers by giving them the best of themselves . A couple of the most significant challenges leaders will continue to face in the future are retaining top talent and creating inclusive workplaces that bring out the best in all employees. Selfless love cultivates an organizational culture where healthy and caring leader-follower relationships break down the adverse effects of our differences. Selfless love enhances organizational commitment, productivity, job performance, and emotional well-being. Leaders who emphasize selfless love bring out the best in how people think, act, and feel in the workplace, leading to success and significance both personally and professionally. Leadership Characteristic #2: Humility Humble leadership behaviors reduce costs and increase revenue. Humility is a demonstrated lever for sustainable company development, enhancing employee innovation, team empowerment, company performance, and self-improvement. After analyzing 1435 companies over forty years, leadership guru Jim Collins concluded that humility and professionalism are the most transformative executive leadership characteristics. Humble leaders recognize and are self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses. They appreciate others and believe that life is less about themselves and more about the greater good. Humble leaders walk the line between self-confidence and over-confidence. They can be both competitive and ambitious. Humble leaders are not weak and indecisive. Leadership Characteristic #3: Data-Driven Decision-Making Innovations enable businesses to make sense of the chaos and complexity in the world. Technology is creating massive amounts of data with the potential to create a competitive advantage or overwhelm and paralyze leaders. Data-driven decision-making has become somewhat of a buzzword as many leaders and organizations aim to be data-driven. It is when leaders use facts extracted from data and metrics to guide business decisions that support business goals rather than relying on experience, intuition, and stories alone. Data analytics provide leaders with new insights and understanding of how to transform their business. Using data enables organizations to optimize operations, reducing costs and increasing revenue. Cognitive and predictive analytics go one step further, allowing organizations to transform quickly during market changes. Embracing data-driven decision-making cuts through the haze that comes from relying on intuition. 2 Ways to Ignite Strategic Foresight The past few years have made it abundantly clear that no one can completely predict the future. Strategic foresight can offer some valuable insights when rethinking the future of leadership. “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” Wayne Gretzky Strategic foresight is a systemic view of change, considering all possible changes. It aims not to predict the future but to enable better decision-making and preparedness. Here are two practical steps to extend strategic foresight about what you will need to be able to do that you can’t yet do: Step 1: Get curious about potential challenges and opportunities facing your business over the next few years. Network with peers and colleagues. Do some of your investigating of business trends. It is easy to focus narrowly on the work and lose sight of where it is going. It is essential in this first step to avoid narrowing in on any potential trend too soon. You may find it helpful to use the strength , weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis to categorize the trends you identify. When doing this assessment, don’t be overly optimistic or pessimistic, but focus on what is likely: Consider what poses the greatest opportunity and risk for the business? Ask yourself, what strengths do I have that could be leveraged? Where do I need to improve to meet the challenges and opportunities identified? Step 2: Now, you are ready to focus and explore your shortlist of trends. Consider the impact and likelihood as you consider each point. Zero in on the more likely and critical challenges and opportunities. Ask yourself: What skills and qualities are needed by leaders to be ready for the potential challenges? What are the strengths I can leverage? Where is my real challenge? What trends and learning opportunities do I want to focus on? 1 Future-ready leadership habit Reflection is critical to build a brighter and better future for yourself and those you lead. Adequate reflection involves doubting, pausing, and being curious about the ordinary. Reflection improves critical thinking capacity . Critical thinking helps leaders navigate daily volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situations in every business. It is the ability to use cognitive skills and strategies to increase the probability of the desired outcome when problem-solving. Critical thinking for executive leadership is required for businesses to grow, increase speed, and achieve sustainability. There is a saying in the military that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The following are some tips to embed reflection into your leadership habits. Journaling has been demonstrated to be incredibly impactful on leader-follower relationships, clarity of purpose, and improving new skills. Like building any habit, start small and tie it to an existing habit, like a routine, before you leave the office for the day. Critical reflection should be a social process and is most successful when collaborative. Leaders need to understand how followers perceive their actions. Leadership books, articles, and assessments can enable you to examine a particular situation from different points of view, supporting critical reflection. Here is a bonus link to " The Five Best Resources ," an assembled collection of my top five favorite books from thought leaders on change management, coaching, culture, innovation and creativity, leadership style, servant leadership, and strategic planning. Conclusion: Are you a future-ready leader? In today’s fast-changing workplace, failing to consider what you need to be able to do that you can’t yet do puts you and your team at risk of being left behind. A good place to start is by getting curious about the challenges and opportunities you will face in the future and taking an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. While technology and innovations are making some skills less in demand, human leadership skills will remain in the technology-driven workplace. Selfless love, humility, and data-driven decision-making are timeless leadership skills that enhance effectiveness. A habit of critical reflection unlocks a massive opportunity for you and your organization. It is achieved by developing the ability to doubt, pause, and be curious about the ordinary. So, as you think about the future, what do you need to commit to learning that you can’t yet do? References Acemoglu, D., & Restrepo, P. (2020). Robots and jobs: EvidenceU.S.rom US labor markets. Journal of Political Economy. BLS. (2022). Growth trends for selected occupations considered at risk from automation. Monthly Labor Review. Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap--and others don't. HarperBusiness. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose . Organizational Talent Consulting. Ferris, R. (1988). How organizational love can improve leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 16 (4), 41-51. McKinsey Global Institute. (2016). Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. McKinsey & Company. Mulinge, P. (2018). Altruism and altruistic love: Intrinsic motivation for servant-leadership. The International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 12 (1), 337-370.

Could gratitude be a secret weapon to transform your stress-filled workplace? In tough times, negativity can spread like wildfire, leaving your team living for the weekend. Emotions are social contagions. Minor issues escalate quickly to critical concerns. After a while, compounded complexity and stress harm performance and employee well-being. Today's employees are looking to leaders for more help. Evidence suggests that 72% of leaders feel used up at the end of their day, a significant increase from two years prior. This is where the power of gratitude makes all the difference. Often forgotten in tough times, gratitude can restore a positive mindset, acting as a positive social contagion. Discover how you can make gratitude your leadership superpower with these three practical tips. Why gratitude matters Gratitude is a positive emotion that brings balance to a negative mindset . Many studies link gratitude with positive personal benefits, such as: Improved health Increased happiness Decreased anxiety Decreased depression Likewise, evidence suggests that feeling appreciated is linked to well-being and employee performance. Those who feel valued by their leader are more likely to report higher levels of: Physical and mental health Engagement Job satisfaction Intrinsic motivation Here is a short video that explains the science behind why gratitude matters. If you immerse yourself in the daily news, the future of work appears dire – supply chain constraints, geopolitical conflict, inflation, and historic labor shortages are projected to persist. Employees are stressed out, and the costs of workplace stress and burnout are high . To quantify workplace stress costs , a recent study found that workplace stressors in the United States account for more than 120,000 deaths per year and approximately 5-8% of annual healthcare costs. The Mayo Clinic found that the personal and organizational side effects of stress include: broken relationships substance abuse depression decreased customer satisfaction reduced productivity increased employee turnover Stress is an emotional contagion. Research has demonstrated that co-workers can spread stress within a workgroup. For example, someone on your team who feels down enters a meeting. Within a few minutes, the entire team's emotions mimic their behaviors and non-verbal expressions. The following short NPR video discusses how emotions like stress are contagious. What does leadership gratitude look like? According to the American Psychological Association, gratitude is a sense of thankfulness and happiness in response to receiving a gift, either a tangible benefit given by someone or a fortunate happenstance. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others." – Cicero. As a leader, the practice of gratitude consists of affirming the goodness of others. A habit of gratitude involves acknowledging the good and feeling thankful. While distinctly different, empathy, kindness, and love are closely related to the virtue of gratitude. Effective leadership is more than making someone do something. It is about the selfless influence of others and the ability to bring out the best in others. Here is a good video from gratitude expert Robert Emmons addressing gratitude. We can all cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Evidence suggests that it is best to start by making gathering and giving gratitude easy. Here are three tips for building a habit of gratitude. Gratitude Habit Tip #1: Stop. Look. Go. The following video presents how practicing gratitude begins by getting quiet, looking through our senses, and then taking the opportunity presented. Gratitude Habit Tip #2: Make it easy When building a habit it is consistency and not intensity. Have you got an app for that? Gratefulness.io is a tool that makes getting started easy. I have used this tool for a few years and found it helpful for building an attitude of gratitude. The app will send you a simple daily prompt asking you about what you are grateful for, and it stores your responses in a private online journal. What you record can be as simple as what comes to your mind or a purposeful reflection on something good that happened that day and why you felt good. I find the reminders Gratefulness.io sends of what I was grateful for from my journal very encouraging , and a way for me to track over time. Gratitude Habit Tip #3: Give it away Giving gratitude makes you happier. After listing what you are grateful for each day, take a few moments to practice giving gratitude. Not only will reflecting and journaling what you are thankful for make you happier but giving appreciation will multiply the positive effects on your emotions. Simply send a thank you note or, better yet, deliver the thank you note or say thank you in person. How important do you think gratitude is for you and your team as you look ahead to what experts suggest will be another challenging new year, and what is the real gratitude challenge for you? References: Adecco. (2021). Resetting normal: Defining the new era of work 2021 [PDF]. The Adecco Group. APA. (2012). APA survey finds feeling valued at work linked to well-being and performance. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate, people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Goh, J., Pfeffer, J., & Zenios, S. (2016). The relationship between workplace stressors and mortality and health costs in the United States [PDF]. Management Science. Harvard Medical School. (2021). Giving thanks can make you happier. Harvard Health Publishing. McCullough, M. E., Emmons, R. A., & Tsang, J. (2002). The grateful disposition: A conceptual and empirical topography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82 (1), 112-127. The Gratefulness Team. (2021). What is Gratitude? A Network for Grateful Living

When it comes to what a comfortable indoor temperature is, I am frequently in a different hemisphere than my family. On visits, debates are almost guaranteed. The surprising thing is that although spirited and sometimes a little animated, they are actually civil. And we enjoy our time together even if it means sometimes, some of us are covered in blankets. Differences are increasingly common. Distrust breeds polarization. Evidence suggests that, on average, leaders  spend more than four hours a week dealing with conflict. But healthy, productive disagreement is rare. So, how can we learn to work with people with values or opinions different from ours? Here are four evidence-based strategies for staying civil on topics more sensitive and vital to your organization's success than the temperature. The cost of unproductive conflict The distinction between productive and unproductive conflict lies in the importance of the issue and the amount of energy you put into it. Productive conflict is the open exchange of conflicting or differing ideas. Both parties feel equally heard, respected, and unafraid to voice dissenting opinions to reach a mutually comfortable resolution. Even though conflict may be uncomfortable, it is productive to have ideas challenged so we can learn and grow. Non-productive conflict is an exchange of conflicting or differing ideas. People do not feel equally heard or respected and are afraid to voice dissenting opinions. It arises when the real issues are not discussed and attention is placed on trivial matters, resulting in the conflict escalating. According to a survey of 5,000 full-time employees in nine countries, 85% of employees deal with conflict regularly at work. The estimated impact of non-productive strife in America is well over $1.5 billion annually, not to mention the emotional and psychological costs on the workforce. Beyond employee productivity and well-being, a study of 2195 employees found that one in ten cases of conflict results in employee turnover. Of course, it is natural to want to minimize workplace conflict. 4 Strategies for staying civil Silence is expensive, and there is value in opposing opinions. Some of your best advice will likely come from those who see things differently. Don’t miss out on that because you must be correct or desire to avoid conflict. Here are four strategies for staying civil. Strategy #1: Listen and Suspend Judgement Becoming curious and listening without judgment allows you to discover mutual benefits. Listening leaves the other person feeling valued, affirmed, and emotionally connected to you. Being heard creates safety in the relationship and is foundational to trust. Listening eases tensions and makes productive conflict work where resentment exists. Although being listened to is not commonly experienced in the workforce, listening is a leadership habit that can be developed with practice. One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say. Bryant McGill Leaders are under pressure, and listening without judgment is not likely to happen in a rushed environment. The key is not to try and force a conversation into an arbitrarily scheduled time frame or the five minutes on your way to your next meeting. Allow the option to reschedule additional time as appropriate. It is easy to not be aware that you are sending unintended signals. Put your technology on mute. Get curious about what they are saying and their emotions. This is not the time to multitask. Be natural and use verbal and nonverbal cues, such as nodding your head or saying yes, to let them know you are engaged. Before sharing your thoughts and ideas, paraphrase critical points, like when playing catch with a ball. When the conversation is tossed to you, that is the time to put what you heard into your own words and use that to make sure you hear the key points correctly before taking the conversation in a different direction. Just toss the ball back. Strategy #2: Be Authentic and Vulnerable Being open and candid demonstrates caring and respect, creating safety within the relationship for uncomfortable conversations. Regardless of leadership level or amount of experience, all leaders struggle with the tension of being vulnerable or not. Others want to know you care in difficult conversations. However, concerns about managing perceptions often derail leaders from  showing vulnerability in the workplace . Guarding in difficult conversations promotes distrust. “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care” Theodore Roosevelt Although leaders are expected to convey an image of competence, confidence, and power, followers already know you are not perfect. Being vulnerable as a leader under challenging conversations requires courage. Vulnerability involves the willingness to take risks that might end in failure or create the best of what might be in the organization. The following short video from Simon Sinek expands on the tension leaders face and how to show vulnerability in the workplace as a leader. Keep the conversation genuine, especially if it involves your mistakes. This does not mean sharing personal secrets. Being authentic pertains to both the logical rationale aspects of the conversation and your feelings about the other person and the conversation. This does not mean sharing deep personal secrets. It means metaphorically inviting the other person inside your house rather than making them stand outside talking from behind your screen door of image management. Strategy #3: Promote Trust-Based Relationships Trust unlocks the full potential of any relationship and business. When conflicts occur, it is essential to demonstrate a concern for integrating others' interests. Trust is built when everyone involved leaves a disagreement without negative feelings. Establishing trustworthiness in relationships requires demonstrating a high degree of credibility, reliability, intimacy, and humility. Credibility is the most frequently achieved attribute of trustworthiness. It has rational and emotional aspects related to an individual's expertise and personal presence. Reliability is based on the frequency of interactions with someone and the consistency of expected behavior. Intimacy requires a personal willingness to have a courageous conversation. This is one of the key differentiating attributes of trustworthiness. Humility relates to the amount of focus placed on oneself versus the emphasis placed on the other person. A high degree of self-orientation creates significant distrust from others. The following acrostic, created provides a helpful way to remember how to build and restore trust: T – Transparency R – Relationship U – Understanding S – Shared Success T – Testing Assumptions Strategy #4: Have a Plan Creating productive conflict requires psychological safety in the relationship and a healthy workplace culture dedicated to the workforce. Have a plan for how you will approach conflict in your workplace. Your plan should include answers to what, when, where, how, and why specific to the situation and those involved. Encourage everyone to take ownership in resolving non-productive workplace conflicts . Create a culture of accountability for productive conflict that starts with your leadership. As Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Provide training for your leaders and employees on how to deal with workplace conflict. Training on creating productive conflict and communication should go beyond initial onboarding training for new employees. The next time you start feeling the temperature of the conversation rising, remember a voiding conflict takes time and energy. Avoiding conflict will only make matters worse for you, those involved, and the impact on your company. Commit and act on these four strategies. I might be wrong, but I think you will like the results. References: Behfar, K. J., Peterson, R. S., Mannix, E. A., & Trochim, W. M. K. (2008). The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (1), 170-188. Cabrera, A., & Unruh, G. (2012). Being global: How to think, act, and lead in a transformed world. H arvard Business Review Press. Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. (2015). Getting under the skin of workplace conflict: Tracing the experiences of employees. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits:10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Fukuyama, F. (1995). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. Free Press. Glaser, J. (2014). Conversational Intelligence: How great leaders build trust and get extraordinary results . New York: Bibliomotion, Inc. Hayes, J. (2008). Workplace conflict and how businesses can harness it to thrive. CPP Global Human Capital Report. ICF. (2020). 2020 ICF global coaching study: Executive summary. International Coaching Federation. Maister, D. H., Green, C. H., & Galford, R. M. (2000). The trusted advisor . New York: Free Press. SHRM. (2021). Managing workplace conflict. Toolkits. The Myers-Briggs Company. (2022). Conflict at work: A research report.

Development is essential for leaders to thrive in today's turbulent marketplace. You're either growing or falling behind. Embracing l eadership assessment can build your capacity to navigate complex challenges and steer your team and organization to success . If you haven't already, you will want to try a 360-degree assessment. You might be surprised to learn that 360-degree surveys are used in over 85% of Fortune 500 companies. Feedback is the lifeblood of a high-performing team and self-aware leader. However, a stark reality is that employees receive significantly less constructive feedback as they move up in an organization. If you are looking for actionable and individualized leadership performance feedback from those who matter most, this is your game-changer. Here are the five keys to 360-degree assessment success. Why 360-degree assessment matters 360-degree leadership assessment has been around for over 25 years. Its uses in companies range from development and performance management to decision-making purposes such as compensation, promotions, and even downsizing initiatives. The term "360-degree" assessment is derived from where the rater feedback originates concerning the leader being assessed. Confidentiality is a foundational aspect of 360-degree leadership feedback. Responses are anonymously collected and grouped by the rater's association with the leader. Feedback collected measures the leader's performance on specific behaviors and provides insights into rater group perceptions. A company-wide or team view of 360-degree feedback provides talent management insights into organizational performance and culture. While 360-degree feedback effectively improves leadership skills across all cultures, evidence suggests it's most effective in cultures with low power distance and individualistic values, such as Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Many studies have linked the following benefits associated with 360-degree assessment at the individual and organizational levels: Individual leader value Self-awareness Improved leadership effectiveness Increased job satisfaction Role clarity Employee engagement Organizational Value Improved performance Improved role clarity Enhanced agility Decreased absenteeism Decreased employee turnover Although the benefits of 360-degree assessments are well documented, it is critically important that they are facilitated appropriately. Upfront work must be done to prevent potential negative issues, such as closed-mindedness, rater bias, individuals using the assessments to attack a leader, or a culture that avoids direct communication. 360 Assessment Key #1: KISS You probably have heard of the K.I.S.S. principle . If not , it means keep it simple, stupid! There is a tendency to try and measure everything when using a 360-degree assessment. While the idea is good for maximizing value, you must also consider rater fatigue and the cost of rater time. Maximize value by linking behaviors assessed to organizational values and leadership style . Then, keep it short and straightforward . 360 Assessment Key #2: Debriefing In addition to selecting the right questions for the leadership 360-degree assessment, choosing a qualified coach is equally important to help understand the results. If feedback is not used appropriately, it can lead to incorrect conclusions and potentially do more harm than good. Typically, the more education and qualifications a coach has, the better the interpretation you will receive, but education does not replace experience. Before starting, get recommendations and learn about the coach's character. Utilize a coach to debrief the feedback, delineate SMART goals, and serve as an accountability partner to follow through and maximize learning. 360 Assessment Key #3: Validity Promote valid feedback by thoughtfully considering raters selected to provide input. Too narrow a group increases the risks of blind spots. As a general guide, having at least 5-7 raters per group is good . The exceptions are with the leader of the individual being assessed, which is typically one person , and direct reports, which should include all. 360 Assessment Key #4: Education A lack of awareness and understanding creates confusion. Educate raters on its purpose before administering the assessment . This can be as simple as sending a memo to the raters explaining the assessment's who, what, and why. A good practice is to provide those being assessed with an opportunity for a conversation to ask questions and confirm their understanding. Remember the saying: Change imposed is change opposed. It would be best if you had buy-in to maximize the value of the assessment. 360 Assessment Key #5: Organization-wide Implementation A good practice is to deploy 360-degree assessments as part of an organization-wide leadership development strategy. This way, the company can get additional organizational benefits from aggregating feedback data to identify systemic opportunities and feedback on the organization's culture . Another advantage is that no one leader feels singled out. References: Baker, A., Perreault, D., Reid, A., & Blanchard, C. M. (2013). Feedback and organizations: Feedback is good, and a feedback-friendly culture is better. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 54(4), 260-268. Bracken, D. W., & Rose, D. S. (2011). When does 360-degree feedback create behavior change? and how would we know it when it does? Journal of Business and Psychology, 26(2), 183-192. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose . Organizational Talent Consulting. Luthans, F., & Peterson, S. J. (2003). 360‐degree feedback with systematic coaching: Empirical analysis suggests a winning combination. Human Resource Management, 42(3), 243-256. Shipper, F., Hoffman, R. C., & Rotondo, D. M. (2007). Does the 360 feedback process create actionable knowledge equally across cultures? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6(1), 33-50. Thach, E.C. (2002). The impact of executive coaching and 360 feedback on leadership effectiveness. Leadership & organization Development Journal, 23(4), 205-214. Whitaker, B. G., & Levy, P. (2012). Linking feedback quality and goal orientation to feedback seeking and job performance.Human Performance, 25(2), 159-178. 8927

Are you looking to level up innovation and creativity in your business to produce a competitive advantage? Maybe you're skeptical of whether it is possible to develop your team and believe you should hire for it. It's the debate of nature versus nurture. A common argument presented in support of team development is that if people were born with creativity, we would observe more consistency in creativity among team members. Evidence suggests an individual's behavioral drives and abilities activate creativity within a positive company culture. Cognitive skills, personality traits, work habits, and social and environmental variables affect innovation and creativity. Here are five low-cost and high-impact steps leaders can take to improve their team's innovation and creativity. Why talent development matters As the world changes, people and businesses must change too. Your team's development needs to keep pace with workplace changes, or you risk falling behind. Evidence from a large-scale study revealed that training and development positively affected innovative performance by building employee competence and organizational commitment. Leaders need to consider the employee's desired knowledge, skills, and abilities, the desired organizational culture, and the workplace climate. However, evidence has also revealed that the training program does not produce the desired competitive advantage if employee capability development becomes the goal. Leaders seeking to develop innovative and creative teams should take a results-based focus versus an activity-based approach. What are the right innovation behaviors to hire for and develop? Enhancing an employee's self-leadership capability improves self-awareness, inspiring experimentation with new ways to solve existing challenges. The following behaviors are linked to activating workplace creativity and innovation and are ideal to look for when hiring and reinforcing in training programs: Idea generation: The desire to try new things, a preference for original thinking, and finding solutions for existing problems. Idea search: Collaborating with others for new ideas and an interest in how things are done in other organizations. Idea communication: Persuading others toward new ideas and showing others the positive sides of new thinking. Implementation starting activities: Developing project plans to launch new ideas, secure funding for innovation, and search for new technologies to support implementation. Involving others: Seeking others to find solutions to problems and involve decision-makers. Overcoming obstacles: Not giving up on new ways of doing things and persistence. Innovation outputs: Being successful with implementing new ideas and improving processes valuable to the organization What are low-cost and high-impact steps leaders can take to foster innovation and creativity? Organizations searching for efficiency tend to hire and promote employees who conform to group norms and encourage unity. According to US Department of Labor statistics from 2017, 47% of the workforce in the United States is women. Yet, only 22% are in c-suite positions. Companies have historically viewed differences as detrimental. But, the benefits of leveraging diversity within organizations include more viewpoints, new ideas, and reimagined solutions. “A homogenous workforce limits the range of a company's innovation capabilities." Gary Oster Organizational culture consists of artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions: Artifacts: These are the things you can see, feel, or hear in the workplace. Examples include what is displayed, office layouts, uniforms, identification badges, and what is discussed and not discussed. Espoused Values: What you are told and beliefs that you can use to make decisions. Examples include a company's vision and values or mission statement. They are explicitly stated official philosophies about the company. Basic Assumptions: These things go without saying or are taken for granted. Examples could include speaking up in meetings, holding a door for someone, smiling, or greeting someone by name when walking down the hall. High Impact Step #1: Recruit and Retain Who gets hired, promoted , and fired, and for what, creates and reinforces your organization's culture. Talent management decisions can be viewed as a more subtle nuance to culture change because they are influenced by explicitly stated criteria and unstated value priorities. A job candidate is more than just a list of experiences, education, and references presented on paper. To better understand their suitability for a position, it's essential to evaluate their behavioral drives and cognitive abilities (the head), as well as their values and interests (the heart), alongside their knowledge, skills, and experience (the briefcase). We typically examine a resume to determine a person's knowledge, skills, and experience. The information you can gain from the Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment provides the rest of the picture. Care to see how this might work in your context with a 5-minute assessment? We can unpack the results together, and I’ll show you how it reduces unwanted attrition and mis-hires and helps leadership. Worse case, you learn something about yourself. High Impact Step #2: Leadership Style Several well-researched employee and company benefits, such as creativity, are associated with  servant leadership . Evidence suggests that a servant leadership style improves employee productivity and creativity. Employees are more likely to provide constructive criticism and engage in productive conflict without fear of exclusion or retaliation, which is an environment in which employees can be creative. High Impact Step #3: Define Desired Results This is one of the most potent mechanisms leaders have available. What leaders choose to systematically measure, reward, and control matters, and the opposite is also true. Define desired results in terms of explicit business goals and innovative behaviors. High Impact Step #4: Leverage Data Leverage data analytics and empirical testing to discover and communicate what works quickly. Rewards and recognition come in many different forms. Also, what is considered a reward varies from person to person. Both what gets rewarded and how it gets rewarded and what does not get rewarded reinforces organizational culture. There are tangible rewards and social rewards. Simply saying thank you for presenting a decision using data analytics is a social reward. High Impact Step #5: Embrace Interesting Failure Much can be revealed when a business or a leader faces a significant challenge. These crucible moments are like a refining fire. It is the heightened emotional intensity that increases individual and organizational learning. Innovation and creativity will challenge the status quo, which is risky in most organizations. How a leader responds to interesting failure will reinforce if the team will take risks in the future. References: Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity: A componential conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45 (2), 357-376. DeWolf, M. (2017). 12 Stats about working women. U.S. Department of Labor. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose . Organizational Talent Consulting. Ghosh, K. (2015). Developing organizational creativity and innovation: Toward a model of self-leadership, employee creativity, creativity climate, and workplace innovative orientation. Management Research Review, 38 (11), 1126-1148. Lukes, M., & Stephan, U. (2017). Measuring employee innovation: A review of existing scales and the development of the innovative behavior and innovation support inventories across cultures. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 23 (1), 136-158. Oster, G. W. (2011). The light prize: Perspectives on Christian innovation . Positive Signs Media. Schaffer, R. H., & Thomson, H. A. (1992). Successful change programs begin with results. Harvard Business Review, 70 (1), 80-89.

Leadership creates pressure. In the Netflix series The Playbook, Doc Rivers shares the philosophy that inspired the Boston Celtics to a championship and his response to racism while being the Los Angeles Clippers head coach. One valuable lesson he shares for leaders to consider is a mindset that "pressure is a privilege." What is the alternative to leadership pressure? No productive conflict? No aligned goals? No board meetings? No difficult customers? As an executive coach, I spend a lot of time speaking with leaders. One common theme is the immense pressure they are under. It is easy for leaders to become quickly overwhelmed by the increasingly complex and fast-paced digital business environment. Stress is a serious issue facing leaders. Evidence from a large global study suggests that 72% of leaders report that they often feel used up at the end of the day, a 12% increase from two years prior. Leading successful organizations creates personal and professional situations that result in increased stress. It seems logical to think of pressure as a negative and something to be avoided, but as a leader, should you? Here are three reasons to embrace the leadership journey and the pressure it brings and four tips for making better decisions under pressure. "A soft, easy life is not worth living if it impairs the fiber of brain and heart and muscle. We must dare to be great, and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage." Theodore Roosevelt Reason #1: Pressure Accelerates Change One reason to embrace pressure is that pressure accelerates change, and leadership is about change. In the book Leading Change, renowned change management thought leader John Kotter identified that overcoming complacency to change requires a sense of urgency. Leaders in a fast-changing world need to be influential in articulating their vision and, paradoxically, at the same time, be open to changes as the idea needs to change due to the world's turbulence. Leading change creates pressure and stressful situations. While too little or too much stress creates anxiety and health problems, research at UC Berkeley demonstrated that some stress improves performance and health. Pressure influences leaders and organizations to move in new directions and reject the status quo. No organization wants to stay the same, and pressure is a powerful change agent for leaders who want to accelerate change. Reason #2: Pressure Creates Learning Leaders and organizations need to learn at a pace consistent with change. They need to perpetually learn because the future is unpredictable. You are either ripe and rotting or green and growing. But shouldn't the learning process be as free from stress as possible? A foundational research study on learning discovered that an element of struggle significantly improves long-term retention. While pressure can slow the learning rate temporarily, it also improves long-term retention and application transfer. Pressure creates desirable difficulty and enhances the learning opportunity and the opportunity for personal and professional growth . "Usually, if you have tremendous pressure, it’s because an opportunity comes along. Give me the ball. Give me the problem to solve. Let’s figure this out. Let’s go." Billie Jean King Reason #3: Pressure Creates Purpose High-pressure situations reveal more about who you are than the specific skills you possess. The unfortunate reality is that it often takes the pressure of a crisis to break away from the day-to-day. Pressure creates a reason to challenge assumptions about our purpose or the organization's purpose. There is no better life lived than a life lived on purpose. Studies have demonstrated that leading with purpose results in higher personal satisfaction, performance, innovation, and economic growth. "Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater." — Viktor Frankl How to Make Your Best Decision Under Pressure How you approach decisions while under pressure makes a difference in the outcome for you and those you lead. Here are four tips to help you make your best decision: Decision-Making Tip #1: Visualize the desired outcome. Athletes are trained to visualize themselves successfully achieving their goals before events. Numerous scientific studies link creative visualization to improved performance, goal achievement, and stress management. Research supports that creative practice boosts our confidence and competence. Check out this short video from an Olympic athlete on the power an use of mental imagery. Decision-Making Tip #2: Be curious. Asking questions helps reveal alternative scenarios. The field of strategic foresight offers some great tools for assisting leaders with seeing around the corners, which can lead to feeling more competent and confident about your decision. The Futures Wheel, STEEPLE, and scenario planning are a few tools that can help leaders and organizations break free from a fixed mindset. Decision-Making Tip #3: Don't get stuck on stupid. One of my favorite leadership quotes comes from a military commander serving after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans. At the time, the community was paralyzed and lacked direction. In an interview, the commander said he didn't know what specific time frames looked like but could guarantee the recovery operations would not be stuck on stupid. Leaders who are biased toward action and make decisions for the right reasons help overcome the fear of failure that comes with the pressure of the situation. Decision-Making Tip #4: Avoid isolation. Most leaders indicate that their organization does not provide the support needed to help them manage the increasing levels of stress they face. A leadership coach facilitates experimentation and self-discovery by applying what is discussed during the coaching conversation. Skillful executive coaching enables you to "dance in the present moment" and take the actions necessary for what matters to you. Modern organizations are like pressure cookers. Great leadership serves as a pressure control valve. When needed, releasing pressure to prevent catastrophic disasters and increasing organizational pressure when it's too low to maximize performance. The reality of a volatile work environment is that training for every potential cross-cultural leadership situation is impossible. As a leader, you are asked questions that have no known answer. Seeing the pressure of leadership as a privilege can help you enjoy the journey. References: Bjork, E. L., & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. Campbell, M., Baltes, J.I., Martin, A., & Meddings, K. (2019). The stress of leadership. Center for Creative Leadership. DDI. 2023 Global Leadership Forecast. Development Dimensions International. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-Changing Leadership Habits: 10 Proven Principles That Will Elevate People, Profit, and Purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Ekeocha, T. (2015). The effects of visualization and guided imagery in sports performance Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change . Harvard Business Review Press. Ottesen, K. (2019). Tennis icon Billie Jean King on fighting for equal pay for women: Pressure is a privilege. The Washington Post. Pomerantz (Eds.) & FABBS Foundation, Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society (p. 56–64). Worth Publishers. Powell, A. (2018). When science meets mindfulness. The Harvard Gazette. Quinn, R. E., & Thakor, A. V. (2019). The economics of higher purpose: Eight counterintuitive steps for creating a purpose-driven organization . Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Incorporated. Sanders, R. (2013). Researchers find out why some stress is good for you. Berkley News.

Years ago, I led an executive search for a top leadership position in a fast-paced, results-driven business. After the interviews, the hiring team complimented the candidate's strategic decision-making, innovative ideas, strong work habits, and organizational commitment. But, the CEO and hiring team expressed concerns about the candidate's lack of executive presence. These kinds of comments are not unusual. They were voicing that being intelligent and committed is not enough to be effective as a strategic leader. To advance your career, you need to be clear on the stated and unstated expectations of leaders. Here are the ten characteristics of executive presence, how to know if you are maximizing your executive presence, and three tips for developing an authentic executive presence. Why does executive presence matter? Like leadership, presence can be a difficult concept to define. There is limited peer-reviewed research on the topic and an obvious tension in the literature about whether executive presence is more than impression management. When asked to provide a meaningful description of executive presence, most employees say, "I will know it when I see it." When considering the concept of executive presence, comparing it with leadership power and influence can be helpful. Executive presence has formal and informal aspects, and it can be applied for good and bad purposes. Perception is not reality, but making an impression is inevitable. Executive presence is not inherent to who you are, but rather, it is a perception of others. Perceptions can be based on impressions formed during brief interactions like a passing hallway conversation and evaluations of actions based on many observations over time. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” Will Rogers Evidence suggests that 89% of leaders and managers believe executive presence helps you get ahead, and 78% think a weak presence holds you back. Also, executive presence was considered to impact leadership success directly. There is always an opportunity to make an excellent, not-so-great, or wrong impression. 10 Characteristics of Executive Presence The foundational attributes of executive presence are described as gravitas, communication, and appearance. Evidence suggests the following are ten key characteristics that contribute to your degree of executive presence: Reputation from current or previous roles and impressive accomplishments, awards, or networks with others perceived to be important. Nonverbal communication and physical appearance. Projected confidence, such as being calm and demonstrating self-control in high-pressure situations. Clear leadership communication, voice modulation when speaking, and speaking up to be heard. Interpersonal skills that engage others, such as being charming and friendly. Consistent interpersonal integrity. Behaving consistently with personal moral values. Intellect and expertise that results in excellent judgment and wisdom. Outcome-oriented, such as being results-driven, flexible, committed to following through, and delivering results through others. Using power to enforce compliance. How do you know if you are maximizing your executive presence? Like the rearview mirror on the passenger side of a car, it is dangerous not to realize that your perspective is somewhat affected by your point of view and that your brain is on autopilot. Consider how you would answer the following questions by thinking back over the past month using a scale of never, sometimes, or always: Do you state your purpose when you meet with others? Do you explain why your point of view is different and valuable? Do you listen to and connect with others? Are you aware of your body language and physical appearance? Do you bring energy to your discussions? Are you using phrases like "it's my position" instead of "I think?" Do others know your values, and do you walk the talk? Are you vulnerable and assertive during challenging conversations? Do you control your emotional responses when situations become tense? Do you look for opportunities to leverage and grow your network? If you would answer never or sometimes to any of these questions, you are likely missing opportunities to strengthen your executive presence. How to build an authentic executive presence You are not born with executive presence. And you don't have to fake it. Here are three tips for creating an authentic executive presence. Executive Presence Tip #1: Build Your Emotional Intelligence Your emotional intelligence is comprised of your degree of self-awareness, self-management, motivation, empathy, and interpersonal skills. Practice identifying, evaluating, and expressing your emotions. Also, work on recognizing and responding to the feelings of others. Executive Presence Tip #2: Get Feedback It is not uncommon to have hidden strengths and blind spots. Identify five people who know you well and would be comfortable giving you constructive feedback. Using the questions from above, ask them to rate how well you are doing. Working with an executive coach and using a 360-degree survey can help you overcome some common barriers to getting good feedback. Executive Presence Tip #3: Spend Time in Reflection Effective reflection involves doubting, pausing, and being curious about the ordinary. Use a journaling app like Day One to capture your thoughts, feelings, successes, and frustrations. This approach has been demonstrated to be incredibly impactful in improving new skills. For example, when building any habit, start small and tie it to an existing practice, like your routine, before leaving work for the day. Use the questions in this article to be the focal point of your reflection. Remember to take a balanced approach to both strengths and weaknesses. "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Wayne Dyer Key Summary Points Executive presence can help you enhance and maximize your career success. Executive presence is not something inherent to who you are, but rather, it is a perception of others. It is not uncommon to have hidden strengths and blind spots relative to your executive presence characteristics. You are not born with executive presence. Emotional intelligence, feedback, and critical reflection are three tools to develop an authentic executive presence. What are your executive presence hidden strengths or blind spots? References Bates, S. (2016). All the leader you can be: The science of achieving extraordinary executive presence. McGraw-Hill. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Dagley, G., & Gaskin, C. (2014). Understanding executive presence: Perspectives of business professionals. Counseling Psychology Journal . 66(3). pp. 197-211. Shirey, M. (2013). Executive presence for strategic influence. The Journal of Nursing Administration. 43(7/8). Pp. 373-376.

Many leaders achieve their goals and even increase company revenue. But, in a world of fast-paced change and complexity, businesses need employees who will proactively engage in problem-solving, make change happen, and take the initiative to innovate. To create a competitive advantage, leaders need a committed team that can take charge. However, challenging the status quo in most organizations is risky. If a leader doesn't know how to empower others well, evidence suggests team morale and the business suffer. Discover the secrets to fostering empowerment and ignite a spark in your team to achieve excellence with these five strategies. Why igniting the spark in others holds a key to achieving excellence The word empowerment has come in and out of favor with leadership. Sadly, a common, overly simplified misconception of empowerment is that leaders give away power. Empowerment is the promotion of the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to take charge. Recently, empowerment has started to gain renewed acceptance within executive leadership circles, and for good reasons. Leaders need committed employees. “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates Empowerment shapes feelings and actions that enhance others' intrinsic motivation. Leaders cannot control every situation and outcome, and followers with intrinsic motivation persist during complex and ambiguous work. They learn from failure rather than giving up. Evidence suggests a positive link between higher levels of employee intrinsic motivation and work productivity. It is a moderating factor in employee engagement. There is abundant research to support that empowering others creates improved: Team effectiveness Work satisfaction Shared identity W ell-being Autonomy Control Self-management Confidence When leaders encourage followers to take the initiative with tasks such as making decisions, it increases psychological ownership, leading to a sense of responsibility and positive workplace behaviors.⁠ 5 Strategies to empower others for excellence Although there is limited research into the most effective means for a leader to empower others, your leadership plays a key role. Managerial practices and leadership are the primary drivers of if followers voluntarily take charge. You can encourage others to take charge by applying good active listening skills, asking for input, and delegating authority. Empowerment Strategy #1: Active Listening Being truly heard is rare in the workplace. Listening leaves your team feeling valued, affirmed, and emotionally connected to you. Active listening is your ability to hear and improve mutual understanding. When you actively listen, you pay attention, show interest, suspend judgment, reflect, clarify, summarize, and share to gain clarity and understanding. When you listen, you are available to the other person. The following video from Simon Sinek is about creating an environment where the other person feels heard. Empowerment Strategy #2: Leading with Questions Questions grounded in curiosity create influence. Not all questions are equal. For example, if you ask followers why are they behind schedule? You will likely get a defensive response rather than a solution. If you ask, what key things need to happen for you to achieve the goal? You will encourage followers to apply critical thinking to identify a solution. Learning to ask the right question instead of always having the answer benefits you, your team, and the organization. Leaders who ask questions become better listeners and gain deeper insights into how to bring out the best in others and guide the organization. Followers asked questions develop greater self-awareness, self-confidence, and empowerment. Empowerment Strategy #3: Delegating Authority Caught between the pressure of urgent and important work demands, delegating is often one leadership approach that gets cut. One of the more complex and essential things for a leader is going from doing to leading. Giving up authority and responsibility can seem counterintuitive to leadership. Spending a little time and effort upfront to consider the task, situation, employee, communication, and leadership support is crucial to delegating effectively. If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make an impact, learn to delegate. – John C. Maxwell Empowerment Strategy #4: Vision Articulating a compelling vision clarifies direction, inspires confidence and action, and coordinates efforts. Evidence suggests that a compelling vision is directly and positively related to creative performance. To be considered compelling, a vision needs to be desired, beneficial to others, challenging, and visual. Stories and metaphors are powerful ways to connect with others. Developing a vision is an exercise of both the head and the heart, it takes some time, it always involves a group of people, and it is tough to do well. Kotter, Leading Change Empowerment Strategy #5: Servant Leadership Leading from a follower's first point of view, such as servant leadership , results in a willingness to take charge, set high standards, and a devotion to each other. Trust, love, and belonging unlock the teams ability to excel because of their differences rather than in spite of them. The following short video from leadership guru Ken Blanchard provides some thoughts on the power of servant leadership in today's workplace. Robert Greenleaf is attributed by most as the founder of servant leadership, described a servant leader as a servant first and used the following test to answer the question, are you a servant leader? The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived. ~Greenleaf & Spears To learn more about servant leadership , check out this article, which includes an assessment to help you determine whether your current leadership style aligns with servant leadership and the ten leadership characteristics. What is your real empowerment challenge? Key Summary Points: Leaders need followers who take charge to create a competitive advantage Changing and challenging the status quo is risky in most organizations Empowerment shapes feelings and actions that enhance followers' intrinsic motivation. There is abundant research on the benefits of team effectiveness, work satisfaction, shared identity, and well-being that result from empowering followers. Trust, love, and belonging unlock the ability of the team to excel because of their differences rather than inspire them. Managerial practices and leadership are the primary drivers of if followers will voluntarily take charge. Servant leadership results in followers' willingness to set high standards, devotion to each other, and take charge. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Edelmann, C. M., Boen, F., & Fransen, K. (2020). The power of empowerment: Predictors and benefits of shared leadership in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 11 , 582894-582894. Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant-leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th-anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. Leavy, B. (2020). The dynamics of empowering leader-follower relationships. Strategy & Leadership, 48 (6), 27-33. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/SL-09-2020-0125 Li, S., He, W., Yam, K. C., & Long, L. (2015). When and why empowering leadership increases followers' taking charge: A multilevel examination in china. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32 (3), 645-670.

Great leaders dream of a better future – from business sustainability to growing future leaders, increasing speed to market, or operating with greater purpose. To turn dreams into workplace realities, leaders set strategies. Unfortunately, many organizations keep strategic plans a secret and don't involve others outside the executive leadership team. Evidence suggests that only 5% of employees grasp their company's strategy. This is alarming, given that a direct positive correlation exists between employee commitment to strategy and employee involvement in strategy development. It is hard to argue that being more inclusive is a bad idea. But how inclusive should your strategic thinking and planning be? Here are the strategic thinking competencies leaders need to develop and a plan to foster employee commitment and overcome workplace obstacles to inclusivity. Benefits of Inclusive Strategic Thinking and Planning A strategy is simply a plan of action to achieve a stated goal. A business strategy aims to align followers and teams toward achieving a shared goal from the company's vision. The best strategies in business meet the following four criteria: developed inclusive of followers, focus on helping others for the greater good, account for mixed future realities, and are implemented . “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” — William Bennis In this short video, Gary Hamel discusses why leaders must shift their roles from authors to editors and why traditional strategic planning must die. Leaders must comprehend various complex situations. Strategic thinking uses critical thinking to consider the fundamental business drivers and challenges specific to an organization. It is about awareness of what could be and the foresight to help the organization be successful. The following video breaks down the difference between strategic planning and strategic thinking. Leveraging diversity enhances strategic thinking, creativity, engagement, and strategy quality. Although achieving complete transparency and involving every possible stakeholder is likely not feasible, there is high value for inclusive leaders and organizations. Research has demonstrated a direct positive correlation between individual commitment to strategy and involvement in strategy development. Inclusive strategic thinking impacts the organization's bottom line, leading to a leader's success and significance. When leaders solicit ideas from others outside the traditionally involved management team, it improves the creativity of the ideas and reinforces that leaders value employees. Creative ideas that reflect the customer's stated and unstated needs likely will come from those with no stake in the status quo and closest to the customer. Being transparent with access to strategic input and processes enhances follower outputs. When the employees responsible for implementing strategic plans are the same employees contributing, there is increased awareness, engagement, buy-in⁠, and firm performance. 5 Key Leadership Strategic Thinking Leadership Competencies A leader's ability to question and make connections between ideas and evaluate options improves strategic thinking. Here are five strategic thinking leadership competencies that are often underdeveloped: Strategic Thinking Leadership Competency #1: Scanning When searching for weak signals, businesses are essentially delving into the realm of potential disruptions and opportunities that may not be readily apparent. These signals are often subtle, emerging trends or environmental changes that could significantly impact the future. By actively seeking out these weak signals, organizations can gain a competitive edge by being better prepared to adapt and respond to evolving market conditions. Strategic Thinking Leadership Competency #2: Visioning Clarifying the organization's shared purpose and dreams with group benefit is crucial in fostering a strong sense of unity and direction among team members. By clearly defining the common goals and aspirations that everyone is working towards, individuals within the organization can align their efforts and work collaboratively towards a shared vision. This process not only helps in creating a sense of belonging and camaraderie but also enhances motivation and engagement among employees. A culture of teamwork and cooperation can be cultivated by emphasizing the group benefit that comes from pursuing the organization's shared purpose and dreams. Strategic Thinking Leadership Competency #3: Reframing Encouraging a shift in perspective by questioning established beliefs and exploring innovative ideas for what lies ahead. Challenging current assumptions opens the door to new opportunities and unexpected solutions. Embracing fresh thinking allows us to break free from conventional boundaries and envision a future filled with exciting possibilities. It is through this process of reevaluation and creativity that we pave the way for progress and growth, sparking a journey toward a more dynamic and promising tomorrow. Strategic Thinking Leadership Competency #4: Making Common Sense An intellectual process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating data. It involves a series of cognitive activities that require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Conceptualizing is the ability to form abstract ideas or mental representations based on the information. Applying involves applying these concepts or using them in real-world situations to achieve a specific goal or outcome. Analyzing requires breaking down complex information into smaller parts to understand their meaning and significance. Synthesizing involves combining different elements or ideas to create a coherent whole or new understanding. Evaluating is assessing the data's validity, relevance, or quality and the conclusions drawn from it. Strategic Thinking Leadership Competency #5: Systems Thinking This methodology involves considering the whole system rather than individual parts in isolation. By examining how different elements interact and influence each other, researchers can comprehensively understand the underlying dynamics at play. A holistic approach encourages researchers to consider the broader context in which these interactions occur. Factors such as environmental influences, historical background, and cultural norms can all significantly shape outcomes. By incorporating these external elements into the analysis, a more nuanced and accurate understanding of the interrelationships between different parts can be achieved. Various psychometric leadership assessments can measure an executive's strategic and critical thinking capability. The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) is a valid leadership assessment based on recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments, and drawing conclusions. For more information on the Watson-Glaser critical thinking appraisal, visit www.talentlens.com. In addition to measurement, leaders looking to improve strategic thinking skills need time for deliberate practice and coaching feedback to shape strategic thinking habits beyond motivation and commitment. Partnering with a qualified executive coach is proven to improve strategic thinking skills. How to be Inclusive with Strategic Planning and Thinking Before taking an inclusive approach to strategic planning and thinking, senior leadership needs to agree on the process, participating stakeholders, and the organization's business vision, values, and mission. For larger hybrid organizations , it will likely be helpful to first place participants into groups based on their planned involvement, such as crowd, selected crowd, business leadership, and strategic planning decisions team. Finding a user-friendly system for all stakeholders is vital when choosing strategic planning technology. A generic, inclusive strategic planning process engages others in ideation, refinement, and development. Ideation. The first step is to listen . Stakeholders are invited to submit ideas using a planning platform. It is crucial to select a technology readily accessible and use multiple forms of communication to encourage participation in the strategic planning process. Refinement. Ideas are tagged and compared through comparison sorts. Stakeholders are invited to prioritize the ideas submitted using pre-identified criteria such as culture alignment, cost, quality, and timeliness. This phase also includes a checkpoint for leaders to ask for more information and accept, revise, or reject ideas. The use of scores makes it easier to filter ideas. Development. After collecting and refining the ideas, it is time to transform them into a strategic plan. Stakeholders from each part of the business are asked to take the refined strategy and create a detailed plan. A strategic plan typically includes a vision statement, mission statement, goals, objectives, tactics and measures, and a review timeframe. How to Overcome 3 Inclusive Strategic Planning and Thinking Barriers Advances in technology enable a more inclusive, timely, and less costly approach. However, an inclusive approach has some potential drawbacks to address rather than ignore, such as bias, agility, and communication effectiveness. Strategic Planning & Thinking Barrier #1: Bias When being inclusive, leaders must avoid potential bias toward certain stakeholder groups. There is no need to go through the work of being inclusive only to have a process that devalues different inputs based on a tendency toward a particular group's feedback. Approaches that promote anonymity of feedback are demonstrated to reduce bias and not negatively impact output buy-in. Strategic Planning & Thinking Barrier #2: Agility Leaders need to pay attention to time and effort when being inclusive. It is easy to be less agile and get caught in analysis paralysis when being inclusive. Solid project management processes can help leaders avoid the trap of over-analysis. Strategic Planning & Thinking Barrier #3: Communication Effectiveness Thoughtfully incorporating technology has many positive impacts, but that does not mean it is without challenges. Numerous research studies have shown that different communication mediums effectively support in-the-moment feedback, information sharing, communication cues, emotions, and message customization. Scientific research probably does not need to be conducted to understand that face-to-face communication is the most effective type of communication. Schedule a meeting with us today if you need help creating compelling and inclusive strategic plans. With a flexible, systematic, and proven method, you can establish robust strategic plans that transform your business to achieve success and significance. Key Summary Points It is hard to argue that being more inclusive is a bad leadership habit. A business strategy aims to align followers and teams toward achieving a shared goal from the company's vision. The best strategies are developed inclusive of followers, focus on helping others for the greater good, account for mixed future realities, and are implemented. A leader's ability to question and make connections between ideas and evaluate options improves strategic thinking. Making common sense requires critical thinking skills. Various psychometric leadership assessments can measure an executive's critical thinking capability. The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) is a valid leadership assessment based on recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments, and drawing conclusions. Leaders looking to improve their strategic thinking skills need time for deliberate practice and coaching feedback to shape strategic thinking habits beyond motivation and commitment. A generic, inclusive strategic planning process includes engaging others in creativity, refinement, and development. Advances in technology enable a more inclusive, timely, and less costly approach. However, an inclusive approach has some potential drawbacks that must be addressed rather than ignored, such as bias, agility, and communication effectiveness. References: Amrollahi, A., & Rowlands, B. (2017). Collaborative open strategic planning: A method and case study. Information Technology & People (West Linn, Or.), 30(4), 832-852. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-12-2015-0310 Bennis, W. G. (2008). Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. Journal of Property Management, 73 (5), 13. Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 Proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K. M., & Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization's enduring success. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Kaplan RS, Norton DP. The office of strategy management. Harv Bus Rev. 2005 Oct;83(10):72-80 Nwachukwu, C. E., Chladkova, H., & Olatunji, F. (2018). The relationship between employee commitment to strategy implementation and employee satisfaction. Trends Economics and Management, 12(31), 46-56. doi:10.13164/trends.2018.31.45

Most leaders are not getting the feedback they want and need. Evidence suggests that eight out of ten employees feel their leader has an undiscussable flaw. You have the vision to be a great leader and grow your business. But, no matter how often or how directly you ask others for feedback, your request gets ignored or is focused on your strengths. Frequently, when critical feedback is provided to executives, it is too little and too late. The unfortunate truth is that there are many rational reasons why employees are less likely to discuss constructive feedback with a leader as they move up in an organization. Developing these seven constructive feedback habits helps you increase revenue and avoid costly mistakes by getting the performance and strategic feedback no one wants to give. Why Performance and Strategic Feedback Matters Silence is expensive. Continuously learning and improving is critical for any organization and leader. The operational complexities associated with disruptive changes in the workplace make the importance of leadership habits increasingly vital. The benefits associated with receiving feedback are well documented. Evidence from a study spanning more than ten years and over 50,000 executive leaders revealed that l eaders who ask for feedback are significantly more effective than those who don't. In a global study of more than 100 workplace improvement strategies, fair and accurate informal feedback had the most significant positive impact on employee performance and engagement. The evidence suggests that feedback improves workplace performance by up to 39%. Feedback improves decision-making and creates a better environment for innovation. Understanding the implicit and explicit needs and wants of followers and customers leads to creativity and decisions that are valued. The common hierarchical design in organizations naturally reduces the closeness of workplace relationships for executives. Receiving and acting on feedback from followers improves relationships. Improved relationships minimize workplace stress and improve perceptions of respect and trust . Drama in the workplace is on the rise. Feedback allows for productive conflict and helps minimize the risk of avoiding conflict that leads to workplace strife. A workplace with a strong feedback culture makes leaders and followers more comfortable with difficult conversations . "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." Ken Blanchard You may have heard the saying, Ignorance is bliss. I know I have used that saying more than once. However, being unaware of your bad leadership habits or overestimating your leadership skills is not bliss as a leader. Lacking self-awareness limits a leader's ability to realize professional and personal goals, like trying to navigate a ship without a compass. Self-aware leaders are not naive about bad habits and can develop healthy ones. The higher you move within any organization, the less objective and general feedback you receive. Limited self-awareness prevents an accurate assessment of leadership competence and strategic plans. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a relatively common cognitive bias in which people with little self-awareness overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. 7 Good Feedback Habits The more constructive feedback you receive, the more practical decisions you can make that grow your career and business. The following are seven proven strategies to overcome various barriers to getting the feedback no one wants to give. Feedback Habit #1: Ask and act Make feedback a regular part of your schedule, give examples, and ask specific open-ended questions. Simply asking if you have any feedback is too vague, and you will have more success when your question includes some context. Such as, do you feel your ideas are being heard? Or how could we improve our one-to-one meetings? The more regular you make getting feedback, the less risky it will become (if you handle it well). Not taking action on the feedback you receive is one way to make sure you won't get the feedback you need in the future. Taking action doesn't always mean exactly fixing what was asked. Sometimes, you need to manage expectations by letting them know what you can or can not do. When you do take action, you always want to let others know why you are taking action. Help explicitly connect your steps back to the feedback provided. Feedback Habit #2: Be the change you want to see If you want feedback, you should lead by example. When possible, be transparent and share the tough constructive feedback others have raised and how you work to improve. Also, when providing balanced feedback, let others know what they are doing is right. Giving others feedback creates reciprocity. “We must be the change we wish to see in the world” Gahndi Feedback Habit #3: Actively listen Actively listening is your ability to hear and improve mutual understanding. Receiving feedback is not a synonym for listening. When you actively listen, you pay attention, show interest, suspend judgment, reflect, clarify, summarize, and share to gain clarity and understanding. When practicing active listening, you are available to the other person. Verbal, nonverbal, and empathic listening are a few active listening skills. Feedback Habit #4: Cultivate a community As in life, leadership is better within a community. Asking for feedback is a sign of strength and not weakness. Like a pyramid, most organizational charts narrow at the top, providing few opportunities for a role-based community. As leaders move up the corporate ladder, the healthy habit of enhancing community requires more intentional effort. Peer advisory groups, communities of practice, and affinity groups are increasingly popular leadership communities to leverage for feedback. Feedback Habit #5: Practice open strategic planning Employees are often motivated by giving feedback when they see that it impacts senior leader behaviors and company actions. Unfortunately, most organizations keep their strategies a secret . On average, 95% of employees don't know or understand their organization's strategies. Feedback Habit #6: Say thank you Your world is perfectly designed for the results you are getting—your reactions to feedback in actions and words matter. Increasing the frequency of behavior requires providing positive reinforcement to overcome the negative consequences of the behavior. Simply saying thank you can be a meaningful way to reinforce giving feedback positively. Feedback Habit #7: Engage a coach Coaching provides you with clear and direct feedback. It moves you closer to your future, assessing where you are currently and your goals for the future and exploring and discovering the steps to get to your desired future. The ultimate goal is a change (e.g., behavioral, attitudinal, or motivational) you want to make. Key Points: Getting the Feedback No One Wants to Give For many reasons, leaders are likely not receiving the constructive feedback essential to growing their careers and businesses. The best leaders ask more people and more frequently for feedback. Chances are that you are not receiving the performance and strategic feedback you want and need. However, the proven strategies outlined in this article help you to overcome the various barriers and get the input no one wants to give. References: Doolittle, J. (2023). Life-changing leadership habits: 10 proven principles that will elevate people, profit, and purpose. Organizational Talent Consulting. Grenny, J. & Maxfield, B. (2019). How leaders can ask for the feedback no one want to give them. Harvard Business Review. Kaplan, R. (2011). Top executives need feedback-here's how they can get it. McKinsey Quarterly. Kaplan, R., Norton, D. (2005). The office of strategy management. Harvard Business Review. 83(10):72-80 Kruger, J. & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing ones own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Toegel, G. & Barsoux, J. (2019). Its time to tackle your team's undiscussable. MIT Sloan Management Review. Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2013). Overcoming Feedback Phobia: Take the First Step. Harvard Business Review. Zumaeta, J. (2018). Lonely at the top: How do senior leaders navigate the need to belong? Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.