Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 1, 2023

How Do I Communicate an Unpopular Return to Office Decision #AskingForaFriend? “Hi Karin, we’ve just received word that after much debate and deliberation, there is a company-wide mandate that EVERYONE must return to office at the beginning of the year. I know my team is not a fan (and quite frankly, neither am I). I get the rationale, AND it’s going to make all of our lives a bit harder.

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Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Episode 239: Antonella Pisani, the CEO and founder of Eyeful Media , a digital marketing and consulting firm, joins host David Dye, and discusses the importance of culture, values, and remote culture in leadership. She emphasizes hiring experienced talent and creating an intellectually stimulating environment. Pisani also highlights the significance of transparency, humility, and social responsibility in building a strong company culture.

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Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

What to say next when you’re overloaded at work (without sounding whiny) Ever found yourself cackling at the monstrous to-do list glaring back at you, thinking “Right, that’s not happening,” only to gulp back a sob as you realize none of it’s optional? You’re overloaded at work. Stuck in a world where productivity meets panic and trying to be a ‘team player’ feels like a conspiracy against your sanity.

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Why psychological safety is important, but not enough when it comes to workplace innovation If you’re getting lots of ideas, you’re probably doing a lot of things right when it comes to encouraging workplace innovation —making it safe, asking for input, and responding well. That’s a great start. But how many of these ideas are you implementing? Imagine if you weren’t just getting lots of ideas, but remarkable, practical ones.

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Episode #232 – When issues or conversations come up in the workplace do you want to be responding not reacting? Despite having a desire to succeed, we are so accustomed to working hard to reach our goals and produce results in the workplace, that many of us sacrifice our deeper humanity. In this episode, Susan Freeman, Author of Inner Switch: 7 Timeless Principles to Transform Modern Leadership , lays out a transformational path for mainstream Western business leaders through ancient yogic

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Navigating Workplace Conflict is Getting Harder: Here’s What You Can Do The workforce has been through unprecedented change in the last few years—for better and worse. Stress, disengagement, quiet quitting, and mass resignations… Has all the rapid change led to more workplace conflict? Is conflict wearing us all down? At what cost? A Glimpse into the World Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Survey Results We surveyed 5000+ full-time workers in over 45 countries and in all 50 United

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Want better teamwork? Start with these practical habits to build a deeper connection. Just like any other outcome you’re looking to achieve, if you want better teamwork you need better habits. And yet, most teams don’t take the time to identify and commit to the habits that will make them truly successful. You can’t become an ultramarathoner without the habit of running.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Reduce “Zoo Fatigue”: Take Control of Executive Visits “Hi Karin, I’m a manager of our flagship location. Which is pretty cool. And… we are getting SO MANY executive visits. It’s a constant parade of senior leaders looking to learn and looking to help. Don’t get me wrong, it’s way better than being ignored or left on our own… but sometimes my team feels like we’re working in a zoo.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

To lead through chaos, clarify what matters most and define reality for yourself, your team, and your manager. When you feel completely out of control, tossed back and forth on an ocean of rapidly changing priorities, reactive pronouncements from senior leaders, and an insurmountable list of priorities, it’s natural to expect your manager to solve the problem.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

To Lead Highly Productive Teams: Keep Them Focused on What Matters Most If you want to increase productivity at work, maintain a relentless focus on what matters most in four areas. First, ensure your team understands their big strategic priorities – the outcomes that matter most for the organization. Next, get clear about the specific initiatives and projects that support the strategic priorities.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JULY 21, 2023

Want to make an impact in your new role? Position your ideas at work so they’re more likely to be heard. “Hey Karin, “I was hired for my ideas and my extensive experience. I was told “We welcome your different perspectives, experiences, and ideas at work. That’s exactly what we need here! And now, I’m here. And I’m constantly hearing, “ahhh, I don’t think we can do it that way.” “Eh… we tried that before…” “

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Let's Grow Leaders

JULY 10, 2023

Navigating Workplace Gossip, Better Meetings, Know-it-Alls, Passive Aggressive Co-workers, and More… It’s that time of year when we pause to review what you’re reading here on Let’s Grow Leaders. We inventory the most-read leadership articles of 2023 and here’s what you’re most interested in so far. We would love to hear from you.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 19, 2023

What to Say When a Passive-Aggressive Coworker Tries to Ruin Your Day Passive-aggressive behavior is contagious. It’s easy to let yourself react with frustration or even get passive-aggressive (or maybe aggressive-aggressive) yourself. Now you look like the jerk—not good. The best way to deal with a passive-aggressive coworker is not to get caught in their game.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 16, 2023

Achieve Success Together: How Great Teamwork Turns Talent into Performance Are you ready to learn how great teamwork can propel your organization into high performance? This week on #AskingForaFriend I have a conversation with my friend Dr. David Burkus about what makes a great team. What are the characteristics of a great team? We know that effective collaboration and cohesive teamwork lay the foundation for innovation, productivity, and overall organizational success.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 22, 2023

How to Know If You Should Stay or Go One of the heartbreaking findings in the World Workplace Conflict and Collaboration Survey was the number of people who said if they were faced with this workplace conflict again, they would quit, or quit sooner. Or as one guy from Denmark warned, “If you meet a psychopath at work, run!” If you’ve been following our recent research and writing, you know we’re working on a book to empower you to deal with conflicts better and faster (Harper Collins

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 19, 2023

Have you wondered how your past experiences affect your present success and future opportunities? Experiential Intelligence— the mindsets and abilities gained from your personal and professional life experiences– helps uncover just that. While you can’t change what’s happened to you or how you’ve responded to it, within your unique stories are hidden strengths waiting to be discovered.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 21, 2023

My Feedback Isn’t Working…Performance Management for Repeat Issues You take performance management seriously. You care deeply about your team, their results, and their long-term career success. If you’re reading this, it sounds like you’re feeling a bit frustrated and stuck, because your well-intentioned accountability conversations aren’t fixing a repeated issue.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 8, 2023

A few questions will help re-engage your chronic complainer A chronic complainer can suck the life out of you and your team and make everyone want to quit. But your complainer can also have valuable insights and likely doesn’t feel heard. When you lead them out of their complaint spiral, they’ll be more effective and the team will benefit from their insights. “He’s Bad…” “I’ve got to warn you about Phil.

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Let's Grow Leaders

APRIL 17, 2023

Want to Reduce Unwanted Team Conflict, Make it Easier to Talk About Team Accountability When team members don’t get along, one of the biggest sources of conflict is a lack of team accountability. And, when you look at the research about high-performing teams , one common characteristic is that team accountability isn’t just the manager’s job – the team holds one another accountable (and their manager too).

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 23, 2023

Vulnerability is the New Black: How to Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve (Without Getting Stains on Your Shirt) at Work “Hey Karin, I’ve read the research on being vulnerable, I’ve listened to Brenè Brown and all that stuff…I’ve watched some of your “Asking for a Friend” videos on authenticity. I believe it CONCEPTUALLY, but it’s NOT MY JAM.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 24, 2023

Have you ever wondered what the most essential leadership competencies are and how they can be learned without taking up too much time? Whether you are in a formal leadership role or are a rising leader, entrepreneur, or changemaker driven by a desire to use your voice to create change, in this conversation with Reiner Lomb, you will get tips on how to positively influence key stakeholders, build trust, lead with optimism, ride the waves of negative emotions, mobilize people to take action and c

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 10, 2023

Should I change my style to fit in with my workplace culture? That’s a tricky and complicated question… “should I change my style?” In this week’s #askingforafriend on the road, I come to you from Montreux, Switzerland, and the famous Freddie Mercury statue. Clearly, Freddie Mercury had a unique style of his own. He was not afraid to be who he was in a way that was unlike no one else.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 10, 2023

Is there a risk involved in creating stronger human connections? Great leaders know that d eeper human connection fosters more engagement and better performance and that i nvesting in people boosts results and increases retention. L eaders accomplish more by asking powerful questions than by commanding and controlling. In this episode, Chad Littlefield gives you practical tools and questions to use to help you connect with your team more effectively, build better relationships and results, have

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 3, 2023

How to Increase Trust in Your Remote Team When You’re Rarely in the Same Room “Hey Karin, I have a great team, but they’re spread out ALL OVER THE WORLD. I wouldn’t say we have a trust issue, but I would like to find some additional ways to INCREASE TRUST. What do you suggest? Today on #askingforafriend I’m taking you on a road trip to Virginia, on my way to give a keynote and talk about how to increase trust in a highly dispersed remote or hybrid team along the way

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Let's Grow Leaders

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

How to Deal with a Lazy Coworker and Still Be Seen as a Team Player When I was a little girl, my mom loved to tell us the story of the Little Red Hen. In this sweet little children’s book, our little, plucky, red heroine stays focused on her MITs (most important things) and gives her barnyard friends plenty of chances to pitch in. When a lazy coworker refuses her requests to help, she just keeps doing what needs to be done.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 23, 2023

Capture Their Attention with a Message so Appealing They Put Down Their Phones and Listen “Karin, I’ve got to tell you. The executives at my company are so busy and distracted. There are just so many things going on. I find it really, really difficult to have an engaging powerful conversation to capture their attention. And I have SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 3, 2023

Human-Centered Leadership Experts. Share Their Sources of Inspiration and Strength. As 2022 draws to a close, I’m curious, what’s been a source of inspiration and strength for you this year? In our final #askingforafriend of the year, I share some savvy inspiration from human-centered experts, and I’d love to add yours to the mix.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 2, 2023

The new year is a great time to talk about what you need at work. -including deeper human connection. The shift to remote work and hybrid teams has left many people longing for deeper human connection. And even for those who’ve returned to the office (or never left in-person work), a few years of “choosing our bubble” has left many of us feeling unmoored.

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Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 5, 2022

How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes New Managers Make. So many new managers don’t receive the training or skills they need to be effective, lead their teams, and achieve meaningful results. As a result, well-intentioned, hard-working new managers often trip into these common mistakes new managers make; unnecessarily frustrating their teams, diminishing their credibility, and curtailing their influence.

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Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Use this Simple Technique for a Better Career Elevator Pitch. Do you ever think of exactly the right thing to say — your perfect career elevator pitch — the moment you walk away from the conversation? Do you want to make a better impression when you have only a few moments to share your ideas or ask for something you need? Today on Asking for a Friend , we go old-school and talk about a very practical, and easy-to-implement technique for getting people’s attention and making an

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Prepare for Workplace Conflicts. with a few “Go-To” Conversation Starters. Have you ever felt this way? You’re in the middle of a challenging workplace conflict, and you’re at a complete loss for words. You’re mad. They’re mad. Maybe you even say something you can’t take back. And then in the middle of the night, the perfect words come to you.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

To Gain More Confidence Saying No at Work, Start with Your “Yes” It’s never easy to say no at work. After all, you want to be helpful, responsive, and a team player. And yet, every time you say “yes” to something or someone, you’re saying “no” to something or someone else. When you tell your boss, “Yes, I will work late tonight,” you might have to tell your daughter, “No, I can’t come to your tee-ball game.” Or, when y

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Let's Grow Leaders

JULY 11, 2022

There will be times when you face outcomes you intensely dislike. A seeming no-win scenario is also a chance to distinguish yourself, earn people’s trust, and innovate. Here are seven ways to lead through these tough circumstances, build your credibility, and sleep well at night: Reframe. Own the UGLY. Collaborate. Win with Values. Choose a Different Time Frame.

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Let's Grow Leaders

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

Whether you want more influence and to make a bigger difference within your organization or the world beyond, Weaving Influence CEO and author Becky Robinson gives you the roadmap. Too many think it’s a question of numbers—the more people you can get in front of, the better. But true reach is about expanding your audience while making a meaningful and enduring difference that has a lasting impact.

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Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

It’s a cliche you’ve undoubtedly heard more than once: Fake it until you make it. The problem is that the pressure to succeed can drive leaders to exaggerate their strengths, minimize weaknesses, bend the truth, and sacrifice the very authenticity that would help them succeed. In this episode, former Silicon Valley communications CEO Sabrina Horn gives you the tools to lead with integrity, navigate the challenges that compromise authenticity, and transform your influence by leading f

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 12, 2021

Practical Ideas for Having More Fun at Work. In this week’s Asking For a Friend, I interview Dr. Bob Nelson. author of Work Made Fun Gets Done , and discuss how to have more fun at work! Dos and Dont’s For Fun at Work. Do… Be playful; choose to have fun. Be open & flexible. Experiment; try new things. Learn, refine & reapply.

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 7, 2021

How To Get Better at Managing Up (Even With the Tough Feedback). Karin, I want to get better at managing up. But it’s hard. And, I’m scared. How do I do this well? #AskingForAFriend. Your boss is an imperfect human, doing the best they can. Just like you. They don’t brush their teeth in the morning dreaming up ways to be more difficult and frustrating to you and the rest of the team.

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