November 2021

The Great Resignation, the Great Reshuffle, The Great Migration. The media is awash with coverage about stats that indicate workers are on the move in numbers previously unseen in the U.S. labor market. No matter what it’s called, this workplace trend affects leaders all over our country as employees leave their current employers in droves. What does it mean to managers struggling to maintain staffing levels? Let’s break down this movement called the Great Resignation to help you sort out its leadership implications.  What Is the  “Great Resignation”? The term “Great Resignation” is credited to Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at Mays Business School of Texas A&M University. Klotz used this terminology to describe the large, voluntary exodus of (primarily) American workers in response to a variety of workplace-related concerns and grievances brought on (or exacerbated) by the pandemic.  The Great Resignation is typically framed in terms of economic impacts to employers. But, as Dan Newman writes in his blog post, this trend can also be viewed from the standpoint of  workers seeking better employment (The Great …

Have you ever been in a meeting and the leader of the group says, “Hey, I have an idea!” and then proceeds to outline a suggestion that they clearly think is marvelous. But  you’re not convinced it’s marvelous. So the group sits there in awkward silence, trying to think of a diplomatic way to proceed. This is an opportunity to practice what Phil Buckley, author of Change on the Run calls, “testing a leader’s thinking.” Being able to test a leader’s thinking is a critical people equation skill because in order for your project to move forward, you need your leader’s support and buy-in. And if they’re proposing an idea that will take your project off track, it requires deft communication skills to navigate your way through the conversation.  The greater a leader’s enthusiasm for their solution, the more difficult it is to influence their thinkingPhil Buckley – Author, Change on the Run Phil invited me to join him for a 30 minute chat on his Change on the Run podcast, in which we discussed this very thing: …

    Phil is the president of a mid-size company that has a huge safety problem. If you were to tell him this, Phil would scoff and proudly show you his company’s OSHA records. It’s true that Phil’s company does a great job protecting the physical safety of his workers. However, it’s an entirely different type of “safety” in the workplace that’s lacking, and it’s being driven by Phil’s own actions, even though he doesn’t realize it. Sadly, Phil’s behavior creates an environment where it doesn’t feel safe to speak up.  The Story of a Leader Whose Actions Create Silence and Avoidance, Not Collaboration Like many leaders, Phil is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve his company— possible new products, ideas for process improvement and innovative ways to engage his workforce. In fact, Phil likes new ideas a little too much. New ideas represent possibility to Phil and he eagerly listens to anything that may have the promise of bringing in business for the company. When he hears an idea he likes, he immediately dispatches a …