“Talk that Works”
Effective communication skills for leaders that don’t have time to waste
You know how you came into work this morning with the best intentions of getting on with some important strategic work for the CEO/MD/your boss – perhaps completing the capability assessment or some workforce planning?
But then you got a call from one of your team leaders about one of their team taking yet another sick day (seems to always fall on a Monday). Now they want you to come down and talk to that team member (but you need to meet the CEO in two hours).
You had high hopes when you started this position – the executive wanted change and loved your ideas and were looking for you to lead the way – to ‘fix’ their workforce challenges
… But you keep getting drawn into turf wars, or petty conflicts between staff that won’t talk to each other – or poor behaviors that were left unaddressed – and now have become performance issues.
Performance issues which you have to handle – but if you had leaders that had those hard conversations all along … They wouldn’t become your problem.
And when you try to explain to the executive – their eyes kind of glaze over (she had so much promise when she started here …”)
And why are you so busy with tactical HR issues? Because it falls to you to clean up the mess caused by poor communications, particularly between your leaders and their teams.
Get out of the tactical and show your real worth
You never get to time for the work you love – the big picture strategic changes that showcase your real talent – until Friday afternoon at 3:30 PM (when it all seems a bit hard and tiring).
You know that, unless the organisation’s leaders step up and start to lead – REALLY lead – and that means having those hard conversations with their teams then you are going to have to step in keep doing their job on top of yours.
It isn’t fair, but it won’t change until you build your leaders ability to have complex conversations, handle challenging personalities and communicate effectively.
I know because I my clients face those challenges – and I faced exactly the same issues as head of HR when for Grunbiotics. Everything that my leaders didn’t handle, ended up on my plate. I got stuck with solving “other people’s problems” so often that I never got to the strategic work I was supposed to do – not during business hours, anyway!
Stop working such long hours
I would find myself saddled with resolving conflicts, coaching other leader’s team members, hiring, firing and developing and clearing up miscommunications during normal operating hours – and doing my value-add work first thing in the morning (by getting in really early), last thing at night (by staying back late) or on the weekends – by missing out on me/family/friends/fun time.
That only improved when I put responsibility back onto my team leaders – by up-skilling them to coach their people, hold their teams accountable, and have those challenging conversations – skillfully.
(The odd thing was, that as a professional trainer and speaker (Melbourne Business School, Frontline Management Institute, the Australian Institute of Management etc.) – I had developed the skills and others – but didn’t apply the myself. Go figure, right? (plumbers always have leaky taps etc.)).
So I took all that knowledge, plus my practical experience went back to the drawing board to develop communication skills that anyone can apply. You don’t need to be confident, outgoing, extroverted or assertive (in fact, sometimes they get in the way). You just need to skill up your leaders.
And that means you, dear HR professional, don’t have to be present at every meeting. You don’t have to hold your leaders’ hands (all the time), resolve their conflicts – or get saddles with that ugly and time-consuming process: performance manage people out of the organisation.
All because I help your leaders go from:
mate to manager so that there is no suggestion of favouritism – and unacceptable behaviours can’t flourish
pushover to assertive – so conflict is nipped in the bud
harsh to empathetic so that your staff are heard and cared for
vague to direct to achieve clarity and alignment
insipid to inspiring – so that they unlock the discretionary effort in their teams
In short I help your leaders turn prisoners into followers so that people understand and are committed to the vision. They can work autonomously and solve problems innovatively. And you can get out of those thankless tasks (do you really need to tell them to get out of the chair and have that conversation face-to-face? Again?)
Stop being so helpful - support your leaders to support their team-members
My advanced methodology “Talk that Works” develops your leaders capability to cut through the noise, give feedback and direction to their teams, and influence upwards and across.
It gives them the confidence to have those challenging conversations ( rather than put them off until they become performance issues)
Participants have said that the program has helped them resolve long-standing tensions, repair conflict, and address behaviours that may have been allowed to run for many years.
And that’s just taking care of poor performance.“Talk that Works” will also help your leaders create psychological safety to get the very best out of their teams, focus on their strengths, and encourage autonomy, collaboration and problem-solving.
Leaving you free to get back to where you can do your most good – raising your organisation’s overall HR capability and contributing to the strategic business goals.
Wouldn’t it be great to get back your time and headspace
– and entrust team leading and performance management to your team leaders?
Register your interest in our next program to be the first in line for early-bird pricing.
In short I help your leaders turn prisoners into followers so that people understand and are committed to the vision. They can work autonomously and solve problems innovatively. And you can get out of those thankless tasks (do you really need to tell them to get out of the chair and have that conversation face-to-face? Again?)
My advanced methodology “Talk that Works” develops your leaders capability to cut through the noise, give feedback and direction to their teams, and influence upwards and across.
It gives them the confidence to have those challenging conversations ( rather than put them off until they become performance issues).
Resolve long-standing issues
Participants have said that the program has helped them resolve long-standing tensions, repair conflict, and address behaviours that may have been allowed to run for many years.
And that’s just taking care of poor performance.“Talk that Works” will also help your leaders create psychological safety to get the very best out of their teams, focus on their strengths, and encourage autonomy, collaboration and problem-solving.
Leaving you free to get back to where you can do your most good – raising your organisation’s overall HR capability and contributing to the strategic business goals.
