Table of Contents

• Hello!

• Fixing the Broken Rung

• 1% Solutions

• Things I’m Reading

Hello!

October, you are a beast. August moves slowly, as many use this time to take much needed vacations. September starts ramping up the volume. And October is full blast- we’ve had time to ramp up after the summer, plus there’s an urgency to do more before the holidays roll around. In the chaos, I’m naturally thinking about next year and where I’m focusing my energy.

First, while I am not taking new fractional clients or projects for the remainder of the calendar year, I am beginning exploratory conversations for work in the new year. If you are a leader navigating change in your organization- assuming a new team, growth, adapting to external changes, developing a new strategy or in need of one, let’s talk.

As I’m reflecting, I’ve found that I love writing these newsletters but I am also taking a step back the next few months to think through how I want to best spend my time. Still figuring all that out but starting next month, I’ll be switching to monthly newsletters. I’m planning out a few new things, so stay tuned. I’ll continue to write my 1% Leadership Solutions newsletter on LinkedIn biweekly.

Fixing the Broken Rung

While it came out a few weeks ago, I’ve only begun to start digging into the Women In Workplace report from McKinsey and LinkedIn.

Commitment to equity and diversity across the organization at all levels can not stop with panels, anti-bias training, or social media posts. It requires interrogating systems and processes, building in the necessary friction to reduces bias, and generally questioning how things are done. This doesn’t mean we throw out every process or standard but we question them, how they are measured, and whose voices we are taking into account in that measurement.

If you’ve read even a few of my newsletters, you know I believe we fall to the level of our systems. So, if you want to foster and increase equity and inclusion within your organization, I’d ask you to consider the following.

• Job descriptions- how aligned are your qualifications aligned to the actual role? Are their unnecessary hurdles? Are you focusing on skills rather than experience? Do you use language like ”give 110%?” Without being intentional, we create unnecessary barriers to the role that don’t actually indicate success in the role.

• Behavioral indicators in performance evaluations- Innovation. Collaboration. What do these look like? And what do these look like across departments? If you

• Training managers in delivering feedback and designing better feedback tools- Even the managers who are committed to equity can unintentionally replicate poor practices— so few of us have strong, positive models of what TO do as a manager. Core here is given focused, specific feedback that is not based on personality. Studies have shown women and people of color disproportionately receive personality-based feedback which is either (a) too vague to be helpful or (b) perpetuates bias of what professionalism should sound like. Don’t just provide bias training for managers. Build tools and rhythms that disrupt that bias and teach managers how to disrupt their own bias and that of others.

  • On this point, develop norming activities for managers, whether in-person or asynch. Even the best tools can be interpreted differently by different managers.

• Ongoing embedded leadership development- I could speak forever on what goes wrong in leadership training. But part of the challenge is that we start too late. If we really want to create access for all (and widen the talent pipeline) provide everyone some essential development on key topics like decision-making that What would I focus on? Self-awareness, Leveraging date, decision-making, effective communication and fierce conversations.

• Promotional criteria and processes- In smaller organizations, promotions can be tricky as there is a limited budget. But transparency around how decisions will be made coupled with the skills, decision-making and accountability for each level can help equip folks with owning their own development and understanding where they fit within an organization.

• Family leave policies- Well thought out leave policies demonstrate a commitment to being an inclusive space for working families. One note: in smaller organizations, do think through

• Clear articulate outcomes for roles- This should be baseline expectation anyway but here’s why it’s important from an equity and inclusion standpoint. First getting clear on this helps you create stronger and more aligned JDs and interview processes. Second it demystifies what success looks like, meaning more transparency throughout the year (so evals aren’t a surprise).

None of the above is easy but it is necessary. If you’re not sure where to start, I’d suggest analyzing your data to see where leaks in the pipeline are. If you don’t have solid data (it happens), my experience suggests starting with outcomes by role and accountability by level. So much flows out of those two things.

1% Solutions

• Make sure you are correctly diagnosing the problem- Strategically using your time starts with correctly identifying the problem on the front end. This HBR article is one of my favorites- particularly for under-resourced start up and nonprofit leaders- because it gives you the tools to rigorously assess the situation, so that you can be relentlessly efficient in aligning and deploying resources. My suggestion: share it with your team or any task force prior to you first meeting to share understandings and frame how you will approach the work ahead.

• Conduct a feedback audit- Annual reviews are around the corner. Yes, I said January is around the corner. Factor in holidays, end of year crazy, Q4 closings…not a lot of actual time. If you are committed to not having the annual review be a surprise, I encourage you to conduct an audit of the feedback you’ve shared. Why? Because while you may have said something, the urgency or importance may not have been conveyed or it hasn’t registered in the pace of day-to-day. And if you lead leaders? Have them go through the audit as well. Graphic with questions below.

• Plan your post-election emails now- Yup, many of us do not want to think about what to say if the election doesn’t go the way we hope. I guarantee you will be even less inclined on November 6th (or whenever announcements are made, let’s be real). So start working with your teams to craft a message that conveys what your team needs to hear.

Things I’m Reading

• Overcommunicating takes time but saves time- The line that stuck out from this article: “Communicate before people communicate with you.” This article discusses the need for front-loading communication to save time later and provides tactical suggestions.

• How HR is Already Using AI- This article shares how HR leaders are using AI to support the HR function. I appreciate these are actual, tactical ideas that may also inspire how to use AI in other functions as well.

• Take Control of your onboarding- This Women at Work podcast provides helpful guidance whether you are beginning a new role yourself or supporting someone else in the process.