Inclusion. Leadership Development and some resources about communication

Table of Contents

• Inclusion and Leadership

  • A focus on decision making.

• A Favor

• 1% Solutions

• What I’m Reading

• What I’m Doing- Strategic Planning Intensives

Inclusion and Leadership

“Inclusion is creating the conditions that someone two or three connections away from you can still be successful.”

This quote from the recent NY Times article is probably the best definition I’ve seen for inclusion in a work setting. Inclusion is about creating conditions that those who are different from you and those not in direct proximity with you can be successful (the latter is most acutely felt when start ups begin to scale). I know many leaders who are truly gifted at connecting with others and motivating teams- but struggle to retain their impact when layers of management begin to be added. And this is because one person can not carry an organization in perpetuity. To go from scrappy to sustainable or growing, we need to operationalize culture and create purposeful rhythms to create team identity. And one place I’d like us to focus on is leadership- specially, who we choose as leaders and how we support their continued development.

As our organizations get older and/or grow, we need to hire managers and leaders. These folks will need to align with values and mission but as the first tier of managers, they are doing work that is different than that of a founder (and organization where every leader operated as a founder would…not go well.) So how are we setting these folks up to lead (while creating the necessary guardrails) and be successful? Hiring carbon copies of yourself will leave the organization short-sighted and lopsided in regards to skills and competencies. Diversifying your leadership can solve that issue if we are also clear on decision-making, outcomes and how we work within the organization. Because in the end, inclusion begins with clarity.

Extreme Ownership and Commander’s Intent (you can find a solid summary here) both speak to the need to empower managers and midlevel leaders because they are the ones closest to the problems they are solving. But to create the conditions for inclusion (and stop a revolving door of diversity), there are certain actions we need to take. A few things to think about:

• When hiring, are you focused on finding another you or are you focused on the bottom line skills and competencies needed for that role at that level (founders are different than sustainers- and that is a GOOD thing)

• When initially training, are you teaching people simply what to do or are you also teaching them how to think? Checklists may be fine at the beginning and even in some issues of compliance, but clear frameworks- with metrics of success, bottom lines and questions to ask yourselves- go much further in building the capacity of your managers.

• When providing consistent support and development, how are we not just sharing what it means to be a leader but also create the space for managers to practice, get feedback, apply to their practice, and reflect? Leadership skill is not a static thing but a skill that must be consistently honed, especially as the world and industries continue to change.

A focus on decision making.

When I see leadership trainings, there is often a focus on either tactical leadership or soft skills. But I don’t see enough emphasis internally on practicing and honing decision-making. If we truly want to grow the capacity of our leaders while also strengthening culture and consistency across teams, we should see a greater emphasis on practicing and reflecting on decision-making. Case studies can be an excellent way to do this, as can protocols in which leaders share a problem of practice. Regularly incorporating these into leadership meetings or creating separate spaces to do so are hugely effective because application is immediate.

A Favor

Before we move on, can I ask you a favor? I know there are a lot of leaders, people managers and talent folk who are STRETCHED. Strategic thinking is hard when you have so much on your plate. Would you please share this newsletter with 1-2 folks who you think would benefit? I’d love to increase my reach and I know your networks respect you!

1% Solutions

• When you are frustrated with someone, ask: Do they know?- Often, a manager comes to me complaining about someone they are struggling with and thinking of firing. “They’re always late!” “Their work on this project made me question their expertise.” “They aren’t dependable and everyone is frustrated!” I then ask two questions: Did you tell them that and what did that sound like? 90% of the time, a manager has not had the conversation or if they did it was couched in so many niceties and pillows there is no way the other person will understand the urgency (One example: It would be great if you could X, Y, Z). You have to start there- and the closer to when the action happens, the better. Look, I am not saying direct communication will solve every employee issue. I am saying it will make it clear if it’s a skill or will issue.

• When fighting for talent, differentiate yourself from other organizations when talking to candidates- So often I hear small and midsize organizations bemoaning how folks would rather work for bigger more established orgs that pay more. Maybe. Yes, there are those attracted to the consistency and clarity of work in an enterprise org. But also? There are many people who don’t want that life because they value other things- potentially, impact, agility, collaboration. And these are the things that small and growing orgs CAN win on. Simply put, don’t try to compete for talent by some other org’s rules. What makes your org unique? Why do people stay? Use these keywords to find YOUR people. (I found this LinkedIn article helpful here!)

What I’m Reading

• Communicating through crisis- I’m not sure there is a leader right now who is NOT navigating some sort of challenge or crisis. How we talk about it to our teams is as critical as our plan of action. This article walks you through the ways in which you communication during crisis- because it’s not just what you say but also how you say it.

• Please actually talk with Gen Z- I get it. For some leaders, particularly those of us who grew up in high-paced, mission-driven environments, speaking to our younger teammates is like speaking to someone from another country. Like, we completely get their points and we have an organization to run that also has to deliver on its mission. It is our job as leaders to connect the dots (remember this is teh generation that couldn’t have in person internships or starting working during the pandemic. This article not only highlights the need for better communication but also gives some really great scripts as examples.

• Why DEI and Inclusion works- I linked this article above but want to call special attention to this. If inclusion is creating the conditions to help everyone who is 2 or 3 degrees away from you to succeed, what other processes or systems are strong and what’s lacking? I’d personally start with job descriptions and performance evals but you can equally begin with SOPs.

What I’m Doing- Strategic Planning Intensives

I get it. You have this issue that you want to solve, you know you can if you had enough time— and you don’t trust or need a consultant because you are scared to let someone else do it/ your org is unique/ lacks a big budget/ you’ve just had bad experiences with consultants. . And yet? It never gets done b/c other fires get in the way. Or it gets done but there are no systems in place to sustain it. There has to be a middle ground to doing everything yourself and hiring a consultant that may or may not be good (but will be expensive)

This is why I’m offering half and full day strategic planning intensives. Think of it as a strategy session and boot camp in one. These are day-long, intensive coaching, consulting, and service session with you that gets deliverables the same day. Here are a few things we could accomplish in a full day planning session:

• Map out a leadership curriculum for the year for emerging leaders

• Build out a talent calendar complete with steps for investing your team

• Build out a school leader calendar with key ops, talent, and family engagement

• Map out a strategic focus for your next year with key benchmarks

• Plan out how to best develop your leadership team for maximum impact and cohesion (hint: this does not all fall on you to execute!)

• Reimagine your talent funnel to attract different/diverse/more candidates

• Build out a strategic retention plan

I’m taking up to 6 clients for this type of work between now and July. If you are interested, let’s talk. Smaller mission-driven organizations with leaner budgets, I’m happy to discuss what can be done within budget. Interested? Let’s talk.