Latest / Authentic Living / Changing the Landscape of Workplace Culture for Virtual Teams with Leadership Expert, Deborah Connors

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Changing the Landscape of Workplace Culture for Virtual Teams with Leadership Expert, Deborah Connors · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
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  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
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  Hi, everyone.
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  It's Roxanne Derhodge.
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  I've authentically been with Roxanne.
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  Thanks so much for tuning in again this week.
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  Today, I have a special colleague Deborah Connors with us today.
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  Hi, Deborah.
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  How are you?
• 0:47
  I'm great.
• 0:48
  Great.
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  Nice to talk to you.
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  So, Deb and I met a couple, again, a couple years ago, not forming, but virtually to a
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  colleague.
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  And, she's been in the space of changing the workplace conversation.
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  And I'm gonna tell you a little bit about her and then we're gonna talk a little bit about,
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  culture, which is where where which is where her, her superpower is.
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  So she's a captivating speaker, storyteller, author, and workplace coach.
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  She researches the latest breakthrough in workplace health workplace health and culture
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  around the globe.
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  She's interviewed many of the leading, organizational health experts, which forms the
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  basis of her work, teaching leaders how to radically shift culture, so that people can
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  flourish, which is, you know, what a time for the topic that, you're you're dealing with,
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  Deb.
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  She's a prominent figure in the story of how Canadian workplaces have become better places
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  to work through her development of the better workplace conference which she led for 17
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  years.
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  And this powerful initiative created a whole creation generation of workplace health
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  professionals and a huge community of practice.
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  She she speaks on how to shift practices in the workplace to create environments that allow for
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  creativity, innovation, engagement and fun.
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  So, Deb, you you we are in a world right now, obviously that all these things we need to to
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  talk about, but, so let's let's just talk about What got you wanting to be involved be involved
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  in in, workplace culture?
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  Well, I think that we have all worked in cultures that are less than functional that
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  are, are not the happiest places to be.
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  And, and I've worked in a few of those and I remember at one point, finishing a contract in
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  an organization and walking out the door and going, there has got to be a better way.
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  And so, I did I did a master's in this field, did my research in an organization, out in the
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  field and and really my whole raison Detra is about, you know, changing the conversation,
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  shifting cultures to a just where people can flourish because it is totally possible.
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  Mhmm.
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  Absolutely.
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  And what what a a timely discussion.
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  Right?
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  So you've talked talked about having people flourish before we'd entered this time.
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  So I wanna talk to you about out there in the corporate world prior to what's been happening
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  in the last 2 weeks.
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  What kind of are are some of the best practices for leaders to have their their corporate
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  culture, flourish?
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  What are some of the things that they, you know, you you've been talking about 4 years
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  that, leaders need to do to to create that kind of space for people flourish.
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  Okay.
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  Well, I I think even in the best of times, we don't necessarily do such a great job with
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  culture.
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  We we in the in this society, we've got this, better, faster, harder kind of mentality about
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  work.
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  I often say, you know, we hire people for their creativity and their innovation and their
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  knowledge and all of these great things.
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  And then we put them in these cultures of meetings and crisis and and places where people
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  cannot necessarily give their best.
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  So, you know, what we need to do in order to create those kinds of cultures, we need to we
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  need to be compassionate leaders.
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  And that means, you know, having empathy, that means listening to people with fascination when
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  you listen to people, you you understand what they want we need to, increase positivity in
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  our organizations.
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  And that's not just, you know, thinking positive or, or, you know, talking about how
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  great things are.
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  It's actually, there's a lot of research behind how if we increase our positive emotion.
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  If we increase our, positive interactions, people are more creative, they're more
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  innovative, they're engaged, they're more productive.
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  And so all of the things that any employer would want, all of us would want in, in, in our
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  interact and we know that the most positive teams, the the ones that, are most productive
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  are the ones that have 5 to 6 positive inter options for every negative one, and most teams
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  are at about a 1 to 1.
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  So we got a long we we got a ways to go anyways.
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  So a 1 to 1 and a, you know, a 1 to 6 ratio, like, 5 to 6 touch points, you know, to be able
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  to feel connected.
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  And if you think about it, I think that's an application that if any of the us get that kind
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  of touch points of positivity, regardless of what we're dealing with, whether it's pressures
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  or or deadlines or all those things, we're able to really, figure out a way to to make our self
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  stay connected to be able to deliver on what we need to deliver.
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  Exactly.
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  Yeah.
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  And, you know, in in it's so easy to do in your meetings.
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  Often in meetings, you'll hear if we look at that positive, negative interaction, you'll
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  you'll hear a positive, like someone say, hey, I've got this great idea.
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  And then the next comment is, well, you know, we've always done it this way or you know,
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  that's not gonna work or so it's a negative.
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  And so once that person who has all those great ideas hears that enough, they're just not gonna
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  come up those ideas anymore.
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  They're not gonna share them.
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  And you and we've probably all been in meetings where, nobody speaks.
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  Right?
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  We we just sort of go through the agenda.
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  Nobody's really engaged.
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  Nobody's really, offering up great ideas because that's just the kind of culture.
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  And then we've probably had been in the opposite.
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  You know, you've been on teams where, they're led well.
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  There's a lot of positivity.
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  People are engaged.
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  Everybody's getting to speak.
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  And, you know, we see, we see a lot more creativity and, and and we do a lot more great
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  things in those in those kinds of teams.
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  Because I think to your point, like, you know, I talk a lot about mental resilience at often
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  seeing connections and leadership.
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  So I, you know, we talk about an a leader being aware.
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  Right?
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  It's like being internally aware so that they are in line with what they value what what
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  they're looking for just as a person, but also as the leader of a of a a company or a sector.
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  In your opinion out there with leaders, like if it's a 1 to 1, you know, do you find that
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  leaders are trying to get more connected to themselves and to their their passions so that
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  they can impart it onto their, their workforce, or do you think that that's kind of a slow
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  skill to, to come about in in senior management.
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  I'm seeing a change.
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  I'm seeing, I mean, we're hearing so much more right now about mindfulness about, some of
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  these words are becoming more common.
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  And and a lot of leaders are are really looking for tools and, and learning how to lead
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  differently.
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  So you know, as an example, Doctor Michael West in in the UK, someone that I interviewed for my
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  book, has done a lot of research with the National Health Services, and I'm sure now
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  they're, you know, testing all of this because they're being really test with what's going on
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  over there with the pandemic, but, in in that particular research, they, coached, leaders of
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  teams on how to create more positive resilient teams.
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  And what they found is that with just a 5% increase in positivity and resilience in the
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  teams, there was a 3.3% decline in patient mortality.
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  So aside from, you know, employees being more engaged and, and all of the things that you
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  might expect, They saw this really, insignificant impact on patient mortality,
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  which was related to, you know, less mistakes and less accidents because people are more
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  positive and resilient.
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  So there's definitely ways of, you know, of of of increasing that in yourself as as leaders
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  and in within your teams.
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  And I I think to your point, like, I think a lot of leaders, they the higher up on a senior
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  level, you know, those hire sometimes is done on a tactical end.
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  It's on bottom line.
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  If it's a business development and research and development, those types of things, And we
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  expect certain things from those individuals at that level.
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  And sometimes we kind of, you know, and we go back again to seeing soft skills, but, really,
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  It's a it's such a core skill for people to be able to connect.
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  Right?
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  We need them to be able to achieve absolutely, but at the same time, you know, the expectation
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  is less than now.
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  I think it's start we're starting to see a shift, but that maybe they get things done.
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  So maybe we don't have to have as much succeed,
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  in terms of the bottom line, they need to learn to communicate differently or to lead
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  differently because and the research is there now.
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  Right?
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  If we look at, for example, teams that do an effective team debrief at the end of their
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  meetings or at the end of a project, if there's an effective debrief done, those teams that do
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  that well are 25% more productive.
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  So if you want higher productivity and you want more engagement, you know, you need to do these
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  kinds of things.
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  And in an effective team, do grief as a mindful activity It's, it's it's really looking at not,
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  what did we do in terms of our tasks?
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  How did we meet those objectives?
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  But it's how did we work other.
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  What worked?
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  How did we support each other?
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  Did everyone have the opportunity to have the input because if we don't get input from
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  everyone, I mean, often we just hear from the the the loudest people, are they, you know,
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  most intelligent, maybe, maybe not.
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  Right.
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  But, you know, there are ways, of course, of of hearing from everyone, and and those are skills
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  that that are really valuable.
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  So I it's such an important thing.
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  Right?
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  Like, so it's a debrief, and I know in the clinical field, that's something that's, you
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  know, it's kind of normative to talk about what went well, you know, to to to talk about what
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  could you do differently?
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  What did you learn about yourself?
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  Those things.
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  But in the corporate world, to be able to apply that, how powerful that could be, you know, to
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  have and and, you know, I was just talking to someone a little bit about personality type,
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  and I'm an extrovert.
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  She was an introvert.
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  We're talking about that because sometimes your value is the person that's able to be
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  introspective but they are not the frontward facing person to put up put up their hand and
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  share as much, but those people sometimes, I often relishing looking at them because they
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  sometimes have such insight because they step back and wash.
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  Right?
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  And then when they do actually speak, you're like, woah, where'd you come up with that
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  versus the extrovert?
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  That's kinda like, I'll tell you what I think because it's coming to me right now.
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  So I think it's so important, when you see about debriefings to have Everybody have a
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  voice.
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  And then in fact, that, you know, everybody is heard or seen or feels like they have a space
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  at the table and then naturally, 25% productivity increase.
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  What, you know, what a gift.
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  Yeah.
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  And really and really simple.
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  Yes.
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  Yes.
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  There's a there's a practice called Reflective Action that Doctor.
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  Robert Quinn talks about.
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  He's one of the other people I interviewed for my, for my book and and reflective action is
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  finding that sweet spot between being too reflective that you can't make a decision to
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  being too active.
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  Where you're making decisions too quickly and then having to clean them up because you're
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  making mistakes.
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  And, what he says is, you know, our organizations, if they're gonna air on one side
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  or the other, they tend to air on the 2 active that in in today's society.
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  And so finding that reflective action with your teams means finding new ways to get input from
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  people.
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  And one of the things that I often suggest is giving people some time in within a meeting.
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  We don't tend to do that.
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  We tend to jump into practices like brainstorming.
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  And when you brainstorm, you hear from the loud the people who just, you know, stay whatever's
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  on their mind.
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  But if you give people a little bit of time to reflect and make some notes, and I like using
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  sticky notes because, you can gather that up.
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  You can have people put it up on the, you know, flip chart or something.
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  And then you hear from everyone.
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  And then you might still brainstorm, or you might still go around and and ask people for
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  input, but people who need some time or want that time to reflect or should reflect everyone
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  should, get that opportunity.
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  And then you do gather more input from your team rather than just hearing from some people.
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  Maybe more of a true, pulse of what's happening in that room.
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  Right?
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  Because you're so right, and I've been, you know, was in corporate for many, many years.
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  And, you know, the extroverts always get hurt.
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  Yes.
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  And the the, you know, the conscious leader that I would often say would recognize
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  sometimes to try to elicit information from others that they know had something to say, but
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  not everybody likes to share it or, like, to your points shared immediately.
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  And you could see the conscious leaders that were aware of that and was able to kind of
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  gauge the room.
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  It's almost like they had a thermometer and they could go I know there's more going on, but
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  they're, again, they're connected.
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  They're aware, they're in tune, with themselves and also with what's in front of them.
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  And intuitively, they they ask the right question to sometimes elicit a response
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  potentially from people that find it a little bit more, difficult to to speak up or maybe
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  articulate, you know, people that are, able to step back.
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  Mhmm.
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  Sometimes.
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  And I think as an extrovert, I've I've found that I've always, that's a skill that I've
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  always worked on to be able to just try to be the watcher from the back of the room.
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  Because I find that sometimes I come up with more innovative things when I'm able to do
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  that, which is, you know, in my young years, it was my less, inclined skill to be when I was,
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  you know, in corporate.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I like that term that you use conscious leader and, you know, you could replace that with
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  mindful leader, like, just the the, learning that skill of being mindful and being conscious
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  and being aware and recognizing you know, the skills and and the attributes that are out
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  there in the people that work for you and being able to pull that out.
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  It's a great deal.
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  So let's let's kinda talk about what is all around us, and and I know, you know, we have
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  to, unfortunately, Deb.
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  I I'd like to gloss over it too, but, with with the time that we're in, with all the things
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  we're talking about, and we're talking about culture, and we're talking about flourishing,
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  which is where we need to get back to eventually.
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  But right now, You know, we're at the we're at the, you know, they were at the undercurrent of
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  the wave at present, and the impact that, we're seeing out there.
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  What kinds of things are you seeing out there in culture or in leadership or frontline,
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  employees?
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  What what kind of what's the pulse out there based on what you're seeing with, your clients?
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  Well, what I'm hearing is a lot of fear.
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  Fear from people, of losing their jobs, fear from leaders about losing their businesses,
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  business owners who are fatigued because they are in a position where they're trying to be
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  that positive person for all of their employees and, and, you know, to support people, but
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  they're just getting fatigued themselves.
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  Team leaders who are who are stressed and they're asking, you know, how do I maintain
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  positivity and resilience in my team now that this is all of a sudden a team, and we're in a
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  totally different environment.
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  So it's like really quickly having to learn how to adapt.
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  And, yeah, just that that, that quick adaptation that, you know, every day for a
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  while, couple weeks ago, things were changing on a daily basis like you wake up today and,
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  you know, what what's new and and and what do we have to adapt to and how we have to change
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  quickly and and, you know, we're pretty good at that, but it it is fatiguing and it's
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  stressful.
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  So people are you know, I I I think it's like, you know, I I like yourself.
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  I'm seeing the same kinds of things, and you're trying to obviously offer support and offer
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  direction, but it's almost like, you know, it's kinda like we're in quicksand, and everybody's
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  trying to find a bit of safety, but you know, you might feel safe for a bit, and then you're
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  like, oh, there was a bit of a drop there, and then something else happened.
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  So, you know, leaders are trying to do their best, but there are also people.
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  Yes.
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  Exactly.
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  You know?
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  So they're experiencing the same kinds of things.
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  Yes.
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  That's right.
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  Yeah.
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  So what are some of the things that you would say that leaders need to be thinking about in
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  this time, to be able to not just equip themselves, but also equipped their teams to be
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  able to get through something that none of us have ever really truly prepped for before.
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  Exactly.
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  Yeah.
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  I I would say, you know, find easy practices that you can incorporate that don't take a lot
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  of work, but have big benefits and, apply those practices to yourself as well.
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  So we were talking earlier about positivity.
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  And, and, you know, the research on positivity shows us, as I said, that as as our positive
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  emotion increases, we are you know, we're more engaged and we're more productive and we're
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  more, creative and innovative.
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  And it's not just about, you know, feeling good or or thinking positive.
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  It's really it really changes our optimism, and it impacts us physically like we sleep better
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  and we have lower blood pressure and better immunity.
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  And all kinds of things that we want right now.
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  So some of the things that you can do with, with your teams and then, of course, apply
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  these to yourself too.
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  But as a team leader, you know, try to make your, your meetings as positive as possible.
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  So if you're having virtual meetings, and, of course, you can apply this to your workplace.
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  When you get back to a physical workplace too, but, you know, start with a win and it match at
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  the beginning of your meeting.
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  Rather than, you know, often we start with these long dates and meetings are just full of
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  people updating each other on where they're at and what they're doing.
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  And it's not really that productive.
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  So in a on a good in a good time when we're not dealing with with this, I suggest this as well.
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  Start with a win, maybe a win, a challenge, and what do you need?
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  You know, So I would I would share something great that came, that I did or that, you know,
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  our team did something that we'd want at and then I might say, you know, I'm challenged with
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  this is what I'm grappling with today, and here's what I need from you as a team.
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  So we're being very focused about how, you know, how we operate the team, but we are
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  starting with that positive that because we are winning at things.
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  We are doing, everyone's out there doing the best that they can, as you said, you you could
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  start your meetings as a team leader with, a positive story.
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  From within your organization, you're gonna be able to find those every day because people are
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  doing amazing things.
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  And if you can't find something, go on to the internet and look for all the amazing stories
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  of of courage and kindness and, you know, positivity that are happening out there.
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  Start your meeting with the round of gratitude.
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  We know the research on gratitude shows that if we do a daily gratitude practice in the
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  something we can all be doing right now, sitting down every day and writing down at
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  least 3 things that you're grateful for.
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  Mhmm.
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  Over time, what that does is it changes your brain chemistry you're, I'm sure you're very
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  familiar with it.
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  It starts to you start to look for the positive more often, you start to see more
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  possibilities.
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  And so It's, there's 20 years of research on this now.
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  We know that it works, and we should all be doing it, and it takes us 30 seconds a day.
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  So why not?
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  But start your meetings that way and give people an opportunity to, you know, just go
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  around your virtual table and say, here's what I'm grateful for.
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  It changes the culture of your meeting immediately when you do that and you love it.
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  And people come to your meetings on time and they look forward to them because it's, you
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  know, it's it's a a positive way to start.
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  So so those are the some things I would suggest for teams and and individually as leaders if we
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  can be doing that daily gratitude.
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  Another, there's some Doctor Barbara Fredrickson who's done a a great deal of
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  research on positivity and and how we increase our positive emotion and how this impacts us in
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  the workplace.
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  There there are 3 main things that she talks about to increase positivity.
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  And one of them's gratitude, one of them's meditation, and one of them's mindfulness.
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  And and meditation, you know, this is a great opportunity right now when we're, most of us
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  are working at home.
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  We have flexibility to take the time to do a short meditation every day.
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  What we know from the research now is that accumulative effect of, 80 to 90 minutes a week
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  increases your positivity level.
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  So that's really only 12 or 13 minutes a day.
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  Not like being a fit for an hour, you know, if if you're not used to meditating, but it has
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  that same impact on increasing your positive emotion, which makes you more creative and
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  gives you that possibility thinking and and some of those, tools that we need right now.
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  And then mindfulness, we can increase that through meditation, but there's other ways of
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  increasing our mindfulness, which is just being present.
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  You know, through practicing mindful mindful listening, you know, listening to each other
• 23:02
  with fascination not thinking about what I'm gonna say first, you know, next, but just
• 23:07
  actually really hearing you and and and, setting the intention that I'm gonna really
• 23:12
  listen.
• 23:13
  So So, yeah, those are some some, you know, simple practices that we can put in place every
• 23:20
  day, right away.
• 23:22
  That can have a really big impact.
• 23:25
  And I mean, I think, you know, the thing is it's the element of positivity.
• 23:30
  And I I know we talk about it a lot, and a lot of environments do do it, but then they do it
• 23:35
  maybe sometimes, and then they don't do it other times, but really we're in a time with,
• 23:39
  you know, it's it's vitally, vitally important, you know, I like you.
• 23:44
  I I have a gratitude journal that I put lead next to my bed.
• 23:48
  And before I go to bed, I always will write at least 4 or 5 things that I, you know, I got up
• 23:54
  and I had a great or I was able to look out in the woods and and enjoy the sunshine or
• 23:58
  whatever, and it doesn't have to be anything like a big epiphany.
• 24:02
  But it's it's just getting the brain accustomed for you seeing the the positive things that are
• 24:07
  really something very simple.
• 24:08
  And I think really were being humbled at this time to look at all the little things that
• 24:13
  we're seeing, like in my community, people, and I'm sure out in BC where you are, all the
• 24:18
  florists you know, are putting out fresh flowers on their soups so that anybody in the
• 24:24
  community can go by and pick up fresh flowers.
• 24:26
  Like, all these little things that, unfortunately, through adversity, you know, we
• 24:32
  we really come together to look at what what little things that we do that can really shine
• 24:38
  some kind of positivity in our communities
• 24:40
  Yeah.
• 24:41
  To, you know, I even think about your meetings.
• 24:43
  Like, if you have a, you say, a a multinational, you could probably ask people to
• 24:47
  kind of talk about some of the positive things that they're seeing in their environments.
• 24:51
  Yes.
• 24:51
  What has happened because Yes.
• 24:53
  And then it wouldn't have happened before.
• 24:57
  Yeah.
• 24:57
  Yeah.
• 24:57
  You know, because I think, you know, those things we might see, but we might gloss over
• 25:01
  because we're so busy, but through the time, we are really, really seeing it, or, you know,
• 25:06
  kids in my neighborhood, you know, they have talk all over and they've been writing little
• 25:11
  messages or, people putting teddy bears in, windows.
• 25:15
  And the hearts.
• 25:17
  Yes.
• 25:17
  And the hearts or here in Niagara where I am, the the hotel industry is shut down.
• 25:24
  So what has happened is throughout the entire little city, there's been hearts that have been
• 25:28
  illuminated at that time.
• 25:30
  So just what a nice thing to see, you know, even though really where we are has been a bit
• 25:36
  of a a bit of a coast down because the the, communities itself is based mostly on tourism.
• 25:42
  Yeah.
• 25:43
  Yeah.
• 25:44
  Well, you know, and and there's some other things in terms of, increasing mindfulness in
• 25:49
  your teams, like, you know, having device free meetings.
• 25:52
  Yep.
• 25:53
  And if we have meetings like we are right now with Zoom, where you can see each other and and
• 25:59
  look in each other's eyes, then, you know, people are not, conference calls half the time,
• 26:05
  I think, you know, are they checking their emails?
• 26:08
  Are they actually listening?
• 26:09
  Right.
• 26:09
  It's like, okay.
• 26:10
  I can be here, and I'm not listening to you.
• 26:12
  Yeah.
• 26:12
  So have a device put your device with a way, go on zoom, you know, see each other, have that
• 26:19
  connection that that we so vitally need right now when we're, you know, a lot of us are alone
• 26:25
  and, and not connected.
• 26:27
  You know, have a minute of, of silence at the beginning of your meeting.
• 26:31
  Just a minute, a mindful you know, to be really mindful and bring yourself into the present.
• 26:38
  You know, check-in, how our people doing.
• 26:41
  Like, you know, just, check-in with with how people are doing emotionally and, and what and
• 26:49
  again, what they need.
• 26:50
  And then that team degree at the end, like, how are we doing as a team?
• 26:54
  Like, what can we do differently to support each other?
• 26:57
  So the things that I think of is that I would think that leaders have even more pressure now
• 27:05
  because they're having to really be on a lot.
• 27:09
  Not that they weren't before, but they could kind of go home and kinda, you know, re
• 27:15
  replenish and then come back and keep going at it.
• 27:18
  But right now, we're not we're not having that.
• 27:21
  I know you call it a stop gap, truly, to be able to truly replenish because, unfortunately,
• 27:26
  I mean, I would say that, most people are trying to, get information, but it it becomes
• 27:33
  awfully difficult.
• 27:34
  And I don't know if you would agree with this step to kind of stop it so that you don't let
• 27:38
  it pill for into your mind.
• 27:39
  And, again, if you're if you're on a senior leadership team and you know, now your your
• 27:44
  entire workforce, unless your vital services are at home, there's a lot of different
• 27:48
  pressures that are coming.
• 27:50
  So people are having to be able to perform stay positive, manage their stressors, manage their
• 27:56
  families.
• 27:57
  Mhmm.
• 27:57
  And maybe spouses that are at home or maybe losing jobs.
• 28:00
  That's that's a lot of moving parts all at once.
• 28:03
  Yeah.
• 28:04
  You know?
• 28:04
  So
• 28:06
  I I think, you know, when you were talking, I was thinking, you know, one of the things
• 28:10
  leaders can do if they're working at home and so are others is is a if this is a way of
• 28:15
  walking the talk, but also doing something for yourself at the same time is, you know, have a
• 28:20
  workout together with your team.
• 28:23
  Yeah.
• 28:23
  Go out in your backyard or your basement or wherever it is and what with whatever equipment
• 28:28
  you have, go online together and and do something together, let people see that, you're
• 28:34
  human too.
• 28:35
  And you, you know, you're taking care of yourself and you're walking the talk you know,
• 28:39
  by doing that.
• 28:41
  You know, would certainly be one thing.
• 28:43
  And I and I was thinking too that, you know, when you said, of being always on, There's also
• 28:48
  a risk as a leader of, you know, just sending out emails at various times that may not be
• 28:57
  appropriate and we sort of got past that by having, you know, boundaries around email.
• 29:04
  And now here we are, you know, we're not in the workplace and so sort of setting those
• 29:10
  boundaries up as well and remembering that to, you know, turn off at a certain time and spend
• 29:14
  time with your family and and then turn on again, you know In appropriate times.
• 29:20
  Yeah.
• 29:20
  Yeah.
• 29:21
  So what are what are some of the definite don'ts that leaders should think about right
• 29:25
  now?
• 29:25
  Because I'm I'm gonna think that, you know, because of the stress levels and the fear and
• 29:31
  stuff like that, you know, some leaders may go into overdrive where they're not managing
• 29:37
  themselves as much as they should.
• 29:39
  So what are some things that people should be aware of that they should stay away from right
• 29:43
  now that maybe if it was business as usual, potentially dead, but they'd probably be able
• 29:48
  to kind of do certain things But there's at this time, there's certain things that I would
• 29:52
  say leadership can't get away with that they maybe potentially would maybe would have been
• 29:56
  glossed over before.
• 29:57
  Well, I think, you know, don't do business as usual.
• 30:01
  Like, don't don't think that things are
• 30:03
  gonna be usual.
• 30:04
  Right.
• 30:05
  Don't expect employees to react as they usually would.
• 30:08
  Right?
• 30:08
  And people are gonna react in all different ways.
• 30:10
  So just, you know, being understanding of, you know, various things that come up.
• 30:17
  And I And as I mentioned, I think don't, you know, send emails at all times during during
• 30:23
  the day and night, sets some boundaries, some definite boundaries, for yourself.
• 30:28
  And, you know, my husband has set up an office in one of our spare bedrooms and, goes in there
• 30:34
  at a certain time in the day and leaves at a certain time at night and and, you know, sort
• 30:39
  of setting up that time for yourself so that, you're looking after yourself, you're walking
• 30:44
  the talk, and you're know, setting a good example.
• 30:48
  Mhmm.
• 30:48
  Yeah.
• 30:49
  Because people are gonna look, to you for direction and how you're managing yourself like
• 30:55
  and it it's even more probably gonna be more heightened now because because when we when we
• 31:00
  feel out of control, we're looking for more safety at that time and people are gonna look
• 31:04
  to the leaders so the better that the leader is able to do some of these things
• 31:08
  Yeah.
• 31:09
  To your point.
• 31:10
  And and for people to feel like I can restyle maybe I wasn't as relatable as a leader before,
• 31:15
  but to really think that through us, how might I be able to extend to potentially start a new
• 31:20
  practice to be able to show the people that maybe I'm you know, I'm I'm I'm learning the
• 31:24
  scale.
• 31:24
  I may be a little bit awkward.
• 31:25
  I'm have training wheels, but I'm I'm trying to develop that skill to be able to reach out.
• 31:30
  I think would be something in this time would be really well received with people that are,
• 31:34
  you know, feeling that, nothing is consistent.
• 31:37
  Yeah.
• 31:37
  This is your time shine.
• 31:39
  Yeah.
• 31:39
  You know?
• 31:40
  Right.
• 31:40
  And it and it's a time to, you know, play with different things like social media, that you
• 31:46
  not have been using before, but but use those different modalities.
• 31:50
  Everyone is just doing their best to, you know, reach out and and do things differently.
• 31:56
  So, and I would say, like, really, you know, communicate, like, the people are fearful.
• 32:02
  So communicate as much as you can and and as transparently as you can, but as thoughtful as
• 32:09
  you can with the mess itching.
• 32:11
  You know, I've talked to some people who've received these long rambling emails from their,
• 32:17
  you know, the owners of their company and they don't know what it means.
• 32:21
  And and I think the owners are probably trying to do their best about being transparent.
• 32:26
  But really be thoughtful about how that how it's gonna impact people.
• 32:32
  And it's okay not to know all the answers.
• 32:34
  You know?
• 32:35
  It's okay to say that.
• 32:37
  And and and just letting people know what options are available to them.
• 32:42
  What services are available.
• 32:45
  If, you know, if they're going to be potentially laid off, what are the options?
• 32:50
  Excuse me.
• 32:53
  And just, you know, taking a moment, as I said, before in your meetings, for, mindfulness, for
• 32:59
  gratitude keeping things positive.
• 33:04
  So, really, we're talking about, you talk about relational transparency amid chaos.
• 33:12
  Yes.
• 33:12
  And so you want to be able to be relatable, and recognize as as a leader because you have to
• 33:18
  still you know, set a level of decorum that you don't send those e even if you're thinking
• 33:24
  about it, and maybe this is something leaders can do is write about it, Don't send it.
• 33:29
  Look look at it.
• 33:30
  Have somebody else that maybe has some more objective eyes look at it again before you hit
• 33:35
  sends because to your point, Deb becomes, and I I I don't know if you would agree with with
• 33:40
  this or not, Deb, but, how much is too much?
• 33:44
  Mhmm.
• 33:44
  Mhmm.
• 33:45
  Yes.
• 33:45
  At this time.
• 33:46
  Right?
• 33:46
  And I mean, you wanna be transparent, but you also wanna give hope as much as you have at
• 33:52
  this time.
• 33:53
  Yeah.
• 33:54
  So to try to really kinda make sure that you have the right level of sharing versus
• 33:59
  maintaining safety, I would say as much as you can at this point.
• 34:03
  I think so.
• 34:03
  And and if you can be thoughtful, mindful, and compassionate in your message, you're gonna do
• 34:09
  fine.
• 34:10
  And I like the point that you said touch points.
• 34:12
  Right?
• 34:13
  Make it different.
• 34:13
  Make it be innovative.
• 34:15
  Right?
• 34:15
  Like, so if you want people to flourish, And, you know, through this time, as much as we are
• 34:21
  on certain times, what kind of things could you potentially do that would make people think I'm
• 34:27
  so glad I work for Deb Conners that even amidst this time, I can think, wow, I'm happy, you
• 34:34
  know, that I get to report to someone like that or have someone of that in life.
• 34:38
  So to really start to think along those lines.
• 34:41
  And, you know, I think of, you know, I have 2 colleagues that have done something special
• 34:46
  that makes me think of them because they sent me one person sent a card, and the other sent a
• 34:53
  picture of some time we had spent together.
• 34:56
  Right, last summer.
• 34:57
  So, you know, it's a little things like that.
• 34:59
  So what do I do?
• 35:00
  I have them propped up on my desk.
• 35:03
  Thinking because they're thinking about me and thought enough to do something special like
• 35:06
  that.
• 35:07
  So you're right.
• 35:07
  It doesn't take a lot of big things you know, but it's it's it's the thought that I'm
• 35:13
  important in them enough for them to be able to think about me, to be able to you know, take
• 35:18
  the time to be able to to to extend in such a way, you know, so there's some small things
• 35:23
  that I think that really are counting through these times.
• 35:25
  I think so too.
• 35:26
  And and if you want people to flourish and go in those upward spirals, you need to be
• 35:30
  flourishing and going in those upward spirals yourself.
• 35:33
  Right?
• 35:33
  So, you know, taking the time now, maybe when you don't have a commute to work to, put that
• 35:40
  extra time into getting a little bit of extra sleep.
• 35:43
  You know, we don't give a lot of, emphasis to sleep in our society, and it impacts us so much
• 35:49
  in terms of our our mood and our positivity and our, engagement and and productivity.
• 35:57
  And and so, you know, and and and, you know, just how how it impacts, our behavior and how
• 36:04
  we connect with other people, do some of the the things that we were talking about here and
• 36:12
  gratitude, taking the time to do some extra reading.
• 36:16
  I mean, all of those things are are very helpful.
• 36:19
  You're setting an example, but you're also building yourself up so that you can, you know,
• 36:24
  be that strong positive leader for, the people that report to you.
• 36:31
  I've and to model it, to your point, like, be innovative with, if I'm gonna go and do
• 36:37
  something outside, like, even though they may not do it, but maybe, you know, hitting record
• 36:41
  Yes.
• 36:42
  On an on a on a post to say, Oh, by the way, I'm trying this today.
• 36:46
  Just thought I I'm challenging myself because, again, that adds the element of I'm I'm being
• 36:51
  transparent.
• 36:52
  I'm doing what I'm I'm, you know, things that I'm suggesting you do.
• 36:55
  And I just wanna let you know, I look silly doing this, but I just wanted to share this
• 36:59
  with my team and then maybe send it out.
• 37:01
  You know, with to your team and and say, okay.
• 37:04
  Well, I challenge you what what silly thing are you gonna try?
• 37:07
  Yeah.
• 37:07
  But maybe you haven't thought I would never try this.
• 37:09
  And and share it with your team.
• 37:11
  So little things like that, but the innovation, I think you're right.
• 37:13
  So if people feel connected, then they're able to share, and then they're able to flourish
• 37:18
  even though, you know, times are uncertain.
• 37:20
  Exactly.
• 37:21
  Yeah.
• 37:21
  And it just lets them know that you're doing it too.
• 37:23
  Right?
• 37:23
  Of course.
• 37:24
  Of course.
• 37:24
  You you need to you need to demonstrate and model and not just tell people this is what you
• 37:30
  think they should do, but also let them see that you could, all of also demonstrate that
• 37:34
  you you're capable and, you can try new things.
• 37:38
  So, Deb, I know before I let you go, any sense of what kind of things do you think that,
• 37:47
  leaders should be thinking in this gray zone to kind of prep to the point where we will
• 37:52
  eventually go back to to our positions where we're physically there again.
• 37:58
  Anything that they should be thinking about?
• 38:01
  I, I think everything we've talked about is transferable.
• 38:05
  We should be doing it in the workplace.
• 38:08
  If we're just starting it now because we're in this virtual space, take it back with you.
• 38:14
  You know, keep your, your team's positive and resilient, and engaged and productive and,
• 38:19
  creative.
• 38:20
  And and you do that through, keeping positive emotion high, positive interactions high, and
• 38:27
  there's some very simple ways to do that.
• 38:29
  So some of the things we've talked about here today.
• 38:32
  Just take the time to learn it now, practice it now, and, and take it back to the workplace
• 38:38
  with you.
• 38:39
  To look at this pivot as, you know, unfortunately, the adversity happens, but what
• 38:44
  I have been the positive things that really should be implemented anyway and take that back
• 38:49
  with you and not think because, in 2020, because of COVID 19, we had to do this, but
• 38:55
  really What are some of the yeah.
• 38:57
  We are to do it.
• 38:58
  And why why don't we just continue the practices so that people could feel connected?
• 39:02
  And then when people get connected, They get innovative and they flourish just overall and
• 39:08
  and you get, absent absenteeism goes down presentee ASM goes up and all that good stuff.
• 39:14
  We we get the benefit of all those things.
• 39:17
  Exactly.
• 39:18
  So, Deb, I know you, you have a course and I'm sure people out there, companies that are
• 39:23
  listening, may want to reach out, to you, about, some of the things that you do in the
• 39:30
  workplace.
• 39:30
  So tell everyone where they can reach you or some of the things that you can offer.
• 39:34
  Well, my website is debraconners.com.
• 39:38
  It's deborahc0nandors.
• 39:42
  I'm sure you'll have that up somewhere, Roxanne.
• 39:46
  And you can find all my services there, but we do have a course called 8 weeks to a better
• 39:51
  place to work that we do once a year and it happens to be coming up in 2 weeks So it's very
• 39:56
  timely.
• 39:57
  It starts on April 16th.
• 39:59
  What we do in this course is we focus on a lot of the practices that we've been talking about
• 40:03
  today and much, much more It's based on my book, a better place to work, daily practices
• 40:08
  that transform culture, and that's full of 50 different practices that we can incorporate.
• 40:14
  To build a better workplace.
• 40:16
  And I bring in expert speakers as a part of the course.
• 40:19
  So this year, I have, Doctor.
• 40:21
  Robert Quinn, Doctor.
• 40:22
  Graham Lowe, Mary, Mary Anne, Bayton, Mary Lou McDonald, Sherry Torres.
• 40:30
  They're all experts in in various fields Organizational Health, coming together online,
• 40:38
  you know, it's a really great place to access that expertise.
• 40:41
  So I would love, to have any of your listeners join us.
• 40:46
  Normally, the the course, it's an 8 hour course.
• 40:49
  It costs 6.95 and we're leaving it at the early bird price this year just to make it more
• 40:53
  accessible to people.
• 40:55
  So it's 4.95.
• 40:58
  We have a team rate that's even better, which is basically 3 for the price of 2.
• 41:04
  So 9.95 for a team of 3.
• 41:07
  And I also wanted to offer a 15% discount on the the single rate price to anybody who's
• 41:12
  listening.
• 41:13
  So if you're interested in joining us and you that discount, just get in touch with us
• 41:18
  through my website.
• 41:20
  It will send you a code so you can get a a discount on that.
• 41:23
  So that course is coming up.
• 41:26
  Also my books are available for those who wanna take, you know, the opportunity to do some
• 41:30
  extra reading right now.
• 41:32
  And we do online coaching and and consulting.
• 41:35
  And so we're we're actually, put out a, an e blast this morning, just asking people what
• 41:40
  they need right now.
• 41:42
  Are there things that we can develop to help you because, we, like everyone else, are
• 41:47
  dealing with the new reality here and, and we're trying to support as best as we can.
• 41:53
  Well, thank you for sharing that.
• 41:55
  So for anyone interested in learning more, actually, I just recently had Maryann Beatton
• 41:59
  on a couple weeks ago.
• 42:02
  Yeah.
• 42:03
  So, you know, lots of experts, in the in the arena of culture, So I think it's an
• 42:09
  opportunity.
• 42:10
  And if you have the time, it would be something that would be beneficial, to where you are are
• 42:14
  based on if you just became a virtual team, if you're you know, if you're part of an ongoing
• 42:19
  team, these are all things that you could, learn from people that are, the experts out
• 42:24
  there in OD.
• 42:26
  So, again, what am I what am I taking away?
• 42:29
  I think, you know, the positivity that we know we need to implement in the workplace I think
• 42:35
  it's being accentuated right in front of us.
• 42:38
  None of us knew that this was gonna happen.
• 42:41
  None of us ever thought probably potentially we would experience this time, but it's it's a
• 42:45
  time that really has made the the world pause.
• 42:48
  And I think we are starting to see the benefits, unfortunately, of this adversity and
• 42:52
  the positive things that we're experiencing individually, as families, as communities, and
• 42:59
  globally.
• 43:00
  And to really take those learnings with us into whatever this new reality will be.
• 43:06
  And I think we can implement things that we probably all is no new.
• 43:10
  We should.
• 43:11
  But, you know, obviously, the time is calling that we start to be kindler and gentler in the
• 43:16
  world.
• 43:16
  And if we're able to do that, we're able to impact, everyone, you know, in somewhere, we're
• 43:22
  all connected to to recognize that and to start today.
• 43:26
  So again, Deborah, thanks so much, for joining me.
• 43:29
  And if anyone's needing any information, I'm a mental health and wellness specialist, and I do
• 43:35
  speaking, obviously virtual at this point, training and coaching, and you can reach me at
• 43:40
  Roxanne.
• 43:42
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive,
• 43:48
  healthy change.
• 43:49
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
• 43:55
  rocksandurhaj.com/blueprint.
• 43:59
  We'll see you next time.
• 44:01
  Unauthentic living with Roxanne.