Culture
The Power of Work Friends (via HBR)
The benefits of having work friends have been studied for some time, yet many companies insist we only be professional at work. To help build an environment where we can make friends, (1) establish a buddy system, increase face time, find ways to “jam” together, and don’t force it.
Gender
3 Negotiation Myths Still Harming Women’s Careers (via HBR)
- Men negotiate and women don’t. Both do.
- Women should always negotiate pay. Most disparity comes from the type of work men and women do and not for the same role (which is a bigger issue).
- Backlash is inevitable. Bias training is helpful that anyone can be expected to negotiate.
- Tips: (1) Explain why your request is appropriate and justified. (2) Share why your proposal serves the interest of both parties.
Leadership
Successful Leaders Are Great Coaches (via HBR)
- “Just as great athletes seek out great coaches, the best people want to work for leaders who coach them to reach their full potential and who will help them become better coaches themselves.”
- Care — build understanding and trust
- Organize — get people in their sweet spot
- Align — unit people around a common vision and purpose
- Challenge — summon people’s best
- Help — solve problems and celebrate success
Managing yourself
Setting Career Goals When You Feel Overwhelmed (via HBR)
- “Research shows that to engage our motivational systems and direct our brain’s energy to the right actions (both consciously and below our awareness), we need to have a clear sense of where we are, where we’re going, and whether we’re closing the gap between the two at the right rate.”
- Use a growth mindset to shift your goals from being good to getting better.
- State goals in terms of motion: improve, develop, over time, progress, become, grow
Onboarding
Is Bad Onboarding Stifling Your New Senior Leaders? (via HBR)
- Much of traditional onboarding is defining the status quo to the new employee.
- We want to fit in, so we try to align with how things currently work, rather than bring fresh perspectives around change.
- Approach 1: set a short-term challenge to make one change of real value
- Approach 2: ask the new leader to identify the most important things they want to learn and start there (rather than learn everything)
- Approach 3: have the new leader keep a journal of observations (what they learned, what didn’t make sense, what’s different than previous jobs, etc.) that they will present to other leaders
Remote work
4 Myths About In-Person Work, Dispelled (via HBR)
- Myth 1: in-person learning is more effective. Rarely afford opportunities for meaningful practice and feedback. (From Geoff: Probably depends on the format of that in-person learning.)
- Myth 2: in-person events help create/strengthen culture. Culture is the everyday experience, not the occasional experiences.
- Myth 3: people need a break from their screens. They do, but they can do that remotely too.
- Myth 4: networking and connection can only be done in person. We haven’t fully figured out how to make this work virtually, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.
- Being together is effective if it’s voluntary, strategic, and intentional (e.g., game playing, problem solving, storytelling, rituals, having fun).