Five Keys to Dealing with Disruption from Former Prime Minister George Papandreou

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Return to office (RTO) mandates are a little silly if you think about it. The next quarantine/hurricane/wildfire/(insert major disruptor here) is just around the corner, which means a flexible, remote-capable workforce is an absolute must for your organization’s long-term health.

Your leadership must be flexible and remote-capable, too.

Our podcast guests George Papandreou (former Prime Minister of Greece) and Jorrit Volkers (dean of Deloitte’s renowned University for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, or DU EMEA) know well the need for such resilient leaders. For Papandreou in particular, nothing less than the survival of democracy sits at stake. Between them, we gleaned the following tips for mastering leadership in turbulent times.

  1. Adapt to Change. Between climate change and emerging viruses, major disruptions loom inevitably in our future. For example, many epidemiologists warn COVID wasn’t the pandemic; it was a pandemic of more to come. That means your leadership needs more than resilience, but true adaptability. Each disruption redefines “normal,” so you must adapt to that new working environment instead of vainly trying to pull it back to your old comfort zone. Embrace flexibility and innovation. Communicate openly and authentically, too—disruptions will throw your team off balance enough; blindsiding them slows down, if not sabotages, recovery.
  2. Learn to Lead Virtually. When analyzed objectively, the motivation for many leaders wanting RTO is simple: the leaders, far more than staff, had trouble learning how to run their teams remotely. Yet the principles for great leadership remain the same whether in person or remote. Distance leadership requires amplifying a few of those traits, though, including higher empathy for team members, clear communication, and building a more collaborative and inclusive culture.
  3. Prepare Your Team to Overcome Challenges. Success favors the prepared team. The next disruption isn’t an if, but a when. Your organization will recover faster when you prepare it by embedding resilience into the culture, provide support, and empower your team to make decisions and overcome obstacles with grit instead of fear. In this way, they’ll more than survive: they’ll thrive.
  4. Build Trust. Disruption, chaos, and surprises make it difficult for your staff to trust the world around them. They must trust you as their leader. Cultivate trust now through transparency, authenticity, and engagement with the team. Express your vision clearly and passionately; knowing your North Star helps your team focus their efforts even through the greatest upheaval.
  5. Drive Results. This is about more than P&L; it’s about morale. When your team accomplishes goals, their pride and motivation increase—two forces powerful enough to overcome the anxiety of disruption because the team knows it’s making a difference. So set clear goals, provide the team with the resources it needs to accomplish them, and empower them to excel.

Change has accompanied human life since the first homo sapiens stepped forth. It’s the pace of change that’s different today; it now accelerates each day rather than each generation. That’s great news for you: every disruption hides an opportunity for your team.  Through the five steps above, your leadership will uncover those opportunities.

Disruption can become another asset in your toolbox.

Resilience and anti-fragility are just two of the tools we teach in our leadership courses and coaching. We can deliver a keynote speech about them at your next event, too. Learn more: send us a note at inquiries@innovativeleadership.com.

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Former Prime Minister Papandreou’s Path to a Just World.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Active Listening: A Quick Guide to Turning Tension into Performance

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“I just want to be heard.”

Those six words resonate with every person on the planet, yet so many leaders ignore this universal need. Toxic leaders go further, actively shutting down feedback. Disengagement, low productivity, and turnover result. And, of course, these leaders miss out on operating improvements, new product ideas, and morale boosters from staff which could significantly boost the bottom line.

According to our podcast guest Michael Morrow-Fox, a leadership consultant, the solution is simple, though not easy: conversational receptiveness. The practice has several elements, but the starting point is active listening. That step alone works wonders.

How Can I Actively Listen?

To be blunt: shut up. Seems simple enough, but it’s difficult to do without practice. In normal conversation, our minds are running a mile a minute when others speak: judging what they’re saying, jumping to a conclusion, thinking about what we want to say, and even daydreaming if the other person is a bit long-winded.

Though quieting our inner voice to focus on our teammate’s voice may be hard, it’s easier if you enter the conversation remembering your intent: active listening means you’re listening to understand, not to respond. Each time your mind drifts, bring your focus back to the person speaking. It helps to keep your eyes engaged with theirs; this not only keeps your attention on them but provides a subconscious “body language” signal to them that they’re being heard.

On a conscious level, reinforce that signal by paraphrasing each major point after they make it. “Just to clarify, you’re concerned that…” will do. This demonstrates you’ve been listening and has the added benefit of letting them restate the point if you didn’t quite understand.

When all their points are expressed, summarize the conversation. Then offer a reflection on it all: “So X, Y, and Z have all been happening. I wonder if…” or even “Hmmm; that’s a perspective I’d not realized. May we break for a bit so I can think about this a little deeper?”

You may not have an answer, immediately or after pondering. But the other person now knows they’ve been heard, and are respected. You’ve expressed understanding, and even though you may not have an agreement, your simple act of validation will reduce defensiveness when your decision comes.

Why?

Because they know they’ve been heard.

 

From new ideas to opposing viewpoints, people everywhere need to know their voices count. We can help. Our ILI team has over half a century of collective in-the-field experience with effective communication for leaders. From coaching to courses, we can share that wisdom with you. E-mail us at inquiries@innovativeleadership.com to learn more.

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Let’s Talk: Four Steps to Bridging Workplace, Political, and Family Disagreements.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

From Diplomacy to Desktop: How to Keep the Peace at Work

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The world never has a lack of armed conflicts. Ultimately, the root cause of these wars remains poor leadership, according to experts on peace and negotiation.

The irony: the exact same skills that help you grow as a leader for your team are the skills our political leaders need to solve global crises.

For example, in our podcast with Ambassador Thomas Greminger and Peter Cunningham—both from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)—we learned that two qualities, in particular, form the foundation for first-rate leadership: communication and empathy. Those same two qualities are vital for preventing any hostility within your own team, and resolving crises when they do appear.

Communication holds obvious benefits. Nothing disrupts trust in a leader faster than blindsiding a team member at work, a spouse at home, or a diplomat across the negotiating table. Consistent and clear communication informs the recipient of the facts you have on hand, the decisions you’ve made based on those facts, and the benefits you see in those decisions. In short, communication provides understanding.

Humans crave understanding and knowledge. When you withhold information, people fill those gaps with speculation. Your lack of communication provides fertile ground for sprouting rumors and gossip. In the workplace, morale crumbles. On the world stage, negotiation halts. In both cases, you’ve lost the superpower of trust.

On the other hand, when you’re forthright, authentic, and sharing the information behind your decisions, your team (or your political opposition) has a clear understanding of your goals. This helps them see the common ground between you. It’s the keystone in the bridging of gaps, and the first step toward creating a win for all parties.

Empathy provides the pillars on that bridge.

Empathy gifts us with the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. This helps you grasp their motives and actual needs.  It also helps you dig deeper than their surface communication to glean the emotions creating the energy behind their actions. Through empathy, you find the common ground all humans share; this enables you to build bonds and trust that remain long after the latest employee review, contract, or treaty. You’ve built a true relationship.

This knowledge is nothing new. We’ve captured it for millennia in phrases from “Walk a mile in my shoes” to Stephen Covey’s “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Somehow, though, in every generation, our leaders forget this age-old wisdom.

From a fast food supervisor to a nation’s head of state, the fundamentals of outstanding leadership are the same. Perhaps, someday, extensive leadership education will be a prerequisite for every president and prime minister.

 

Do you have what it takes to be president, whether of your company or your nation? Take our free leadership mindsets assessment to find out. It’s available here.

If you’d like to learn more about resolving conflict, whether at work or in the world, we strongly recommend these podcasts in addition to our interview with Greminger and Cunningham:

–Finding Peace in Conflict: Northern Ireland and Beyond with John, Lord Alderdice

–Peace through Better Leaders with Mike Hardy, founding director of the Centre for Trust, Peace, & Social Relations at Coventry University

–Power, Charisma, Hormones: Science Studies Leadership with John Antonakis of the University of Lausanne

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Empathy, Dialogue, & a Good Mood: An Ambassador Reveals What Leaders Need in Crisis.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

How to Stop Worrying and Embrace Work’s Surprises

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“Surprise!”

That’s a fun word when it launches an unexpected party. It’s not so fun when it launches your work day. Yet for more and more of us, the exponential acceleration of change in the world translates into surprises at work.

Fortunately, Chris Nolan and Mike Schindler—our podcast guests and creators of the It’s VUCA documentary—have already developed practical tools to keep your cool while you navigate life’s inevitable changes.

First, recognize your Micro Wins.

You’ve probably heard this advice before as some variation of “Celebrate the small stuff.” But most of us are so focused on the problems we face that we have difficulty seeing those little wins in the first place. So each day, before you check e-mail or glance at Slack, take just five minutes of quiet time to jot down a list of things that went right yesterday. It could be as simple as not spilling coffee on your brand-new slacks or as complex as your team finding and debugging one line of troublesome code—a win is a win. See it, then celebrate it.

Second, build your Three Disciplines.

Now it gets a wee bit harder as you grow into new habits, starting with Structural Discipline. Here, the focus is physical. You’re finding habits and routines that promote health: exercise, adequate sleep, good nutrition, and the like. This has double the impact, because what’s good for your body also tends to be good for your mind, which benefits the next step:

Reactive Discipline. Here, you’re learning to manage your responses to unexpected challenges by maintaining calm as they emerge. Think of pilot Sully Sullenberger who ditched his US Airways jet in New York’s Hudson River when the plane’s engines died. His calmness ensured no fatalities for the passengers. With mindfulness, deep breathing, and other techniques, you too can develop that calm, and make thoughtful decisions rather than reacting impulsively to surprises.

Rounding out this troika is Expansive Discipline. Now, you’re growing your mind in general—becoming a lifelong learner. Listening to podcasts (like ours!), reading books, taking classes: you let your curiosity fly, embracing both personal and professional growth. As the workplace continues to change, old skill sets may not be as useful, but continual curiosity keeps you current and better able to absorb whatever new skills and knowledge your team requires.

Third, Bring It On!

With those foundations underway, it’s time to embrace change instead of just facing it. Mike and Chris call this the Bring It On Tool. At its core, you visualize challenges: those looming now, and those you’d like to see in the future. As you picture those challenges, also see yourself embracing them, tackling them, solving them—and think of the benefits those wins will bring. Think of how you’ll celebrate them, too! This technique helps you overcome fear, anxiety, and avoidance as you move into proactive engagement.

Like all good things, these tools take time to kick in automatically when unexpected challenges arise. But with patience and practice, you’ll be turning every exclamation of “Surprise!” into “Success!” instead.

Many workplace surprises can be serious, but some of the biggest workplace surprises are pretty darn funny in hindsight. What’s the funniest surprise you’ve faced at work? Brighten our day by sharing your story in the comments.

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode How Leaders Thrive through Rapid Change.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Trust: The Bridge Between Leader and Follower

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Did you forget something?

In our quest to become better leaders, we often forget the most fundamental thing that makes us leaders: followers!

They stand at the heart of the very definition of “leader.” So, this week, we circle back to basics for insights on how to cultivate your followership. This information comes directly from our newest book, Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI.

One of the key actions an effective leader takes to enhance followership is building trust. Trust is essential for forging strong relationships with anyone, and that’s doubly so between leaders and followers. We enter every trust relationship as both the trustor and trustee; while gaining the other person’s trust, we are also determining how much we can trust them.

Dr. MaryJo Burchard of Fresno Pacific and Regent Universities, and founder of leadership consultancy Concord Solutions, sees six dimensions to trust:

  1. Authenticity: When someone can take your words and actions at face value and not feel you are withholding information. It’s a key trait of great leadership in general, but all the more necessary in establishing and maintaining trust.
  2. Safety: When your team feels safe, secure, and protected. All the talk lately of establishing safe spaces at work isn’t trendy fluff; our brains’ wiring dictates we cannot trust when we feel at risk.
  3. Consistency: Displaying a predictable pattern of behavior. The world is volatile and chaotic enough; your behavior needn’t mimic that. Followers need to see consistent reactions from you. This ties directly into the sense of safety above.
  4. Dependability: When someone knows you will keep your promises and confidentiality. With all the uncertainty in the world today, followers need to know they can count on you. The trustworthy leader is the rock they rely on in the turbulence of modern work life.
  5. Ownership: When the follower believes you will feel the full weight of your decisions’ outcomes, and you’ll take full responsibility. Politicians have a lot of problems with this one, in particular.
  6. Competence: When your team members believe you have the skills needed to do what is expected. Note that competence differs from omniscience. No one expects you to have every answer at your fingertips; they do expect you to have the skill to find the answer (or find the specialist who has it).

Like anything worthwhile, trust takes time to build – doubly so if past actions violated any of these dimensions. But authenticity comes first on the list for a reason: if you genuinely put effort into building trust, your team will sense that honesty and grant you grace during the inevitable stumbles that happen on the way.

What are some of the specific actions you’ve taken to build trust at work? What did a boss do for you that created instant trust? Let us know in the comments; we’d love to hear from you!

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Co-authors Neil Grunberg and Erin Barry go into greater depth on followership in our book. It’s available in paperback at https://amzn.to/3M4Iybj, or as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/3Vko2IW.

We also interviewed Dr. Burchard about trust in our podcast; listen to her episode at https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-x2bqi-133c315.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

 

Changing the World, One Visit at a Time

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Have you ever had this conversation about service during your business trips?

YOU: I demand to see your manager!

DESK CLERK: Certainly. May I say why?

YOU: It’s the service here. The way this hotel is run.

DESK CLERK: Our apologies. Perhaps…

YOU: I can’t believe how fantastic it all is. I’d like to learn more about her leadership techniques!

Okay; we know that’s probably never happened. But it needs to happen now: our podcast guest Shruti Buckley, SVP of Hampton Inn by Hilton and Spark by Hilton, says the hospitality industry creates effective, cutting-edge leadership models you can benefit from.

At Your Core: Connecting People

Gone is the Brainiac leader with the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. To make sound decisions, leaders fundamentally need teams who collectively have the knowledge no single human brain can contain. Those teams only function well when people connect.

Hospitality — hotels in particular — create human connections by their very nature. Hotel guests travel from near and far: other cities, states, and nations. Hotel staff frequently hail from other lands, as well. Yet, from chatting with your housekeeper to mingling at a conference, people seamlessly interact with that boundless diversity of culture, religion, and geography. Divides dissolve. People connect.

When leaders in other industries cultivate that same ability to bridge gaps and connect people, it creates a powerful team with diverse perspectives that serves a leader astonishingly well.

The Power of Opportunity

In prior articles, we’ve shown the record-high levels of disengagement in the workplace. How can you turn those around?

At Hilton, they ensure opportunity knocks for as many people as possible. Hilton consciously creates pathways to success, forging various programs and initiatives to help people rise through the ranks. By showing such loyalty to their staff, staff are loyal — and engaged — in return.

At your organization, opportunity may take different forms. It can be as simple as pledging to promote from within so people envision a growing future with you.

Turn and Face the Change

Humans crave stability. Few people realize the phrase “May you live in interesting times” emerged as a curse. Transform it into a blessing.

The last half-decade demonstrated that change is permanent and accelerating by the moment. Resilience is absolutely critical in this world of constant flux. Indeed, resilience morphed: formerly, it simply meant surviving a situation; today, leaders must survive and thrive through change!

Hotels revealed remarkable resilience through the COVID pandemic. Hilton, like the rest of the industry, endured deep drops in revenue as travel dramatically declined. They responded not with hand-wringing, but with innovation. They integrated new technology, developed strategies to grow guest satisfaction, and even brainstormed on maintaining owner revenue during economic downturns.

 

The hospitality industry offers clear lessons on nurturing better leadership. It’s proven: in our podcast with Steve Robinson, we learned how Chick-fil-A’s remarkable restaurant service formed when the founder replicated the superior service he experienced at a luxury hotel. So the next time you travel, look around you for great leadership insights. You’ll be able to transform the hotel’s best guest experience into your own great team service.

What’s Your Story?

What leadership lessons have you learned working in hospitality? Or, did you learn a leadership lesson during an interaction with the hospitality industry? Share with us in the comments!

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Change, Risk, & Diversity: The Pillars of Modern Leadership.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Better Employee Engagement = Better Lives (Yes, Really)

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The effect your organization has on its employees extends well beyond work. The 2024 Gallup State of the Global Workplace report found that employee engagement significantly impacts overall life experience.

When employees find their work—and their work relationships—meaningful, employment is associated with daily enjoyment and low levels of negative emotions. 88% of employees who are engaged at work are enjoying their lives overall, and 1/2 would describe themselves as thriving.

On the flip side, employee disengagement comes at a high cost. More than 50% of disengaged employees reported feeling stressed and worried, while around 1/3 felt anger, sadness, and loneliness on a regular basis.

Younger employees (those under 35) are especially likely to experience loneliness at work. While it might be tempting to chalk it up to typically generational differences, workers were actually more likely to report a positive outlook on their work life a decade ago. This is more than contrasting generational perspectives.

So what can employers do to promote engagement, support their employees, and boost the bottom line?

1. Provide Benefits that Meaningfully Promote Well-being

Making meaningful investments in employee wellness can go a long way toward preventing burnout and increasing employee engagement, which in turn will promote employee well-being. You want to promote resources that support mental and emotional health, as well as physical health.

2. Walk the Walk (Lead by Example)

Leadership is key to moving the needle on employee engagement. Adoption of wellness programs and benefits requires consistent modeling from leadership. According to the Harvard Business Review, “If the CEO makes time for exercise, for instance, employees will feel less self-conscious about taking a fitness break.”

The impact of leadership extends beyond employee engagement: The Gallup report found that managers had a significant impact on how employees experience an organization—for better or for worse.

3. Build Productive, High-Performing Teams

The biggest lever you have to affect employee engagement? According to Gallup, it’s building highly effective and productive teams. Invest in recruitment and training. Champion talent density. Reduce bureaucracy and roadblocks where possible. Give your employees the tools and the agency to accomplish great work and enjoy what they do.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Layering Leadership: Peeling Back Chick-fil-A’s “Onion” of Success

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Bingo!

That was Steve Robinson’s reaction when the head of a cattlemen’s association said Steve’s marketing campaign was a threat to the beef industry. Steve is the former Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A. The association was concerned about the wild popularity of Chick-fil-A’s now-iconic cow mascots.

In our podcast interview, Steve insists the cows are no random stroke of marketing genius. They resulted from a unique leadership philosophy that materializes in four distinct elements wrapping around each other like the layers of an onion.

LAYER 1: Excellence and Trust.

At the very core, Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, instilled a drive that “good enough” is never enough. The leadership team closely researched companies with nearly total operational excellence. They learned from Lexus, for example, which strives for zero defects in each car. Any practice that can apply to food service is implemented. For example, almost 60% of a Chick-fil-A restaurant’s space is for storage and the kitchen so that all food can be made fresh on-site. This also helps with the goal of delivering every order perfectly. That drive for excellence results in boosting trust among both staff and customers.

LAYER 2: The Guest Experience.

They call it Second Mile Service. It’s a logical offshoot of fostering trust among customers. The goal revolves around providing Ritz-Carlton-style service at each restaurant. It can be as simple as responding to a “Thank you” with a genuine “My pleasure,” or as meaningful as providing a free meal when an embarrassed customer forgot their wallet. Leaders encode these above-and-beyond standards in manuals and training so they embed in the culture at every level. In fact, a Hospitality Director at each restaurant ensures these standards thrive with each customer interaction.

LAYER 3: Marketing.

Only with operational and service excellence in place does marketing emerge. When leaders embrace such high standards, the marketing becomes genuinely authentic. But authentic doesn’t mean stodgy! Chick-fil-A isn’t like any other fast food company, so “We did not want advertising that was serious and looked like everybody else’s,” Steve says. That paved the way for ad agency The Richards Group to get fun and creative, milking the cow concept from their marketing minds. Without a truly innovative mindset from leaders, the idea for the now-iconic mascot would be “moo”-t.

LAYER 4: Technology.

In an era when companies jump on the latest tech bandwagon, such as today’s AI fever, Chick-fil-A’s leaders take it mindfully. When they do adopt new tech, it’s intentionally designed to maintain personal interaction; the process still ends with a human in the picture. As Steve reminds leaders, tech doesn’t replace people; it complements them!

These four layers work in tandem to drive Chick-fil-A’s unabashed success. You may need more, or even less. The key is to follow a kind of corporate golden rule: every layer, every step, must begin and end with people in mind.

 

Where have you seen customer service go far beyond your expectations? When did you experience a boss who treated you like a valued stakeholder? Share your exceptional story in the comments!

Innovative Leadership Keynote Speeches

Maureen Metcalf is available to give keynote speeches and presentations to your organization. Check out her speaker site to see previous speeches, testimonials, and featured topics: https://www.maureenmetcalf.com.

 

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Eat Mor Chikin: Chick-fil-A’s Recipe for Leadership.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Motivated by the Best (and the Worst)

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This week, we continue our Q&A series. ILI partner consultant Patt Hardie is in the spotlight. She is a trusted advisor/coach with over 30 years of experience in talent, leadership, and organizational development. Patt has held senior leadership and consulting positions at Battelle Memorial Institute, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Ashland Inc., American Electric Power, OhioHealth, and the Public Service Company of Oklahoma. She shares insights garnered from her extensive experience:

1. What is the most common issue you see clients facing when you start working with them?  

Often clients know what isn’t working, and that they need help, yet don’t know how to move forward. They often ‘don’t know what they don’t know’, so what they are asking for may not be what they need. Providing them with what they ask for without discovering what is driving that request may lead us to deliver the wrong solution. Being a good listener, building a trusting partnership, and uncovering what they truly need is the key.

2. What do you enjoy most about the consulting process? 

I love the initial ambiguity and uniqueness of each engagement. One can’t be an effective consultant by using the same approach in every situation, nor can you start from scratch. There are many influencing factors in organizations that contribute to the ambiguity I referenced: the culture, strategy, relationships, history, current issues, integrated systems, size of organization, and others that impact how to best support them. I love the discovery process of learning, drawing conclusions, telling the story, and influencing to the best solutions. I also love working with great team members, great clients, and building long-term relationships. I am always learning from them!

3. Did you have any difficult experiences in your career that motivated you to help improve leadership/HR? 

Unfortunately, I’ve had my share of ineffective leaders with whom I’ve learned more of what NOT to do. I’ve also seen people promoted into leadership roles who did more damage than good, mostly unintentionally, yet have also experienced intentionally bad behavior — period. As we all know, it’s not fun and has a lasting impact on individuals.

4. How did you get into leadership consulting?  

Early on in my career, I had the opportunity to report to excellent leaders and the ‘not-so-excellent,’ and learned quickly that they made all the difference in how people felt about their work and the value of their contributions. When I experienced the impact (the good/bad/ugly) they had on my motivation, commitment, and performance, I wanted to become a leader to influence others positively. While following that journey, I also began coaching managers and supervisors in other parts of the organization and found fulfillment in watching them grow and succeed.

5. What was the most difficult moment you faced in your career?  

The time I got laid off from an internal role after having multiple successful roles. It was a hard blow personally at first, yet didn’t take long to recover with the support I received. I learned a lot, realized it was a business decision, and quickly moved onto something that was just as, or more, fulfilling.

6. What was the brightest moment? 

When I launched my consulting practice and quickly started seeing successes!

7. In your current consulting life, what makes you feel the most fulfilled? 

Plain and simple: Helping others grow and succeed. It’s what drives me every day!

 

Learn more about Patt on our website.

What questions do you have for Patt? Who would you like us to interview in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.

Adopting AI by Putting People First

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Government red tape is notorious worldwide. That’s nothing new; it’s been that way since the Roman Empire. Cutting through that confusing web is just one way artificial intelligence can help you and your organization.

In our recent interview, David Levy highlighted that and many other benefits of AI you probably haven’t thought about. The vice president of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Worldwide Public Sector, he’s looked hard at people-first approaches to AI development. He found that receiving those benefits requires shifting your leadership approach. He offers several steps to steer yourself to the adaptable, tech-savvy, and supportive style today’s public and private sector leaders need to succeed.

First, loosen up! Those old-school stiff hierarchical leadership models tend to squelch innovation. Instead, a leader’s resilience and curiosity are key. Grow into a more dynamic, adaptive leadership style that embraces continuous learning. Help your team become constant, curious learners, too. Learning and upskilling are vital in keeping pace with AI developments (and with your competition!).

All that curiosity needs direction to be applied. As the leader, it’s squarely your responsibility to set the vision everyone is working toward. This is particularly true with AI integration; with new AI apps emerging daily, choosing (or developing) the right ones for your vision boosts the team’s work. The wrong ones, at best, become a costly distraction. Your vision makes the line between the two crystal clear.

Focus your vision squarely on your end-users. A customer-centric approach steers the straightest path to success. Your use of AI must ultimately enhance service delivery and customer satisfaction. Sometimes, the most difficult task for your team is identifying who their primary stakeholder really is!

Even with these steps, leading the adoption of AI and other tech can be complicated. Resistance to change is real, as is organizational inertia (particularly in governments). The precise solutions will vary depending on your company culture and individual team members. Generally, though, the more you foster curiosity and learning, the more likely people will embrace change.

Ensuring people-centric deployment goes a long way, too. People need to see how change will benefit them; that’s a deeply human trait. All AI solutions should be accessible, understandable, and beneficial to every stakeholder, but particularly to your team members and your customers: the alphas and omegas of your workflow.

Dave has seen these steps work effectively already. A council in the UK, for example, now uses AI for document processing—cutting through that red tape we mentioned so citizens can readily access and easily understand their government paperwork.

Imagine large corporations and governments with no red tape: that’s one dream AI might just make true!

Learn more about leading in the age of AI with our newest audiobook; get it on Audible now at https://amzn.to/3Vko2IW.

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This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Putting People First with AI.

Thank you for reading our newsletter, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

We strive to elevate the quality of leadership worldwide. Are you ready? If you are looking for help developing your leaders, explore our services.