Careers

Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership, and team development questions. I try to be a good leader to my team – I coach, give feedback, help them develop new skills, etc. A few things have happened at company level (e.g. policy changes, unpopular decisions, team members not getting a promotion), and I feel I am getting the blame. As a result, there’s a lot of negative talk about the company, and the spark has gone out of the team. How do I get it back? Leaders often find themselves working very hard to defend, explain, and compensate for organisational issues over which they have no control. You have done a lot of good legwork here, and now you need to trust yourself. Lean into the discomfort, acknowledge the difficulty, offer support and put the ball back in your team members’ court.  For example, if somebody talks about “crazy promotion decisions” you might say, “I’m sorry you did not get that role. How can I help you be successful next time?”  Or, if someone talks about “stupid policies”, you might say something like, “It’s tough when these things don’t make sense. Is there something I can do to help?”   The critical thing here is to catch the moment of the criticism and change your response from explanation to acknowledgement. This is easy to write but hard to do, and you will kick yourself more than once as you realise you’ve launched into an explanation. One day you’ll stop doing it – and your team will feel heard. You might consider respectfully bringing the issue up with the team: “I feel that some organisational issues are impinging on our motivation. At our next meeting, should we talk about how we get our mojo back?” Listen to each person and ask the team how they want to move on. My guess is that the team will have arrived at that point themselves. I am pretty good at my job, but my manager micro-manages me. Nothing can be complete without her checking it. She makes irrelevant changes to my work, and even internal documents are drafted and redrafted. Apart from the frustration, it takes up huge time. How can I get her to back off? There are a lot of ways to answer this: we could look at your performance, the pressure your manager is under from their boss and your manager’s personality.  We could say that trying to change other people is generally a waste of time. The only person you can change is yourself, meaning you need to decide to live with, address or leave the situation.  Suppose you want to address the situation. Try to see beyond your manager’s behaviour and look at her intention: what is she trying to achieve? What hopes and fears lie beyond her behaviour? What does her behaviour tell you about what is important? Connect her behaviour with her intention and use it. For example, when she delegates work to you, explore what is important to her (accuracy, completeness, speed, etc.). Then let her know that you have heard her concerns and priorities. My read of this situation is that she is concerned about being (seen to be) good enough. You should ask yourself how you can usefully connect with and ease those concerns.  Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant at Performance Matters, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie.

Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership, and team development questions. My team works hard and to a high standard, but a couple of people on my team turn every team meeting into a moan about the company. I’m worried that this will affect new team members. The company is a pretty decent employer. What can I do? A. It seems that there are two issues here. First, dealing with the moaning (I will use your word here) and second, making sure that it does not affect new team members. Let’s deal with them separately. When team members moan, our natural tendency can be to jump in, explain, defend, etc. And sometimes that may be the right thing to do, but there is often a “yes but” no-win game being played. There are a couple of things you could do. You could just listen, thank the team member and move on without comment. Or you could listen and ask, “who do you need to talk to about this?” or “who needs to know this?” Or you could have a one-to-one with the moaning team member and try to get under the issue. Only do this if you can be genuinely curious. You could ask questions like “how does that affect how you show up?” and “how can I support you here?” Many people work hard and moan hard, in which case I would praise them for working hard despite their misgivings. If you have a good conversation, you could share your concern that their negativity affects new team members. Loud complainers can create a strong gravitational pull, and you are right to be concerned about their impact on new team members. Make sure to spend plenty of one-to-one time with the new team members, opening up a two-way dialogue, establishing a good feedback relationship, meeting with them regularly, talking about their development, etc. The manager-employee relationship is the most important relationship at work – make sure it’s a good one. I feel my team regressed in the last work from home period. Now we’re working from home again, what can I do to hold the team together? A. Leadership is so important when people are working remotely, as everything is moving online. Five-minute conversations in the canteen often turn into 30-minute Zoom conversations. And you only see your own team and key stakeholders, with none of that easy connection with ‘corridor friends’. Be proactive here. Bring the team together and take some time to review the learning from the last lockdown (what worked well, what worked less well) and invite them to create a set of guidelines (sometimes called a team charter or ground rules) to help them navigate this period. Make this a live document. Check whether it is working and ask, “what else can we do to make this easier for everyone?” You can’t fix this on your own; step back so that the team can lean in. Create a ‘social only’ meeting once a week and get it into people’s diaries. If your team is large, put people into small breakout rooms of two to four people for 15 minutes to give time for connection. If budget permits, send a small gift from time to time. One-to-one check-ins are critical too. Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant at Performance Matters, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie.

 What is executive presence and can it be learned? Paul A. Slattery explains the three pillars of executive presence and how to put them into practice. This enigmatic and elusive notion of ‘executive presence’ (EP) may be a term surrounded by secrecy and shrouded in certain degree of mystique. Many of us may view it as something obscure and elite that is set aside for the use of leaders. How do you acquire it, and how can you project it?  A highbrow concept  What first springs to mind when thinking about executive presence is that it can’t be easily described, but it is recognised immediately when encountered. We all know people who have it. Before coming up with a list of politicians and celebrities, it may be prudent to think of someone we know or have encountered on a professional or personal level. That someone had the demeanour projecting an air of confidence and we are immediately engrossed in their presence. This person had the power of transforming rooms and conversations. That is how we know they had it. The revelation here is that EP can be learned, and it is not such an implausible dream as may be commonly thought.  No one lands a top job or develops a significant following without this subtle but necessary combination of confidence, poise, and authenticity. This amalgam of qualities subtly persuades us we’re in the presence of someone remarkable. In other words, it’s a blend of attributes projecting to others that one deserves to be in charge.  Cracking the EP code means you’ll be given a chance of doing something extraordinary with your life. What is notable about EP is that it steadily proves to be a precondition for success regardless of your social standing and your profession.  The practical stuff The first thing to know about EP is that it is a skill and not a personal characteristic, which means it’s something you can learn and nurture. EP is inarguably attainable for everyone, but as with every skill, it requires regular practice and systematic effort in order to advance. As I mentioned already, you can have all the experience and qualifications of a leader, but without EP, you won’t progress.  That said, expressing those qualities doesn’t come easily. Your topic may be universally interesting and fascinating, but unless you minimise distractions for your audience, you’ll never manage to convey that interest.  In 2013, Chia-Jung Tsay, an associate professor at the University College London School of Management, demonstrated through her piano competition experiment that the most accurate predictor of success in competition was not the musical performance itself, but whether a pianist could communicate their passion through body language and facial expressions.  Then, in 2020, she carried out a similar study, this time in a venture capital pitch competition. The participants were asked to forecast interview winners after reviewing the contestants’ presentations in different ways, which included videos with sound, silent videos, sound recordings, and transcripts. The silent videos most accurately allowed people to identify the winning entrepreneurs, showing that, in the context of entrepreneurial pitches, stage presence is more than crucial – it is fundamentally everything. That being the case, a question arises whether effective communication is more about the medium rather than the message – and EP appears to be the answer. The start Having or projecting EP begins by making the decision to start using EP. Workplace expert and professor, Sylvia Ann Hewlett lists the three areas that form the backbone of EP:  Gravitas – how you act;  Confidence – how you look; and  Communication – what you say and how you say it. She also points to how interdependent these features are: if your communication skills lend you a “command of a room”, your gravitas will proportionally expand.  Gravitas These universal dimensions are not equally important, however. According to Hewlett, gravitas is the very essence of EP. It is gravitas that helps us articulate the qualities that mark us as worthy to be entrusted with accountability and serious responsibility. Without it, you will not be seen as a leader, no matter your credentials. Gravitas is what signals to the rest of the world that we should follow you. In opposition to charisma – the former superstar term in the world of business communication – gravitas is understood as the “ability to appear calm, confident, and steady” in the face of uncertainty, and is vital for every business’s survival.  The importance of appearance As we saw from Tsay’s studies, appearance is our main critical filter. It is quite deceptive and contrary to what people may be articulating. A person’s ‘grooming and polish’ is a key contributor to executive presence. It’s very important to understand that the key to EP in the area of appearance is not a matter of what you were born with, but of what you do with what you have. The good news is that this can be learned and cultivated. The authenticity conundrum The primary struggle between conformity and authenticity is complicated. To what degree should we attempt to fit in and how much should we stand out? This tension can be particularly harrowing for women and minorities, due to the ‘straight white man’ archetype still so prevalent in the professional/corporate world. With age and experience, however, many of us notice that being different and authentic doesn’t necessarily keep us from moving up – on the contrary, it drives our progress. The three pillars of EP This ‘command-the-room and zoom’ quality essentially rests on the following three pillars:  Credibility Credibility can come in the form of your source of information and formal introduction.  When it comes to your source of information, there are a few questions you can ask yourself: where does the information you are sharing with the audience come from? Are you providing information that is current and well-researched? Are the findings and facts true, and from a reliable source? On top of your sources, it’s important when you are addressing an audience to share your background and your experience, and the longevity of your career, especially if you’re talking to external stakeholders. Sharing the credibility of your team is critical in demonstrating the integrity and authenticity that surrounds you.  Lastly, the trustworthiness of the organisation you represent – its values and vision for the future, and how well they align to your own values and outlook – will contribute substantially to yours. Approachability  You engage with the audience through your speaking skills and ability to remain amiable and authentic. Staying true to yourself and letting your enthusiasm speak through your body language connects you to your audience. Being able to look your audience in the eye when speaking and presenting has a transformative effect on your ability to meaningfully engage and inspire. Be mindful of other non-verbal cues: your tone of voice, poise and your attire can also add to, or detract from, your power to hold attention.  Structure EP relies heavily on solid structures, and without proper preparation, rehearsal and a routine that is consistently practiced, EP will become scrambled and non-existent. Thorough preparation leads to more confidence. I believe that we all need to find our own structured routine that will support us prior to connecting with our audience over video, but that also projects our EP in person, such as what social psychologist Amy Cuddy refers to as a power pose. When it comes to handling questions and objections from the audience, your EP is under the microscope. As Leil Lowndes, author of How to Talk to Anyone says, “Every smile, every frown, every syllable you utter, every arbitrary choice of word that passes between your lips, can draw others toward you, or make them want to run away.”  Hence the reasons why a structured response is vital to maintaining approachability and credibility all the way to the end of your presentation. While knowing your topic is a prerequisite, practicing your delivery is crucial.  Building and cultivating your executive presence comes down to three aspects of our behaviour that can be learned with training and practice. The crucial next step is a decision to acquire and cultivate one’s executive presence. It is a choice on how you want to act, how you want to be perceived, what to say, and most importantly, how to say it. For some people it is a strenuous process, more obvious for others. There are no quick fixes; the practice requires commitment and effort. Once you develop awareness of your behaviour, have a personal power pose, know your stuff and constantly practice your delivery, you will be on your way to finding your own EP formula. Paul A. Slattery is Founder & Managing Director of NxtGEN Executive Presence, an education company specialising in executive training, mentoring and coaching services for business leaders and company executives.

Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership, and team development questions. Q. I get no feedback from my boss unless he’s unhappy about my work. I work hard and give the people on my team plenty of feedback, but I feel very unsure of myself. A. Of course, your boss should give you feedback. You could try to change him, but (and sorry for the cliché) the only person you can change is yourself. So, let’s look at what’s happening for you: your boss is not communicating with you and you are telling yourself a story (he doesn’t appreciate me, my work is sub-standard) that undermines your confidence. What if you trusted yourself and told yourself a different story? For example, ‘Isn’t it great that my busy boss can cut to the chase about my work?’ or ‘Isn’t it interesting that somebody that senior does not see the importance of giving feedback?’ These stories free you from feeling bad about your boss’s behaviour and allow you to be easier with the situation. Funnily enough, when we lose our anxiety, what we are searching for often manifests. As there is little communication, it could be an idea to write a short weekly email to your boss outlining, for example: Three main things your team progressed/achieved this week; Three main priorities for next week; and Issues impacting the team. That way, you build up a record of communication about progress centred on goals and priorities. Then, your boss will be aware of what’s going on and can respond if he chooses. On another note, it may be useful to pay special attention to your longer-term career development. Think about what you really want in the short- to medium-term (lead a team, manage a project, broaden your capabilities, specialise) and find someone who can be a listening ear. Also, focus on building relationships across your organisation to create a wider network of people who can support you. Q. I’ve just been appointed to lead the dream team. They’re hard-working and talented. But I can’t believe they gave me the job, and I wonder if I’m the right manager for them. A. If this team is experienced and motivated, they don’t need much direction – you could focus on coaching and facilitating the team, both individually and as a group. Here are a few things you could do: Develop your coaching skills. Coaching is a great way to build people’s competence and confidence through questioning and listening. It also helps the leader to work from a more strategic place. Help the team become more self-sufficient by locating and sharing resources and encouraging team members to share challenges and opportunities. Use your team meetings to challenge the team. Ask them where they want to get to – both individually and as a team – and start planning your way there. More importantly, you need to give that imposter syndrome the heave-ho. You got the job for a reason (if it helps, ask the interviewers why they chose you), but leaders need to develop a special blend of ‘confident humility’ – the confidence to acknowledge their strengths and the humility to keep learning. We do everyone a favour when we acknowledge our strengths; by acknowledging them, we make them available to others. Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant at Performance Matters, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie.

I have so much work to do to grow my practice, but I keep getting sucked into day-to-day stuff. I have employed some good people, but the problem hasn’t gone away. Time management gets a bad rap because people think it’s all about to-do lists and tasks. In fact, it’s about strategic decision-making: there is never enough time to do everything, so we need to choose. Urgency creates a compelling gravitational pull, and you need to create an alternative centre of gravity by focusing on added-value work. The next time you find yourself sucked into operational issues, reflect on what is missing (for you or your team). Is it: Something about relationships? Think about patterns, trust, introductions, network. Something about infrastructure? Think about technology, systems, processes, templates, supplies, check-lists. Something about development? Think about information, knowledge, skills. Something about approach? Think about attitude, planning, reflection, focus. Spending time in these four areas allows you to build capacity. But we work on them one at a time, so choose one ‘fix’ that is achievable but would make a big difference, such as training your staff or creating a database. When that’s done, choose the next one. Above all, plan the week ahead on Friday afternoon and look at your week with your ‘capacity building’ glasses on. What opportunities arise? Overall, I’m happy with my team. They are good performers and we get on well. I have one particularly good person on my team; he’s clever, hard-working, and great with clients. The problem is his relationship with the rest of the team. He seems to look down on them. At team meetings, he is obviously multitasking. He never says anything offensive, but his eye-rolls and head-shakes speak loud and clear. I don’t want to lose him, but he is having an impact on morale. This is a familiar story: the high performer with poor behaviour, the rest of the team feeling undermined, nobody talking about it. Hoping the behaviour will go away is not going to work. Anybody could walk. Actually, this guy is clearly communicating with you – just not in words. You need to get curious about why this is happening; it’s great feedback for you. Find a good time to play his behaviour back to him (use “I notice” to describe behaviour and be careful not to judge). Invite him into a conversation with open, solution-focused questions like: What might be a more useful response? What might be useful for the team to hear? What would you like from the team? Such questions will help him explore the impact of his behaviour and take responsibility for changing it. As time passes, if you notice more supportive behaviour from him, quietly acknowledge it. If the poor behaviour continues, you may need to be more direct and ask him to behave differently. Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant at Performance Matters, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie. 

Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership, and team development questions. Q. I did really well at the beginning of the lockdown, but it’s beginning to feel like a struggle. We worked hard before, but COVID-19 has added at least 15% to our workload. I’m trying to remain positive and upbeat with my team, but I feel I’m running on empty. There is so much in this short question – the pressure to be positive, the desire to mind your team. And I appreciate how important it is to be positive, but what kind of positive? Leaders often want, with great intention, to protect their teams – from negativity, from too much work, from politics. The problem is that the leader then takes on the dual burden of protecting and being positive. That’s exhausting. You manage a team of adults. Trust yourself to be real with them. You don’t want to be relentlessly negative (‘everything is awful’), but unrealistic positivity (‘everything is awesome’) is not doing anyone any favours. You can be positively realistic (‘it’s harder with COVID-19, let’s talk about how we cope with that’). Not having to pretend will allow you to show up more authentically, and that gives permission to others to be authentic. I generally find that when teams are allowed the space to express how difficult things are, they find solutions and ways forward. Not having to pretend releases creativity. By being realistic, you have not stopped supporting the team – you are supporting them in a more useful way. I’m a huge fan of journalling to become aware of our drivers and then put them to good use. Positivity, perfectionism, and people-pleasing are drivers I come across all the time. Becoming more conscious of them helps us to channel them more usefully. Q. An experienced member of my team continually asks for direction. The quality of their work is good, but I have to spend a lot of time briefing them, checking, and so on. I’m not sure how to address this or whether I should just let sleeping dogs lie. My first response to this question is to ask whether your team member’s need stems from their ‘will’ (confidence, motivation) or their ‘skill’ (ability). You tell me that the quality of their work is good, so my guess is that their skill is okay, and the issue is confidence. There is also the possibility that they are simply in the habit of asking you. The next time this person asks you for input about a task, engage in a different kind of conversation and provide a different kind of support. Ask questions that allow them to access their knowledge and experience and build on their strengths and achievements. If there is a genuine lack of confidence, be sure to reassure and give positive feedback. You need to prepare for this because on a busy day, it’s very easy to get bounced back into the usual way of doing things. Write out some good questions in advance. I often advise leaders to respond carefully when asked a ‘How do I…?’ question and reflect on what the person asking the question truly needs: is it advice, confidence, or permission? Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant at Performance Matters, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie