Author Archives: Larry Janis

Navigating the Jump from Manager to Executive

 

 

 

 

 

by Melody Wilding

 

 

Moving from frontline management to becoming a leader of leaders is a huge professional milestone. The role often comes with broader scope, bigger expectations, and influence to shape strategy, culture, and the organization’s performance at the highest levels. Reaching this point can feel thrilling, even validating. After years of proving yourself, you’ve earned a seat at the table. Your input carries more weight. You’re probably excited about setting direction and solving more important problems. 

But here’s where things get tricky. While a senior role comes with nice rewards, the transition itself can be disorienting. Leading leaders isn’t “more of the same” just with bigger teams and budgets. In reality, you have to fundamentally shift how you think about your role, how you spend your time, and how you measure success. 

Claudia, an operations executive, discovered this the hard way. She had built her reputation on solving any problem, from late shipments and client complaints to staffing shortages. When she was promoted to oversee four regional managers, Claudia saw it as an extension of her previous role. She jumped in to offer guidance, sat in on team meetings, and weighed in on almost every decision, not realizing she was crowding out her managers in the process. They seemed frustrated, not grateful—and Claudia’s boss questioned why she was still in the weeds. She found herself working longer hours but feeling less effective than ever before. 

This was a wake-up call for Claudia. What had made her successful at the frontline level—behaviors like being hands-on and swooping in with solutions—was now holding her back. She was competent and capable, but she hadn’t updated her professional identity to match her new operating altitude.

Maybe you also find yourself in the middle of transitioning to leading leaders and trying to find your footing. If so, then like Claudia, you might be realizing that it requires rewiring beliefs you have about what makes you valuable and effective. Here are the three key shifts you need to make.   (more…)

How to Get Workplace Kindness Right

 

 

by Nadav Klein , Eliot Gattegno , Athena; and Rachel Eva Lim ,

Kindness could be more than about doing nice things for others or making people happy.

Gone are the days when ruthlessness was synonymous with doing business. Today, kindness is extolled by many as an important virtue to bring into the workplace. Researchers have highlighted its potential to boost employee well-being in hybrid work settings and contribute to positive business outcomes, while numerous companies have expressed a commitment to kindness values and pledges. 

Defined simply as doing nice things for others, kindness is universally appreciated. However, without proper qualification, the recommendation to be kind is like the recommendation to exercise: Great in principle, but impractical without knowing the scope and dosage. How kind should one be at work? How often? Should we be kind to others to the point of self-immolation, or is it enough to be a little kind to reap the benefits of kindness for ourselves and others?

Broadening the definition

In an earlier article, I (Nadav Klein) discussed research which found that the reputational and social benefits of kindness top out at a certain point. This is usually the point at which actions and behaviours meet the acceptable norms in the workplace. Be a decent human being, and you have reached the optimal point at which the benefits of showing kindness exceed the personal costs. Go a bit over, and the equation flips. It’s not that people don’t appreciate “extreme” kindness – it’s just that they really appreciate others “just” being decent. All costs and benefits considered, it does no additional good to ask people to maximise kindness as currently defined.

If this sort of kindness has its limits, are there other potentially more beneficial ways that we can practise kindness at work? We (Klein and Eliot Gattegno) suggest that the answer lies in expanding the definition of the term to include leadership actions that benefit people in both the short and long run, which we outline below. Once this new definition is set, new opportunities to practice kindness arise.

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How to balance your priorities at work

 

 

 

 

by Shanna A. Hocking

One of the most challenging parts of adjusting from being an individual contributor to becoming a leader is learning how to balance your team’s priorities and needs with your own projects and work.

When I first made this transition many years ago, I believed that always being available for my team was the best way to show team members I valued them. But I found myself getting further behind on my own work. So I would spend evenings at home catching up on my projects. I ended up feeling burned out and pulled in many directions. As I grappled with my own uncertainties about how to “do it all,” I also worried that senior management would determine I wasn’t ready to be a leader after all.

Though many managers feel uncertain about how to simultaneously support their team’s priorities and complete their own work, it’s not something that’s talked about openly. I often remind the senior leaders I coach that the purpose of a team is to achieve more than any one individual can, and that leaders should give themselves the same compassion they offer to their team members.

Learning how to balance your team’s priorities and your own sets you and the team up for success. Here’s what I recommend to effectively manage both aspects of your role:

Communicate consistently with your team

Start by developing a comprehensive understanding of what your team is working on and what they need from you. You can do this through one-on-one meetings with individual team members and collectively through team and project meetings.

Help your team thrive by communicating your vision, expectations, and ongoing support for them. They’ll feel better informed and more clear about how to do their best work, which will help them manage their projects and deadlines. Productive conversations can also help ensure that everyone is aligned toward the organization’s top priorities.

You may find that you need to support your team in how they’re balancing their own workloads. Prioritizing consistent, clear communication with your team may take more effort in the short term, which can be challenging when you’re already feeling overwhelmed. But it will ultimately be beneficial in the long term. And you can use these open lines of communication to share insights into your own work and projects to foster transparency and trust. (more…)

How to cultivate genuine self-awareness and propel your leadership

 

 

 

 

 

Story by Joel Pérez

 

Self-awareness is often referred to as the foundation of emotional intelligence, and it’s a requirement for exceptional leadership. When leaders understand their emotions, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and hone their decision-making and communication skills, they build trust and foster better collaboration within their teams.

This leads to better performance all around. But here’s the catch: Developing self-awareness isn’t a onetime achievement. It’s a continuous, evolving process that requires intention and reflection.

Leaders who actively cultivate this skill don’t just improve their own effectiveness, they also create a healthier, more productive organizational culture. In fact, research from the Corporate Executive Board (now part of Gartner), reveals that leaders with high self-awareness are 10% more effective in their roles than those who rank lower. It’s a simple truth: Self-awareness isn’t just a personal asset—it’s essential for any leader looking to drive success.

Defining Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors—and to see how they influence your decisions, relationships, and leadership style. It involves identifying what drives you, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and being honest with yourself about areas for improvement.

Self-aware leaders do more than just understand themselves. They also recognize how their actions are perceived by others, which is essential for cultivating trust within a team. It’s a skill that evolves over time, meaning leaders must regularly pause and reflect on their actions and their impact. (more…)

Why emotional intelligence is key to developing powerful teams

 

 

 

 

by Harvey Deutschendorf

 

In our fast, interconnected world, the success of organizations depends not only on sound strategy and technical ability, but on the strength of the human dynamics behind everything. Humans need emotional intelligence to work together successfully. It’s the social lubricant that helps individuals operate more effectively in adverse situations and also helps members of teams understand each other better and work more cohesively as a unit.

The key components of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. These all factor into helping individuals overcome and navigate social complexities and build strong relationships with diverse groups of people, which facilitates stronger collaboration in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence complements and supports cognitive intelligence, enabling team members to work together more smoothly and cooperatively. It’s what allows team members to build trust and cohesion, without which even the smartest, most skilled teams will struggle to be effective. I delve into this in Emotional Intelligence Game Changers: 101 Simple Ways to Win at Work + Life.

Here are five emotional intelligence game changers that influence a team’s performance.

Enhanced communication

Without effective communication, all teams will struggle to build and maintain momentum. Emotional intelligence helps teams build clarity, openness, and the ability to work with varying ideas from individual team members without divisiveness and conflict.

By building two-way open communication, team members can focus on their tasks without getting bogged down in misunderstandings and one-upmanship. Team members can freely share their ideas without fear of being judged or misunderstood. “Emotional intelligence is the catalyst for psychological safety in teams,” according to Debbie Muno, who is the managing director of Genos North America.

Building trust and camaraderie

Teams work best when members feel a sense of deep connection with each other. It makes them identify and feel pride for being part of the group. Instead of competing with one another, members support and help strengthen each other’s skills and abilities.

This leads to mutual respect and feelings. Emotional intelligence breaks down barriers and supports team members in reaching a place where they feel this way. “Expressing feelings in the right place and time and encouraging others to express themselves leads to authentic, trusted communications and team cohesion,” Muno says.

Increased engagement and motivation

Emotional intelligence is crucial in helping team members build enthusiasm and interdependence with each other. When team members feel a sense of pride for what they achieve, they have the drive to achieve beyond their present level, building increasing momentum. This builds a strong understanding of and belief in the ability of the team to rise above and overcome challenges.

Preventing and resolving conflict

Differences and conflict are inevitable in any group setting where there are diverse viewpoints and personalities. But if members of the team possess a high level of emotional intelligence, they’re better equipped to navigate past all the ego-driven issues and look for solutions.

This requires transparency, open dialogue, and a focus on solutions instead of getting hung up on personal power struggles. If everyone on the team knows how to actively listen, they’re more likely to have empathy and respect for viewpoints that differ from their own. They also know how to make other team members feel heard and respected, even if they don’t end up implementing their ideas. Emotionally intelligent teams are also more likely to move past issues at hand; as they do so, their respect for each other increases, solidifying the belief that they can resolve disagreements positively.

Improved resilience and adaptability

In a rapidly changing workplace environment, being adaptable and flexible is crucial for success. “Responding effectively in stressful situations enables team members to engage and communicate with each other productively,” Muno says.

Teams that are highly emotionally intelligent are confident in their ability to adapt and change rapidly to new situations and environments that arise. They’ve proven their ability to overcome personality issues and bruised egos that are damaging to a team’s effectiveness, so they can focus their attention and energy on the task at hand. And rather than engaging in one-upmanship that occurs in a dysfunctional team, they know how to get the best out of one another to maximize support and collaboration.

This post originally appeared at fastcompany.com