Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders - March 2022
Welcome to the March 2022 edition of Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders! This is my monthly leadership learning blog where I bring together my Friday Shares from the Purple Sky Consulting LinkedIn page.
Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders will take a deeper look into each of the Friday Shares and build on them, as a supportive learning resource for all leaders.
As subscribers of Purple Sky Consulting, you get first access to Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders, this will then be made available to others later on. You can continue to have access to previous Purple Sky articles and resources through the open access Purple Sky Thinking pages. A big thank you and welcome to the new subscribers…you will now have access to the February edition at the bottom of this page.
Friday Share 27 - “Rest, Restore and Reenergise”
As a Leader you set the tone in creating the environment in which your team feel empowered to rest, restore and reenergise. How you behave here will give a perception of your expectations. This might be not what you are aiming for or intending but how you actually behave sets the tone.
So, what is important to you for resting, restoring and reenergising? Do you do this well?
How many times have you worked for a Leader who continues to work, email etc during the evening, at a weekend and whilst they are on leave? How did that make you feel? What impact did that have on you?
Activity - What actual messages are you giving your team about rest based on how you are actually behaving?
What message do you really want to give your team about the importance of rest to enable them to restore and reenergise?
How are you really behaving and does that role model how you want your team to behave?
What conversations are you having with your team about rest and the importance of this for wellbeing and performance?
What do you need to do more or less of to truly role model your aspirations for the team with regards to rest so that they can really restore and reenergise?
Consider talking to your team about this topic and get some feedback from them in terms of how well you are role modelling. Capture a few key changes you want to start implementing and build this into how you work.
Friday Share 28
“Being a caring leader”
Heather R Younger
What does being a caring Leader mean to you?
I love this image created by Heather R Younger and the team at www.caringleadership.co. It highlights some of the key actions and behaviours that contribute to demonstrating care.
Caring is critical and at the heart of being a great leader. It’s not always an easy task, practically or emotionally, but I truly believe that it will give you back as much as you give to it. If you demonstrate and actively promote care with your team, when they see this to be genuine and part of your leadership approach it will enhance their trust in you and they will also want to return that care for you.
Activity - Which of the actions and behaviours identified by Heather do you currently practice? What is the impact of that practice?
For the actions and behaviours that you are already practicing, how can you dial them up some more?
Which of these areas are you avoiding or not practicing? What is causing that? What could you do differently?
What experience of this do you have with your own leader? Where do you need more of this from them?
Prepare to talk about your own caring requirements at your next 121.
Think about the questions you could ask your team, to get feedback about the actions and behaviours that support caring to help you decide on any changes you may want to practice - for example, “Did I involve you enough in…”, “What else could I do to help the team celebrate…..”, “How well do I handle things that don’t go to plan”.
Friday Share 29
“The Benefits of Coaching in the workplace”
Lauren O’Donnell
It will come as no surprise to you that I’m a fan of Coaching!
This article from Lauren O’Donnell at Great Place to Work Canada provides a brilliant summary of the benefits you can return by bringing a coaching style to your leadership and to the wider organisation.
What I love about Coaching, is that it is a skill that everyone can learn and practice. For particular purposes, investing in a professional coach (like me😁) will be the right thing to do but Coaching should be part of any Leaders toolkit.
Coaching is a way of listening, pausing and empowering others to find there own answers and solutions - why wouldn’t you want to do more of that as a Leader of others?
You don’t have to be professional qualified or trained to do it, you just need a mindset that considers a coaching style. As Lauren highlights, taking a conversational coaching approach is a great way to practice this as a leader.
The Center for Creative Leadership have some great tips in this article on Coaching Conversations and I’ve added this handy visual that supports the tips shared.
Activity - Consider the types of conversations that you are having with your team, based on the information shared would you (or would an observer) describe these as Coaching Conversations?
Consider each team member and on a scale that works for you e.g. 1-10, consider how effectively you are holding Coaching Conversations with them. I’m asking you to consider them individually as you may find the types of conversations you are having are different for one person to another and being aware of that is important.
Based on your thoughts on each of these types of conversations, what do you need to do more or less of?
Practice some of these actions and behaviours over the next few months and then repeat this exercise. When you repeat this exercise, take note of how your relationship may have changed with the team member and what are you noticing about their performance.
See you in April
I hope you’ve found the topics and resources shared in this month’s Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders useful.
I’d love to hear how you are using it and also if there are any topics that would be helpful for future editions.
If you do have any feedback or ideas you’d like to share please do email me at: anwen@purpleskyconsulting.co.uk