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Photo: Paul Bryan

#WorkTrends: The Bigot in Your Mental Boardroom

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WorkTrends has been focusing on diversity and inclusion not as buzzwords, but as actions. Meghan invited Elena Joy Thurston to the podcast to share her story. Elena is the founder and speaker of the PRIDE and Joy Foundation and has developed compelling best practices for improving workplace inclusivity. The conversation hit on a fascinating reality: we all have a mental boardroom and usually, there’s a hidden bigot at the table. 

So what exactly is a mental boardroom? “The boardroom is really about realizing what stories we all work from in our heads — our suppositions or assumptions,” said Elena. Acknowledging that, noted Meghan, helps us understand that everyone has their own biases, and we may not even realize where they come from. It may be hard to do, but self-awareness and reflection are the first steps: it takes critical distance to be able to see the roots of our own judgment. 

“I do the work by watching my own reactions,” said Elena. We need to be comfortable enough to work through our own emotions, and find the bias at the source. The more that can happen at the workplace, the more people can start to understand each other. 

Meghan concurred that bringing this unconscious bias to the surface will spark real growth in the work culture. Just a gesture as simple as making space for gender pronouns on an RSVP can help the LGBTQ community feel valued, for instance. Added Elena, when someone can bring their whole self to work and not feel judged, it’s so much easier to get our work done. 

Listen to the full conversation and see our questions for the upcoming #WorkTrends Twitter Chat. And don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss an episode.

Twitter Chat Questions

Q1: Why do work cultures struggle with inclusiveness? #WorkTrends
Q2: Why are some workplaces hard for LGTBQ employees? #WorkTrends
Q3: How can leaders boost inclusiveness in their organizations? #WorkTrends

Find Elana Joy Thurston on Linkedin and Twitter

Photo: Diego Jimenez

#WorkTrends: Leading Organizations to Resilience and Diversity

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No question: businesses and employees are going through a lot. The pivot to remote. Changing laws and regulations (sometimes overnight). Safety — and not just physical, but emotional as well. How should we best deal with the pressures of working amid brand-new and vexing circumstances? Get resilient, so instead of crashing from the stress, we bounce back.

Meghan brought Melissa Lamson, CEO of Lamson Consulting, to #WorkTrends for a timely meeting of the minds. Melissa offered best practices on how leaders can foster resilience among their workforce — and explained why diversity is so critical right now.

As Meghan noted, leaders are quickly learning “how to really lean in on the people side, to practice emotional intelligence and empathy and interpersonal skills” — and helping their businesses grow in understanding. And some of their strength is coming from admitting they don’t know it all. They’re willing to be vulnerable, and employees appreciate that.  

And as Melissa added, that kind of openness also helps leaders ask the right questions: “What is the best way to do this? How do we reopen the workplaces? How do we come back together in face-to-face collaboration? What does that look like? What kinds of guidelines and rules do we need to do this safely and effectively?”  

It’s really all about listening, said Melissa. Doing so makes it possible to tend to our company culture over the long-term, Meghan pointed out. Then, keep practicing what we preach  — open communication, honesty, transparency — to lead our organizations into a state of resilience. That’s going to be a key part of success going forward. 

Listen to the full conversation and see our questions for the upcoming #WorkTrends Twitter Chat. And don’t forget to subscribe, so you don’t miss an episode.

Twitter Chat Questions

Q1: Why do organizations struggle with resilience? #WorkTrends
Q2: How does diversity play into an organization’s resilience? #WorkTrends
Q3: How can leaders help increase resilience and diversity in their organizations?  #WorkTrends

Find Melissa Lamson on Linkedin and Twitter

#WorkTrends Recap: Growing Employee Brand Advocates

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In today’s workplace, it’s important for people to stand out, and whether they are blogging, using social media or other venues, writing is a key way to share your own voice.

Employees are building personal brands that just may be attracting other employers – and that’s okay. Our guest on today’s #WorkTrends show, Roger Panetta, discussed how to build careers, workplaces and businesses using performance and positioning.

Here are a few key points Roger shared:

  • Just doing your job is not enough anymore.
  • Job security is slowly going away and will not exist in five years.
  • Employees will leave a company if they feel too stifled.

You can listen to the #WorkTrends podcast on our BlogTalk Radio channel here.

You can also check out the highlights of the conversation from our Storify here:

Missed this week’s #WorkTrends show? Don’t worry, you can tune in and participate in the chat with us every Wednesday from 1-2pm ET (10-11am PT). Next Wednesday, June 8, Susan Vitale, Chief Marketing Officer from iCIMS, will join us to discuss how data drives millennial hiring.

The TalentCulture #WorkTrends conversation continues every day across several social media channels. Stay up-to-date by following the #WorkTrends Twitter stream; pop into our LinkedIn group to interact with other members; or check out our Google+ community. Engage with us any time on our social networks, or stay current with trending World of Work topics on our website or through our weekly email newsletter.

Photo Credit: visitbasis via Compfight cc

#WorkTrends Preview: Growing Employee Brand Advocates

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In today’s workplace, employees are building personal brands that just may be attracting other employers – and that’s okay. Our guest, Roger Panetta, and his organization, Nimble at Work, builds careers, workplaces and businesses using performance and positioning.

It’s important for people to stand out, and whether they are blogging, using social media or other venues, writing is a key way to share your own voice. Join #WorkTrends next week to learn more about how to be more nimble in the workplace, perform at your best, and empower others to do the same.

Growing Employee Brand Advocates

#WorkTrends Logo Design

Tune in to our LIVE online podcast Wednesday, June 1 — 1 pm ET / 10 am PT

Join TalentCulture #WorkTrends Host Meghan M. Biro and guest Roger Panetta as they discuss the how being nimble optimizes your performance.

#WorkTrends on Twitter — Wednesday, June 1 — 1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT

Immediately following the podcast, the team invites the TalentCulture community over to the #WorkTrends Twitter stream to continue the discussion. We encourage everyone with a Twitter account to participate as we gather for a live chat, focused on these related questions:

Q1. What are some ways employees can stand out in the workplace? #WorkTrends (Tweet the question)

Q2. How can employers effectively support employee personal growth? #WorkTrends (Tweet the question)

Q3. How can employers encourage personal branding without fear of losing talent to others? #WorkTrends (Tweet the question)

Don’t want to wait until next Wednesday to join the conversation? You don’t have to. We invite you to check out the #WorkTrends Twitter feed, our TalentCulture World of Work Community, LinkedIn group, and in our TalentCulture G+ community. Feel free to drop by anytime and share your questions, ideas and opinions. See you there!

Subscribe to our podcast on BlogTalkRadio, Stitcher or iTunes:

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Join Our Social Community & Stay Up-to-Date!

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Photo Credit: rbgmedia via Compfight cc

10 Ways to Be a Better Leader Without Spending Anything

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Thanks to all the resources available from the explosion of online learning opportunities, it’s far easier to enhance your own skills today than ever before. This means that you no longer have any excuses to put off your own development learning plan. I can already hear some of you saying you don’t have the finances or time. Well, I can tell you the former is not a problem and the latter all comes down to making time for what’s really important for you. If you need any more convicing on the importance of continual learning to be a better leader, consider the following wise words:

[easy-tweet tweet=”Once you stop learning, you start dying – Albert Einstein” user=”Paul_Keijzer” hashtags=”#Leadership #HR”]

Motivate yourself to put an active effort into self growth by printing out the infographic below. Put it up, look at it and follow it.

10 Ways to Be a Better Leader Without Spending Anything

Take one at a time. One a week, one a month – whatever suits your schedule. But make sure to do it to become a better leader for the New Year.

Photo credit: Bigstock

Career Personality Perspective: What’s Your Angle?

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I’ve probably taken close to a dozen personality tests over the years. In just a few minutes, you get a trendy acronym or entertaining epithet to hang your hat on.

While I have found value in these assessments, I also see risk in becoming attached to the alluring labels: we can become quite fascinated with ourselves and our newly branded personalities.

I’m all for opportunities enabling personal growth and learning. The knowledge gained from these assessments can create a healthy balance of self-confidence and humility.

Personality tests can also encourage us to adopt a near-sighted view of ourselves. We think we know who we are.

So when I was approached to experiment with yet another personality test, I wondered what “angle” this one was working.

I jumped into the test. Short and sweet.

And surprising.

Sally Hogshead turns the predictable personality test upside-down. She has spent over two decades of research to develop The Fascination Advantage. It’s the world’s first personality test that shifts the perspective from how you see the world to how the world sees you.

This test challenges us to be the observer and the observed.

Understanding ourselves and how others perceive us is the winning combination for personal and professional success. Seeing yourself from the world’s perspective gives you the ability to fine tune your message to others. What you say may sound crystal clear to you, but your listener may hear nothing but static.

When you understand your fascination advantages and how they are perceived by others, you can dial-in those qualities for clear and concise communication.

Now you’re ringing your true cowbell: effectively communicating your “unique value proposition.”

The Fascination Advantage helps individuals find their unique “cowbells” and effectively communicate their workplace value. Brands can develop a signature story to attract, nurture, and maintain top talent.

For career and brand success in the Social Age, we must consistently demonstrate our value across generations, time zones, and cultures.

The ability to be the observer and the observed is a powerful soft skill to have in your reputation management and brand building toolkit.

Are you ready to learn about “The Fascination Advantage?”

We’ve taken the test here at the TalentCulture #TChat Show and it’s pretty awesome. My assessment results were spot-on!

We’re giving you the opportunity to take the test as well:

Go to HowToFascinate.com/YOU

Use code TCHAT and start your assessment!

Fascinate us and share your experiences with the #TChat community!

About the Author: Jessica E. Roberts is the Community Manager for TalentCulture and The World of Work Community. 

photo credit: One World Before Another via photopin (license)