S4 Episode 20: Lead an Inspired Team this Year

Welcome to the Teams with Edge podcast with me, your host, Ashley Livingstone. This season, we are going to dive into all things self-leadership. When we know how to lead ourselves, it makes it so much easier to lead others, whether that's at home, at work, or in your community. Things don't have to be so hard and we do have time and capacity when we're strategic with how we align our priorities.

This podcast is going to give you tips, tricks, tools, aha moments, and hopefully some pause to consider how you want to show up in your life. This podcast is about action and inspiration. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening. All right, everyone, new episode.

This episode, we are going to be talking all about how to lead an inspired team. Now, one of my favorite quotes I want to share with you right now says, leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence, and inspiration. And that's from Robin S.

Sharma. And I bring that quote up because so many times, leaders confuse their title and their role. And what I mean by that is, I think that there's a lot of leaders out there who, if you ask them face-to-face, one-on-one, or maybe even in a group, they would tell you all the right things that they believe as a leader in today's day and age, they ought to be doing. Things that they really truly believe that they value and things that they know they should be doing.

The challenge comes with the fact that they don't often do what they say or what they think they want to do. You know, many leaders I know confuse leadership with management. And sometimes I think that confusion comes because they blend, right? There are times when you need to evaluate someone's work or you do need to go over HR policies with people.

And this is where that line of leadership, how to be an empowering leader, how to be an inspiring leader gets blurred. And that's not fun. And I get that. However, when we get so focused on the doing of leadership, the task, the box checking, the statements, the revenue goals, all of that, and we lose sight on the impact we have on the day-to-day experiences of our team members or the day-to-day experiences of our clients or community, when we forget or abuse the influence we have to make an impact, or we lose sight of inspiration.

We lose sight of why we're doing this business to begin with, why we wanted to become a leader to begin with. And so many leaders fall into leadership And I get that because I was one of them. But now that you know how and what you want to be doing differently, you need to be super clear and focused on what you're going to do to get there. It's less box checking and measuring output and more time focused on how to lead an inspired team.

Now, many leaders I have spoken with really do believe that they are empowering their team. And I'd love for you to take a moment now and ask yourself, are you truly empowering your team? They know what you want to do. Again, you know what you want to do.

But at the end of the day, with the piling to-do lists, the sales goals, the metrics, the pressure to perform often doesn't align with empowering. We end up seeing leaders who are micromanaging, which ultimately diminishes trust, innovation, and accountability from your team. If you're constantly checking in and, you know, nitpicking or editing or not allowing your team to truly grow, you're micromanaging, that's not delegating, right? That's also not empowering.

We see leaders who are attempting to be flexible with maybe where you work or trying to be results oriented. But the challenge comes when you don't communicate clear expectations. If you don't tell people, hey, this is the deadline, let them figure out when to get it done, you know, or like when they're going to schedule time to do that work. But here's the deadline and here's the expectation of what it will look like when I see it again.

When we don't do that, work doesn't get done. It doesn't get done when or how we expect it to, which then leads into, well, now I have to do it myself or micromanaging. I think a lot of leaders attempt to be transparent or vulnerable, but then they overshare. Has anyone had that happen I know I been a part of those conversations And the big one is that leaders often stress the importance So this again is speaking what you know to be true They stress the importance of balance and boundaries to their team, but then they take on so much themselves to protect their team and make sure their team doesn't, that they lose balance and boundaries themselves.

and then that whole cycle of okay but my my leader is emailing and working on vacation and on the weekends and after hours I who report to them now feel like I should be doing that as well even though they've told me not to because their actions are not in alignment with their words, it creates confusion. It creates this pull, this tug of war of should I, shouldn't I, and resentment. It's a tough go right now for many leaders, especially when we have so many different generations in the workplace at the same time with varying expectations, varying work habits, it can be exhausting having to lead all of these people, right?

What I'm hearing from leaders right now is that leaders are tired, leaders are burnt out, leaders are overwhelmed, leaders feel defeated and uninspired themselves. So guess what happens? when we as leaders are uninspired and unmotivated it is nearly impossible to then have a team or inspire your team or motivate your team now i don't say this to put more pressure on leaders, not at all. I want you to know that I see you, I hear you.

And the point of this is, is that our leaders, you need help and you need to prioritize your own motivation, your own inspiration, your own care, your own self-leadership. And I know this because I've had to purposefully do this for myself. At times when, you know, years ago in my business, I would just be in the grind. I felt like I was on a hamster wheel and thinking, how come nobody cares?

How come nobody else in my business cares? How come I'm doing this all on my own? Why am I doing everything when I have a team who's supposed to be helping me? I would say things like, they're just not inspired.

They don't care about the work. Nothing motivates them. And here I was slugging away, building resentment, feeling frustrated, being completely drained myself sending emails at all hours of the night because I was up at all hours of the night doing the work because my team wasn't. And what I realized was I was the problem.

I, as the leader, was setting the tone for the business. I was setting the tone when I would go into meetings and I was frazzled or distracted. If I'm not inspired and it's my business, why would they be inspired? We quickly realize when I start working with my clients, when they come to me looking for ways to inspire their team, oftentimes what I'm discovering is that the leaders themselves have lost their inspiration.

The leaders themselves have lost their motivation. And I know this is very cliche, but I am going to say it anyway. You know, we've heard this time and time again that you can't pour from an empty cup or put your oxygen mask on first. well I do hate to belabor the point but it's true we cannot expect people to be inspired when we're not we cannot share inspiration when we have no inspiration to share so I wonder for those of you maybe struggling with your team maybe you are feeling burnt out or maybe you were walking into 2023 feeling this sense of hope let this be a reminder that again it starts with you how are you going to motivate your team and stay motivated yourself so here's a couple of quick tips to get you and your team motivated as you start this year.

I am encouraging you all to start with you. What needs to change for you? When was the last time you felt inspired? What was going on in your life?

What was going on at work? When was the last time you felt inspired? If you need to grab a notebook, grab a pen, And take some time to really jot down when that last time you felt inspired was. Because we want to learn from that.

We want to learn from that time and apply it to now. What can we learn that we can share now to get us back there? And then I love to also make a list of what brings me joy. What makes me feel motivated?

What makes me feel inspired? For me, I am hugely motivated by time with my family. I don necessarily need extra money or perks like that For me I was always motivated by time off with my family like really free time. I'm inspired by making an impact.

I find the most inspiration when I have a client who says to me, I feel better. Wow. Thank you for that. I'm inspired by seeing change, positive change and growth.

When that's not happening, or I have clients who refuse to do the work or who want to change anything, clients who believe this is just the way it always is, and nothing's ever going to change, that's not a good fit for me. I don't feel inspired. I can't force anyone to change. But when I can co-create with someone and really help them change and grow and become the inspired leader that they want to be, that is exciting and inspiring to me.

Those are some great wins. And I know this about myself. So what do you know about yourself? What brings you joy?

What makes you excited? What motivates you and what inspires you? And then once you have that list, figure out where you can infuse that into your day at home, at work, in the community, wherever you're feeling like you need this pick me up, or where you're sensing that people around you, you lead, need that, do that exercise. And then reflect with your team.

Ask your team, what motivates them? And this is where I have a lot of resistance from leaders because yeah, chances are it might be different or maybe it is money or maybe it is days off and your brain immediately goes to logistics of like, how am I going to do that? Well, how am I going to give somebody money? Just don't go to logistics just yet.

Just find out what motivates your team. When was the last time they felt motivated? And what do they need to feel inspired? Right?

Do you need to go and do something together, like give back to your community? Do you need a wellness retreat? Do you need a day once a week where you just get to be creative and innovative and have fun brainstorming? Do they need to see the positive change and impact that they are creating for clients?

What do they need to feel inspired? And give them that opportunity to really share with you without judgment, without the, oh, I can't do that, right? We have to shut off that part of our brain and just hear and receive that feedback. The other piece, gratitude.

Gratitude goes a long way. When people feel appreciated and seen for the work they are doing, they might not be doing the work that you really hope they were doing, right? Especially if right now you're feeling like your team isn't motivated and therefore likely not producing at the level you want them to. We have to use that positive reinforcement.

So gratitude is one of those ways that we can do that. Oftentimes what I see is that leaders, not intentionally, but so happens, leaders spend more time fixing and correcting work than they do praising the good. our brains are wired to see the negative and especially if you're a business owner and you're producing something and your team is responsible for it you want to make sure that the product going out is great i get that but the more you can positively reinforce your team with like good job on that.

Or wow, you know, you really produce that fast, or I can't believe you turned it around so quickly. That's amazing. What a huge help. Whatever it is, when they can get more positive reinforcement than negative or criticism, right?

Because that's just how they're seeing it. You see it as a learning and a growth. I'm telling you, they see it as criticism. When we can shape our communication with them to really layer in some of that positive reinforcement and that appreciation, seeing what they have done, seeing what they've tried, and rewarding that with your praise or a token of appreciation, whatever it is, they're going to feel more motivated to continue pleasing.

because they like that feedback from you, that positive feedback. And when you can start doing that yourself and then encourage it amongst the team, now the team is calling out and recognizing the positive things that other team members are doing. When you have a culture that is super focused on appreciation and gratitude, motivation and inspiration are weaved right through that. And then my last tip, infuse some fun.

What can you do to bring some fun, some play back into the workplace? The last few years have no doubt been a challenge for so many different people in so many different ways and I feel as though we have lost our ability to play. We so focused on staff shortages and output and optimization and all of these things And we moving so fast and people are burnt out and overwhelmed So what can you do to infuse some fun? Maybe it's Fridays, you spend an hour at lunch, just playing games with one another, or you take half a day once a month to go and do something.

Really bringing the team together for fun without work being the main goal is going to create some shared experiences and the team is going to ultimately come closer together. And a more connected team, the more motivated they feel. Again, I encourage you listening to this to not go right to the logistics of how will that work. These are some tips that you can also modify and adjust based on your industry.

If you need to be open 24-7 and there's no possible way of taking an hour off at lunch with everyone, find a different way to have some fun throughout the day. It doesn't have to be a shutdown. Right? If people don't want to come in because it's a day off and it's a challenge, I get it.

But what can you do instead? This year, I encourage our leaders, I encourage you, and I am focusing on it myself. Think less about what you can't do or the roadblocks that are in your way and think more about what you can do to make it work. What can you do?

What is possible? And do that. Create that. But ultimately, to recap, leaders, it starts with you.

If you want an inspired team and you want a motivated team, you need to reconnect with that part of yourself that was inspired and motivated. You set the tone. You lead by example. When you can center yourself and come back, come back to yourself in that inspired, motivated way, it will naturally cascade down and out to your team, your clients, and your community.

The goal for 2023 and this, excuse me, this podcast and the work that I'm really focusing on is all about self-leadership. It really is about helping you all see that you are the key. The key to joy in your own life. You are the key to emotional intelligence in your own life.

Growth. You are the key. It is not external. It is within.

And when we can focus on releasing what's holding us back, prioritizing our time and energy with what is most important with us, really getting into alignment and taking care of ourselves, we are going to naturally become the best leaders that we can be. And when you lead others and you model this behavior, they're going to do the same. You will ultimately inspire others to develop self-leadership. Right?

And that ripple effect is going to be huge. So I do hope this has been a helpful episode. I am also going to be running a webinar on this topic in January. The date, let me open up my calendar as I say this, January 25th, we're going to be running this Lunch and Learn all about feeding an inspired team.

So if you want to join in and dive in, talk more about what has worked for you, what hasn't worked for you, let's navigate through those roadblocks and let's learn and share from one another. Meet up with other leaders like you who are on this path to developing self-leadership and becoming the best versions of themselves that they can be. So January 25th, 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. If you want to register, pop on over to my website, which is ourforte.

ca. You can register there. It's completely free. Just come and participate, learn and grow and be open to new things.

Thanks all for listening. Have a fantastic inspired day. Thank you for listening to this week's episode. I hope that you were able to find some golden nuggets in there that really speak to you.

Those aha moments or moments of pause that help you look inward. If you think that this episode could benefit someone else, I would love for you to share and also rate and subscribe to this podcast. Every time we have listeners who do this, it only makes it more available to others or easier for others to find us. Your participation in constant growth and evolution is so important to yourself and those you lead.

My goal is to help you all become the leaders at home, at work, and in your community you've always known you could be. so thank you for going on this journey and now take action if you want to connect with me learn more reach out to me on my website ourforte.ca so that's o-u-r-f-o-r-t-e.