Tag: empowerment

Promotion

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are two ways organizations promote employees.

One is by tenure. The employee has been in one role for long enough that they kind of outgrew it. The promotion is often formal and comes at the end of a process. It is about dues and achievement.

The other is by stretch. The employee is given enough space that they can grow into it. The promotion is often informal and comes at the beginning of a process. It is about responsibility and potential.

The way your organization does this has much to do with whether the general belief is that trust should be earned or that trust should be given. And it says a lot about many other aspects of the culture.

Upside down

FabrizioLeave a comment

Asking questions is more important than answering them.

You should ask questions when you know everything and when you know nothing. When you are alone and when you are in good company. When things go just as you planned and when nothing seems to fit in the right place.

We tend to think that confidence equals having few doubts and that experience means you are finally in a position to dispense answers.

In reality, confidence if feeling ok with not knowing and experience means you are faster at figuring out the questions to ask.

The world is upside down.

Critics, cheerleaders, and coaches

FabrizioLeave a comment

Sometimes you need a critic, as they might take you back to earth and set you on a path of improvement. Sometimes you need a cheerleader, as they might give you that boost of confidence you are lacking to truly appreciate what you have just achieved.

And you always need a coach. They will see your trajectory and help you find what you need to get there.

Most of what is good

Fabrizio1 Comment

You need to be able to discern between different shades and understand that most of what is good happens in the middle.

You can support a candidate even if their thinking does not match yours 1:1.

You can have a conversation with someone even when you do not share the same view of the world.

You can be committed to a project even when it’s a cause of stress and disappointment.

You can love someone even if your heart does not beat faster every time you see them.

You can appreciate a person even though you would not give them certain responsibilities.

Idealizing and romanticizing is the enemy of contentment.

Give meaning

FabrizioLeave a comment

It’s not that the ideas for ways to keep your team engaged are scarce – in fact here are 37 of them.

The point is that managers struggle to understand that these days – perhaps most of the time, but these days in particular -, people do not get excited for a new work project, for the last quarter extraordinary results, or for the announcement of the new CTO.

People seek meaning, and enabling connection with peers and colleagues is one sure way to give it to them.

The fact that with remote work the task is more difficult should merely be an incentive to explore new and creative ways.