How to Avoid the People-Pleasing Trap and Lead with Confidence
Are you a leader who always puts the needs of your team before those of your organization?
As a young leader, I made this mistake and ended up over-promising my team, leading to disappointment and frustration.
If you want to avoid falling into the same trap, read one of my latest articles on how to avoid the people-pleasing trap and lead with confidence.
You’ll learn how to reevaluate your leadership priorities and strike the right chord with your team.
The Cost of Turnover: Three Steps to Retaining Your Best Talent
Florin Lungu Retention has been a topic of great discussion lately, and for a good reason. It is one of the most significant challenges faced by modern corporate managers. Turnover is a pain that many managers know all too well. It can wreak havoc on morale, hinder progress, and cost businesses an incredible amount of money. In fact, the cost of voluntary turnover is so significant that I had to double-check how many zeros were in the figure - it's an astounding twelve zeros in $1 trillion! The pressure to solve a problem of this magnitude can be daunting, but all it takes is a bit of an expanded perspective. Our perspective is limited to our individual experiences, and we tend to assume that everyone else is like us, thinks like us, works like us, and likes the same things we do. However, this is far from the truth. Team members show up at work every day, sit in meetings, work at their desks, collaborate, communicate, and bring their talents together to mobilize the mission of the...
Turn Renters into Owners: A Leader’s Guide to Building a Strong, Invested Team
Unlock your team’s full potential. Learn how to create a culture of ownership and empower your team to achieve their best work. Discover 5 proven strategies to engage and motivate your team members. Elevate employee engagement, boost morale and productivity, and achieve your organization’s goals together.
Discovering the Power of Perspective: A Guide to Improving Retention and Team Morale
Gain a new perspective and improve your retention and team morale! In our latest blog post, we explore the power of perspective in leadership and how it can impact your organization. From letting go of fear to focusing on the positive, learn how to create a culture of encouragement and inclusion. Discover how to gain insight into your team’s perspective and improve the workplace for those who choose to stay.
Leading the Way: How One CEO’s Coaching Journey Transformed His Team’s Performance
Florin Lungu I want to introduce you to Malcolm, the founder and CEO of Alva Labs. Alva Labs is an information-technology consulting firm in Stockholm, Sweden, that Malcolm started back in 2017. Malcolm set out to achieve a breakthrough in the hiring process – he wanted to connect organizations with people looking to fill their open positions. But not just any people, and not just any organizations. Malcolm had a mission to help people find their dream jobs at organizations who needed their skill sets. A big idea like that was going to require a big team. As the company grew, Malcolm saw the need for him to elevate his skills as a leader. So he did what many leaders do when they need to improve – he partnered with a coach. And that coach revolutionized Malcolm’s leadership paradigm so much that after only 2 sessions, he decided he wanted to implement company-wide coaching for Alva Labs. According to Linnea, the Head of People at Alva Labs and Malcolm’s coach, her sessions with Alva’s...
The Cost of Poor Communication: A Lesson from the 1996 Everest Disaster
Discover the tragic consequences of poor communication on the 1996 Mount Everest expedition and how it can apply to your workplace. Learn from the past and improve your communication skills.
Leading with Heart: The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Building Strong Teams
Florin Lungu Until I became a leader myself, I thought leadership was all direction, all the time… I share this often – but that is because it was the starting point of the most dramatic paradigm shift in my leadership. From the moment I could hold a broom in my two hands, I was directed to help out around the house. My mother would tell me to do something and I would do it. Not because I wanted to help or because I wanted to honor her request. But because that was my only option if I did not want to incur consequences. I did not realize the role that relationship plays in leadership until I was a leader myself. When I was first promoted, I was the kind of leader to say, “Jump,” and expect my employees to ask, “How high?” and I quickly learned that was not effective in the workplace. Or at least, it wasn’t effective if I wanted there to be room for development. People can only consider instruction and direction as much as they regard the person giving them. So while they may complete...
Stagnation in Leadership: Avoiding the Dangers of Still Water
Stagnation in leadership can be just as dangerous as stagnant water. Learn how to avoid it and keep your team flowing towards success. Discover the importance of emotional intelligence, communication and coaching for performance in leadership and how to prioritize your own growth for the betterment of your team.
Do you set aside time to do this?
Florin Lungu Let me present you with three scenarios… (pay attention – there will be a quiz at the end!) As she leaves her house, Alice notices her car keys are missing from the key rack. She rummages through her pockets and her satchel until she asks, “When did I last have them in my hands?” She remembers placing them on the kitchen counter the night before – and there they are. Barry pulls a freshly-washed shirt from his closet. As he puts it over his head, he notices a strange, strong, chemical scent. “Ugh,” he thinks, “it must be my new laundry detergent. I’ll have to see if they sell it unscented.” Christina’s daily chores are interrupted by a bout of food poisoning. As she lays down in bed, she thinks on what she’s eaten throughout the day – toast, salad, leftover chicken… “Chicken, it must be,” she thinks to herself, and throws it out so that no one else in her family gets sick. Question: What do these three scenes have in common? Answer: All of them, when presented with a...
Leaders, does your right hand know what your left hand is doing?
Florin Lungu Have you heard the phrase, “The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing”? It conjures quite a funny image to mind. I think of my left hand making a meal on the stove while my right hand tries to wash the pan that I’m using… what chaos it would cause to be so uncoordinated. But I supposed if it weren’t so ridiculous, it wouldn’t be so effective. “The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing” – it shows us just how backward it is not to think about the bigger picture. After all, your right hand always knows what your left hand is doing because they both belong to the same body, and the brain talks to them both… And yet, there are still some teams who don’t communicate with each other. As an executive coach, I have seen it many times. The team is struggling – they are not hitting the team’s targets and are falling behind as a group, but their leader can’t see any clear signs of what the problem might be. They are all talented and driven team members...
An ingredient in the recipe for success
Florin Lungu Everybody’s searching for the recipe for success… Ambitious goal-getters. Entrepreneurs. Dreamers and doers. Certainly, corporate leaders are looking for what makes something work most effectively. So, as a leader in business… what do you think guarantees good results? Is it talented team members? Effective communication? Trust? Project lead time? Certainly, these things are crucial. Skill and experience are valuable tools. No collaboration happens without communication. Trust builds bridges that would otherwise burn, and lead time offers a runway they can all launch from. But they are not a recipe for success. Even a talented, trusting, time-conscious team that talks to each other can hit roadblocks… roadblocks that can only be helped by one thing. Say your team is working on a major project and making great progress – when they make progress. But that progress only comes in stops and starts. The deadline is approaching, and everyone is getting a little anxious. During...
This is a bad sign…
Florin Lungu Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar… At the start of the day, you sit down at your desk and take a look at your schedule. You’ve got a busy day ahead of you, and a lot of high-level items on the docket. It’s your busy season and a lot is coming at you and your team fast. Before you can get started, you’ve got a meeting to get to. But fortunately, it should be quick. It’s just a project update from your team. Most of the details were decided weeks ago. Today, you are just expecting to hear “all-clear” and then get back to work. But then, the meeting starts… “How are things going on the project?” you ask. “Oh, I meant to ask you about that,” says a member of your team, “I have some questions.” “Me too, actually – some things are still unclear,” says another. The whole team nods and murmurs in agreement. “None of us really have any answers.” What? you ask yourself, What am I even hearing right now? We talked about all this in that meeting last month. Everything was set...
Are you a “holiday host” leader?
Florin Lungu Happy December, my friends! It’s hard to believe it’s here already, but we’re nearing the conclusion of another full trip around the sun. We’re coming up on that time of year when people begin to congregate and celebrate – sing songs, bake treats, make memories, and come together with friends. As you enjoy the festivities, consider what you want to build with your next 365 days of leadership… What culture do you want to encourage? What kind of behaviors do you want to model for your team? What tone are you setting for them? Here’s an example. When you attend your parties, your host might ask you not to bring up certain topics. The world has been so divided over so many things – so many comments can lead to a social explosion. Many hosts find it simplest to just ask guests to leave certain subjects at the door to preserve the jovial atmosphere. And this works great for pleasant evenings. When certain talking points are off limits, you may find yourself relaxing and...
The Cost of Guarded Leadership: How Lack of Vulnerability Impacts Teams
Florin Lungu Meet Mike. Mike is a team leader at his organization. It is not always easy, but he loves it. He enjoys his work; he is committed to his role; and he is passionate about the organization’s mission. But his team is struggling, and he doesn’t know why. Mike’s idea of a leader is strong, distant – he remains stoic in the face of hardship. He believes a leader should not let his people see him deal with difficulty. He does not want them to doubt him. However, that is not how John sees it. John is a member of Mike’s team. The stone-faced demeanor that Mike sees as strong, John sees as guarded. John sees Mike keeping his distance and John is discouraged by the detachment. But the leader sets the tone. The leader defines reality for their team. So John does like he sees and stays guarded himself. He doesn’t see that Mike is dealing with issues, so he believes his leader “has it all together.” When he is confronted with problems or makes mistakes, he thinks he’s missing...
4 Keys to Effective Feedback
Florin Lungu Today I’d like to ask you a question… What is the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten? Feedback is really perspective – and the right perspective can shift our approach to something in a life-changing way. What words shared marked a major turning point for you? Well, actually, I would be willing to bet that the words themselves were only doing some of the work. More than likely, you had a solid relationship with the person guiding you. You probably trusted them because of the role they played in your life. But also, they probably corrected you according to one or more of the 4 keys of effective feedback. In an earlier post, I shared the first two. They were… Offer timely feedback frequently. Keep it in the context of learning and establish common and consistent communication. Make feedback specific and objective. Mention behaviors that you want them to adjust, but separate those behaviors from the person. Follow this link to read the article in detail When and how...
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