6 Important Things New Project Managers Need to Know

, ,

By Andrej Kovacevik

Corporate demand for project managers is growing at a rapid rate of pace.

Talented people will be needed to fill the numerous project management positions that are becoming available; and industry insiders expect to see women stepping up to fill a significant percentage of these roles.

The Association for Project Management reports that female project managers tend to be younger and less experienced than their male counterparts. For the new female executives who are entering the field, we offer this list of 6 important things female project managers need to be aware of:

1. The Scope of Your Projects Might Change

Often, an executive or group of executives from your hiring organization will set parameters for the scope of the project you’ve been selected to manage. In a perfect world, you’d work within the scope of those parameters to complete your project. But according to Elizabeth Harrin at A Girl’s Guide to Project Management, you can’t always count on things to work out so neatly. She points out that most projects evolve through 4 formal versions of scope before their conclusion. Be flexible in your anticipation of this reality.

2. Managing Expectations Is an Essential Part of the Job

Whatever project you’re managing could potentially bring huge changes for a whole bunch of stakeholders in your hiring organization. Does everyone fully understand the implications of what’s coming? Probably not. As the project unfolds, do your best to help your colleagues get a handle on what the new normal is going to look like going forward. Be proactive about making any dramatic transitions as painless as possible for all stakeholders involved. How you handle this can make a massive difference in whether your leadership is perceived as a success or a failure by the end of the project.

3. It’s Crucial to Share Big-Picture Goals With Other Stakeholders

It’s easy for colleagues to succumb to tunnel vision and entirely miss what the main objectives for a project might be. Creating a mindmap can help to explain what’s going on and to get everyone else on board. It’s a big win if you can get all the relevant stakeholders involved in your project to understand the big-picture goals and buy in from the beginning.

If there are people who aren’t buying in, it is helpful to identify them early on and figure out the reasons for their opposition. Perhaps they even have valid reasons that should be addressed. Don’t ignore the naysayers. It’s better to work with them towards a resolution.

Obviously, you’ll first have to understand your project’s big-picture goals in order to communicate them effectively to your team. This shouldn’t be a problem — but for many project managers, it is. You might be surprised to learn that 80 percent of all project managers don’t fully understand the subtleties of how their projects support their hiring organizations’ business strategies, according to capterra.com. So if you don’t have a clear understanding of the primary motivators, you’ll have to do your homework so you can effectively educate both yourself and your team.

4. There’s a Whole Bunch of Jargon You’ll Need to Decipher

If you haven’t already earned a Master of Project Management degree, you might not be thoroughly educated about all the PM terminology that you’ll encounter as you work your way through your projects. Smartsheet.com offers a helpful glossary of project management terms you’ll want to be sure to familiarize yourself with.

5. The Role of Project Manager Is Changing in Ways That Favor Women’s Skills

According to experts at the international association of project managers, the vocation has evolved significantly over the course of the last several decades. They explain that, 20 years ago, the job of project manager was perceived as macho. Currently, in contrast, emotional intelligence is one of the foremost qualifications that top executives seek in a project manager. Today’s project managers need to excel in diplomacy, resourcefulness and creativity — a skillset that comes as naturally to women as it does to men. The pressure to be macho is now out of the picture. And, accordingly, the numbers of female project managers has been growing and is expected to grow more in the future.

6. You’ll Need to Cultivate a Professional Network

Elise Stevens, writing on behalf of the Project Manager website, explains that women will find better opportunities in the long term if they establish and nurture their own professional networks. In her opinion, one main advantage of networking is having the opportunity to better understand what leaders desire in managers and project leaders. Her network has also opened up new opportunities that would not have become available to her otherwise.

As a management professional, you cannot expect to succeed if you’re isolated on your own island. You’ll constantly need to turn to others to solve problems, find needed resources, delegate tasks and seek input. When you’ve cultivated a network, it’s much easier to accomplish all these things.

Of course, these are not the only things female project managers urgently need to know; but these are some of top things that tend to take women by surprise when they are new to project management. The sooner you wrap your head around these 6 things, the better the outcome will be for the projects you’ll manage in the course of your career.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

/by

Important Conversations at Work: Improving Communication Across Differences

,

Guest contributed by Katherine Giscombe

At this contentious time in the United States, the rights of all women are under fire.

In spite of movements against sexual harassment that are gaining in popularity and support, such as #MeToo and TimesUp, there are factions within the country including lawmakers who actively oppose equal, fair and just treatment for women. And there has been an uptick in violence and harassment directed against racial minority groups, which have been condoned, and even spurred, by those in high political offices.

Boundaries between our work and personal lives continue to blur given the increasingly 24-hour a day expectations of employers, greater levels of virtual work, and increased workloads across industries. It becomes more difficult, over time, to not bring concerns about our lives outside of work into the workplace. The context of our lives affects our well-being and experiences at work, as shown in Catalyst’s research on the Emotional Tax, which demonstrates that a majority of women and men across racial/ethnic minority groups report feeling vigilant or on guard in the workplace, constantly preparing for the potential to deal with bias, discrimination, or exclusion.

It is vital for employees and associates to be able to engage with each other in a healthy manner, and develop mutual understanding even when they do not share similar backgrounds or experiences. Further, in the workplace, as research on career progression has shown, it is essential to develop relationships with allies and potential sponsors who can help progress one’s career. But doing so can be difficult among those from different backgrounds.

Catalyst has developed methods for reaching across differences to form meaningful connections at a personal level. It starts with understanding how communication among employees and associates can improve, and providing tactics to do so. In summary, reluctance to engaging across differences can fall into three major themes:

  • There isn’t a problem (attitudes about whether issues of gender, race, and ethnicity warrant concern)
  • There’s no benefit to talking (judgments about whether it’s worth the effort to discuss these issues)
  • There will be negative consequences to my actions (experiences that influence whether someone speaks up or remains silent).

Those who feel that there is not a problem may assume that race or gender differences don’t matter, because they believe they view women and men equally, and have no racial prejudice. A way to move beyond these beliefs is to ask one’s colleagues (of a diversity of genders and race/ethnicity groups) if they have ever experienced or witnessed biased behavior, and probe on what it looked like, what was verbally communicated. Further, they can ask whether colleagues of a different racial, ethnic, or cultural background feel that the workplace respects their identity and experiences.

Those who believe there is no benefit in talking may feel that race and ethnicity are not relevant in certain places, or that talking about our differences can only further divide us. Catalyst recommends asking colleagues a number of questions, including identifying times when discussing any type of difference has led to a positive outcome. Another suggestion is to identify “off-limits” issues— then discuss how not talking about these issues can derail inclusion.

Finally, the fear that there will be negative consequences to my actions is sometimes grounded in the fear of being labeled as overly sensitive, or the belief that it is not safe to speak up in the workplace. In these cases, Catalyst recommends that an employee ask a colleague for help in providing honest, constructive feedback, especially in cases where the employee uses words that are hurtful or offensive. Other advice includes asking a team member who has been silent during a meeting if he or she would like to contribute a different perspective.

In Catalyst’s workshops and consulting engagements, we sometimes use “ice breaker” exercises that build rapport across differences. One such example is a “pair share” in which each member of the pair names three identity groups he or she belongs to, including two visible elements of difference, and one invisible. Each person then takes turns sharing aspects of their identities. When sharing one’s identities, the speaker practices demonstrating vulnerability and self-disclosure. The listener, in turn, practices suspending judgment and inquiring across difference.

Going beyond building interpersonal connections at work, employees and associates can also co-create structures at work that encourage inclusion. This might entail forming an employee or associate resource group (ERG) for all women in the organization, that focuses on the many needs encompassed by women. In working with Catalyst’s supporter organizations, we sometimes see that women of color prefer to join an ERG that represents their racial/ethnic group, rather than the women’s groups. A good way to form alliances to get more done for all women would be for a women’s ERG to ensure that its officers represent a diversity of women within the company, and also represent the interests of a diversity of women.

Reaching across differences to form meaningful and robust working relationships can enhance our personal and professional lives, and provide a fortification of support during fraught times.

/by

Dare to Dream! What Job Would You Do if You Won the Lottery?

,

By Nicki Gilmour, Executve Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Upon winning the lottery, some people might stop working.

Others would take the opportunity to work in their dream job. What is your dream job? If you do not know the answer, let us have some fun while summer is still here to dare to dream because you might just find some answers for real life by letting your mind run wild.

Let’s start with 3 questions to stimulate the process:

1. What makes you tick? ( there are many tests to take- for example, the Hogan personality instrument helps you understand you behaviors based on your personality and work environment, Myers Briggs, Firo-B etc). Do you need recognition? Is it about power for you? How high is your altruism markers? Are you hedonistic and want to have ping pong and happy hours? How social are you? Do you need to achieve at all costs?

2. How do you prefer to learn? if you are going to do a new thing, how would you like to approach it? Will you jump in and learn by doing? Or would you prefer to have time to studying?

3. What are your absolute bottom lines and how did you get to them? If you had teams of support people, would you choose to outsource child care or would you outsource work? How do you want to spend your time?

Have some fun here. Write it down, draw pictures, do a vision board, whatever works for you!

What comes out of this simple exercise for you?

If you want to work with an executive coach on this and and then the advanced exercises that will take you to the next level at work or even your next job, contact nicki@theglasshammer.com

/by

4 ways to know it’s time to ask for more from your job

,

Woman-on-a-ladder-searching

Guest Contributed by Deepa Ramaraj

According to a recent US census, only 19% of women executives reach the highest ranks of business.

The same census showed that the fastest growing demographic of business owners in the USA today are women-owned businesses.

Before you leave your corporate job, ask yourself questions about your aptitudes, aspirations and what really drives you to succeed? The below questions may help you to be better equipped to know if now is the time to ask for more from your job and may give you more clarity about what direction you could consider taking.

1. What will my life be like in 5 years if I keep this job?

If you were promoted, what is the level of responsibility and what are the daily tasks of this new position? Is this something that you are willing to take on? Is the level of salary increase over the next 5 years in this position something that you are excited about receiving or is it lacklustre? According to 2018 forecasts, most executive positions can only expect a 3% salary increase, barely keeping up with cost of living. Is working in this job creating difficulties in any other area of your life? Personally? Physically? Relationships? Health? Mental Health? Note down what impressions that you have about keeping this job in all of these factors.

2. What will my life be like in 5 years if I don’t keep this job?

What if you could decide for yourself what your life will be like if you don’t keep this current job? What are the other opportunities for employment? What marketplace demand is there for your skills and what salaries are being offered to seasoned entrants? What is your value proposition as a candidate, how will you shine? Could you choose to take time off right now or choose a different path?

3. What do I love about this job?

Challenge yourself to write 25 things that you actually love about the job that you are in. The 80/20 rule could be applied to your work. If 80% of your job is taken up with things that you enjoy and feel masterful about and only 20% of your job is not, then you are probably in a sustainable career for you. If it is the opposite, it may be time to consider a change. What else is possible for you to love about this job that isn’t obvious at the moment? Sometimes we get bogged down and don’t actually ask for the job to be enjoyable.

4. Is now the time to change?

Jumping back to fantasizing about winning a lottery or having an astonishing inheritance come in so you can retire from working altogether, which of course would be wonderful, realistically is now the time to actually ask for more from your job? What are you aware of politically from the company structure? Could you be promoted? Could you ask for more responsibility and get a pay raise or more benefits that would add to your life?

What if it’s possible to ignite a fire under your current job and develop it into something more profitable, something that you are excited to arrive at every morning? Asking and answering the above questions will start to point at possible changes that you can make to your job and your life, to increase the level of satisfaction and joy. Yes, it is possible to have both satisfaction and joy at work and settling for anything less is just that.

About the author

Deepa Ramaraj is a Computer Science Engineer turned Health and Wealth Educator, as well as a Right Riches for You facilitator, a specialty program from Access Consciousness. Deepa facilitates workshops for corporate companies to boost sales, to dissolve interpersonal or inter-departmental challenges and to transform the way business is done. These workshops are totally unconventional in approach. She also conducts workshops for individuals about how to receive more money, reduce stress, have better relationships, improve health and upskill as a parent.

Disclaimer: The opinions and advice of guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

/by

3 Easy Ways to Know What Job You Want to Do Next

,

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Staying in the job, after the love has gone?

We have all done it, we have all stayed in a position at work that just did not excite us anymore on any level. The reasons that keep us there can vary but more often than not, it is a combination of wanting the security/ money and not believing that there is a better situation out there for us. Confidence, or lack of it for people who have never had a confidence issue before, can be very daunting.

It is normal to ask yourself, ‘But what would i do?’

The answer to that question is very personal and individual but in broad strokes my bet is that you could do a range of things inside or outside of your current firm and even industry.

Isn’t it time to do what you want to do? I mean, you probably have more skills than you give yourself credit for and probably most of them are entirely transferable.

Here are 3 steps to get closer to your ideal job.

1. Make a list of what you like doing
2. Then make a list of what you do not like doing
3. Make a list of the tasks you would be doing in a more ideal situation 12 months from now.

I am mentioning tasks, because often we talk about roles or responsibilities instead of tasks. Roles like, I want to manage people doesn’t actually define what is your task or the tasks they are doing that you will be responsible for, so go granular in this exercise.

What comes out of this simple exercise for you?

If you want to work with an executive coach on this and and then the advanced exercises that will take you to your next job, contact nicki@theglasshammer.com

/by

OpEd: Talking about Harassment in the Workplace

,

sexual harassment

Guest contributed by Stacey Engle

Women empowerment movements have been a prevalent force over the past year, from #metoo to #timesup.

The individual and collective impact of these movements has varied, as have the conversations we have had surrounding these topics – both at work, and at home.

At Fierce Conversations, we wanted to get a sense of how recent social movements have impacted the workplace, if at all. We asked more than 1,000 full and part-time employed individuals in the U.S. questions about current social movements, along with how their personal outlook has shifted over the past year.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed have discussed gender equality (including the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements), yet most of these conversations are occurring with friends and family, not within the workplace:

  • 44% have discussed with friends
  • 40% with family
  • 25% with colleagues
  • 8% with boss/supervisor
  • 3% with company leaders

While we weren’t surprised to see that the topic came up more with those we feel closest to outside the office, these low numbers within the workplace signal a clear disconnect between issues that matter and affect our lives, and the amount of recognition these issues are receiving in our places of work.

And these numbers only increase when we look at gender and age. More women than men (58% vs 47%) have had conversations about gender equality; 49% of women have discussed the topic with their friends, while just 37% of men say the same.

Younger Americans are also talking about these issues at much higher rates. More than two-thirds of those 18-29 have had a conversation about these movements; just 53% of those 60+ say the same.

Given the reality that older men make up the majority of CEOs and company leaders today, these numbers are concerning. These social issues may not be top of mind for these leaders, but it’s imperative that they recognize their employees are discussing these matters outside of work, and respond accordingly by addressing them within their organizations. It is imperative for women in leadership roles, even those not at the very top, to ensure these are topics aren’t brushed under the rug.

The good news is that, despite these conversations not taking place in droves at work, these movements appear to be making an impact in how empowered individuals feel today than they did a year ago.

Almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed said they are more likely to stick up for themselves than they were a year ago, and another 40 percent are more likely to stand up for a colleague. Thirty percent are more likely to address a colleague directly for inappropriate behavior, such as a racist joke or unwelcome flirting, than they were a year ago.

This data varies by gender; 55 percent of women are more likely to stick up for themselves than they were a year ago; just 36 percent of men say the same. Forty-two percent of women are more likely to stand up for a colleague; just 34 percent of men say the same.

There is very cleary a more significant shift here with women in their comfort level in speaking up, and we believe with the right conversation skills, these numbers can be even greater.

Conversations around equality are necessary, and every employee should feel comfortable discussing these issues, especially if they have experienced or witnessed any type of discrimination. Not feeling comfortable enough to speak up is the reason we have seen systemic issues at many organizations over the past year.

A barrier that many struggle with, however, is how to come up with an organizational perspective on these issues, if they don’t truly understanding the specific issues their company is facing. Here are some tips we recommend to move in the right direction:

  • Ask your employees the right questions. Many team meetings and one-on-ones are focused on the work at hand and don’t venture into larger, equally important topics. Change that. Ask your employees how they feel about the diversity of the organization, raise any issues you have seen and talk about them directly. Putting issues out in the open leads to others feeling safer to bring up concerns.
  • Encourage your employees to stand up for themselves. The results of our survey show some great progress in more individuals addressing issues in head on, which in many cases can lead to issues being addressed before they get out of hand. When issues are addressed early and often, everyone benefits.
  • Be accessible. The survey found that while only 30% are more likely to address a colleague for inappropriate behavior directly–this includes behaviors such as racist jokes, unwelcome flirting, etc.–just 20% are more likely to address said behavior with a supervisor. It’s important for employees to be able to confront their colleagues directly, but if the issue is not resolved, they need to feel comfortable bringing up the issue to their supervisor. Knowing your employees can and do share with you any issue they have is the best and most efficient way to ensure you can address any larger trends that arise.
  • Ensure you, and your employees, have the tools to have tough conversations. You, and all of your employees, must have the skills to bring up hard issues and address them head on. Avoiding, ignoring or brushing small issues under the rug will only lead to larger, more detrimental problems down the line. Given the right tools, confrontation can be a great learning opportunity for everyone involved.

At the end of the day, conversations about gender equality are necessary and need to happen to ensure your organization is addressing any and all issues as they arise, and that your employees feel safe and encouraged to come forward if necessary.

Stacey Engle believes meeting the needs of clients start with truly understanding the challenges they face. As a result, she is always connected—to clients, the latest trends, and the newest opportunities.

Stacey is a passionate self-starter with over ten years’ experience helping to build businesses through smart go-to market and innovative people strategies. As executive vice president sales and marketing at Fierce Conversations, Stacey leads the marketing and sales strategies, along with branding efforts for the company. Over the past 7 years, Stacey has been key a driver in Fierce’s double digit growth, landing the company consistently on the Inc.5000 list as well as receiving consecutive Best Places to Work and design awards.

Stacey is very passionate about community work, serving on boards and offering pro-bono work with the University of Washington, various arts organizations, and community initiatives. She was recently awarded the Outstanding Alumni Mentor Award from the University of Washington with her work in founding a professional development board that connects students with transformational experiences from workshops to global opportunities.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of guest contributors are not necessarily those of the glasshammer.com

/by

The 3 Best Ways Busy Professionals Can Reduce Stress and Start Thriving

,

women stressed

Guest Contributed by Julie Morris

Ask busy professional women about what she most desires, and a lot will wish to reduce stress.

If you feel like you’re living on the proverbial hamster wheel, it’s time to make small changes to your day to reduce stress and save your sanity. Our tips will help you thrive instead of just get by.

1. Multitask in your personal life

Busy professionals are the rock stars of multitasking. But, multitasking for work is very different from multitasking for yourself. In fact, multitasking may be the wrong word to use. According to Entrepreneur, your brain time-shares rather than multitasks since it is only able to focus on a single task at a time. You must learn how to divvy up your time equally and effectively among tasks. How is this accomplished? Create a to-do list categorized into similar tasks so that your brain doesn’t have to totally change gears. Be sure to always keep your list visible so that you don’t feel that rush of accomplishment, only to realize you have more to do. If you start feeling overwhelmed, remember it’s okay to take a step back and get re-focused. In the future, saying “no” is an option too to avoid getting burnt out.

2. Use Your Lunch Hour to Reduce Stress and Refocus

Unfortunately, Americans take only a portion of their lunch break to eat, or they skip lunch altogether. According to the New York Post, one survey found that 50 percent of workers take 30 minutes or fewer on their lunch hour and that 29 percent work through lunch. Some of the best ways to reclaim your lunchtime include leaving the office to have lunch with a friend or exercising outside with a co-worker or friend. To maximize the benefits of getting out of the office, meet a friend outside to eat for 30 minutes and spend the other 30 minutes walking, meditating, or doing yoga. Physical activity gives you the true breaks you need from work to get refreshed and boost your brain function and mood to help you be more productive and have less stress.

3. Prioritize Tasks

Implementing time management practices is another excellent way to reduce stress on a daily basis. For example, create a checklist for work and home. Arming yourself with a checklist helps you focus and reduces the amount of time you waste on email and social media or chatting with co-workers. Be sure to organize your checklist from most to least pressing tasks and consider allotting yourself enough time for each one. By prioritizing, you will not only feel less stressed, but may find that you are better able to concentrate because you’ll know you’re giving your attention to the most important task on your to do list.

If you’re a visual person, put the checklist on your laptop or tablet or on your desk so you can mark off completed tasks, feel a sense of accomplishment, and know where you stand with your day. If you prefer to use technology, create a note or list on your smartphone; or download one of the many checklist apps.

Stress levels also climb when you feel like you have to do everything right now. One tip is to follow the two-minute and 10-minute rule, as described by Kyle Brost. If you have a task that will take fewer than two minutes, do it immediately so that you don’t face the stress of having too many incomplete tasks. However, if you have a task that requires more time, use the 10-minute rule. Commit to working on the task for 10 minutes. When the time is up, permit yourself to stop and move on to something else to keep chipping away at your to-do list.

High levels of stress prevent you from being productive and thriving. Do yourself a favor and multitask for yourself. Then, use your lunch hour to refocus and reduce stress. It’s also helpful to prioritize tasks and manage your time wisely.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of Guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

/by

5 Things You Can Do as a Leader to Help Increase Engagement In Company Initiatives

,
Latina
This week we invited a guest to contribute to the career tip column.

Fierce Conversations wrote a recent blog post on how leaders engage with it comes to organizational initiatives.

  1. Get on board, even if you’re not the driver. Just because you aren’t driving an idea or initiative, or didn’t come up with it to begin with, doesn’t mean the team and the entire organization doesn’t need you to get behind it. The sooner you can play the role of supporter-in-chief, the faster things will start to change and the larger impact you will see.
  2. Set expectations, and meet them. If you say you will be an advocate for a program, or that you expect an initiative to succeed, you need to show up for it. Trust is key here, as too many promises broken can lead your employees to simply stop making an effort.
  3. Model the behavior. Leaders need to be modeling the behavior they want to see. As there is a clear correlation between C-suite behavior and the model behavior they wanted exhibited. If you want all meetings to start on time, make sure you are never late. If you want people to work across teams, make sure they see you doing the same.
  4. Engage on a personal level. Through one-on-one conversations, either planned or organic, interact and engage regularly with employees and other company leaders. Create opportunities, such as social events or a weekly office walkthroughs, to support this endeavor, and ask about activities taking place. Use this feedback to improve upon the process.
  5. Follow-through. An initial email isn’t enough to support something. Ensure you continue to have conversations that advocate for a program, and that the leaders around you do the same. These conversations need to be ongoing, and fluid. Consider having a specific check-in point where you communicate widely the feedback and results to-date. Make changes as necessary.
/by

Career Tips from a Senior Female Executive in Commercial Real Estate

,

Image via Shutterstock

Guest contributed by Lauren Leach

For women considering a career in commercial real estate, consider restructuring as the opportunities are vast and varied and sure to offer challenges and fulfillment.

This is a field with a surprising shortage of women. I have always viewed being a woman as an advantage. It means you are more likely to get noticed in a professional situation. As such, it is imperative you are prepared and have the skill set and knowledge to communicate and execute effectively once you are noticed.

It was a circuitous route that brought me to my career. A summer internship changed the professional trajectory of my life. I was working on my psychology degree at the University of Michigan when a family friend suggested I explore real estate. Intrigued, that summer I secured an internship at a prestigious global commercial real estate brokerage and began building the foundation for my career

I found the commercial real estate industry so compelling in large part because of the high-risk, high-reward nature of the business, which has a variety of subsets that allow me to constantly expand and hone new skills. Real estate, unlike some other asset classes in a commercial portfolio, provides a platform to truly measure value and witness tangible progress in the form of brick and mortar. In today’s tumultuous environment, my skillsets and experience in this area are in great demand.

Now, I specialize in restructuring distressed commercial real estate properties. My focus changed to distressed real estate from the brokerage side of the business to embrace new challenges. Working as a broker during the Great Recession provided a fierce and up close look at the volatility of the commercial real estate market. That volatility has perhaps never been more evident than in recent years.

As I’ve ascended in my career, I have learned a lot and offer the following tips for young professionals entering the industry:

  • As you begin your career, choose your employer carefully. Get to know your potential boss as much as possible as well as the culture of the organization. When you consider a new position, keep in mind that you are interviewing the prospective employer as much as they are interviewing you. If possible, spend time with your potential peers in advance of accepting a job offer. A stable and supportive work environment is critical to success.
  • Real estate, like any industry, is about relationships. Don’t be afraid to ask professionals in your network for introductions. Be willing to take the time to network and get actively involved with industry organizations.
  • Write handwritten thank you notes! I am consistently surprised by how infrequently people make time to acknowledge others in writing. The receiver will appreciate the effort and remember your name.
  • Follow up and follow through on all things. The old adage ‘reputation is everything’ is partly true. Reputations are ultimately built by doing what you say you’re going to do and doing it exceptionally well.
  • Treat associates with respect. Early in my career I was elevated to a management role, leading a team of professionals, many of whom were older than me and some who had more experience in the industry. I found success by focusing on working collaboratively, valuing each team member’s experience and always leading with respect.
  • It’s an often-recited adage in business: match your attire to the job you want, not the one you have. Dress as if you are going to cross paths with the CEO or a key client everyday. At the same time, follow the office trends. If you work in a casual environment, do not overdress and potentially alienate yourself from the rest of the team.

I have also been fortunate in that I have not personally experienced sexual harassment or similar inappropriateness in the workplace. Culture is set at the top. Again, do your research as you make decisions related to what organizations you want to work for. If you do experience harassment or intimidation in any form, documentation and discussion with HR is essential. If it is happening to you, most likely it is happening to others too.

About Lauren Leach

Lauren Leach, Director, Conway MacKenzie has negotiated over 8,000,000 square feet of leases with a value in excess of $410,000,000. She also specializes in court-appointed receiverships, leasing matters, portfolio valuations and liquidations, and complex real estate negotiations. Lauren holds a B.A. in psychology and Master’s degree in retail brokerage from the University of Michigan. She resides in Metro Detroit with her husband, daughter and dog.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views of Guest contributors are not necessarily those of theglasshammer.com

/by

5 Tips to Increasing your Empathy as a Leadership Strategy

,

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

I used to have zero empathy, lots of honest concern for the person in their situation, but zero empathy (and I have the psychometric tests to prove it).

I could not understand why people could not do better, get over it and get on with it. I was judging them against my paradigms built as a child growing up in a terrorist state with an emotionally unavailable parent and a right wing culture telling me I had to be tough to survive( Northern Ireland in the 1980s under Thatcher). My frameworks and values were in play exclusively, not the other person’s frameworks. It was frustrating for me and I am pretty sure it was not a pleasant experience for people I managed and had in my life. Empathy is a leadership skill, because without it you cannot understand what people are feeling which dictates everything from how they perform to how they show up at work attitudinally and to how authentic they are with you.

This is key if you want to get past the golden rule of ‘treat others of treat people how you want to be treated’ and evolve to the platinum rule of “treat others how they want to be treated.”

So, I built, brick by brick and I internalized it and like any muscle flexed it until it became integral to my nature. You can do this also!

Here are 4 quick tips to get started:

1. Ask open questions that allow people to tell you about themselves and their situations in a way that gives them space to do it their way. Don’t interrogate people as building trust comes before, during and after these types of interactions.

2. Understand the difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy is when you feel an emotion for their situation ( such as sorrow and there is distance between you and them emotionally). Empathy is when their emotion is something that you feel with them as it pertains to your own ability to map it internally to your own experiences.

3. Do not limit other people’s emotions to your own range or to your own experiences. Frankly, you might not have the biggest range in the world. And if are very subjective in your ability to interpret events and can only do it through your lens ( see Kegan and Lahey again on the socialized mind in Immunity to Change) then I have found in people who have low EQ but lots of empathy that the person who is seeking to be understood by you on a topic can feel frustrated by the way that you are very keen to share what happened to you as part of the meaning- making and it can drown out the original person. Or that the subjectivity factor completely limits the process, putting the process in or near the concern quadrant if this was a map.

4. Recap and name the emotions you hear as a question not as a statement. In my opinion this is very tied to points 1 and 2 and 3.

5. Use the “magic if” to walk in the other person’s shoes. For example: “If my dad had a stroke this week, would i be able to finish project x today?’.

Practice makes perfect! And imperfection is ok too, your efforts will be appreciated, I am sure.

If you would like to develop your leadership skillst, I would be happy to work with you as your executive coach. Contact me on 646 6882318 or nicki@theglasshammer.com for an exploratory chat

/by