©Karin Hurt, 2014 [email protected] 443 750 ...worldwide.streamer.espeakers.com/assets/2/24852/106550.pdf · 4. Have each participant share their competency deck, and

©Karin Hurt, 2014 [email protected] (443) 750-1249 www.letsgrowleaders.com

mailto:[email protected]

2 ©Karin Hurt, 2014 [email protected] (443) 750-1249 www.letsgrowleaders.com

TALKING TEAMS

9 Easy-to-Implement Activities to Inspire Humble

Confidence and Achieve Breakthrough Results



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Sharing Values and Operating Principles: Creating a Leadership Credo…………………….4

Building Competency: Build Your Own Competency Model……………………………………...7

Encouraging Conversation: The Power of Naming…………………………………………………….10

Articulating a Team Vision: Team Visioning Exercise………………………………………………...14

Clarifying Expectations: Expectation Conversation Model………………………………………...17

Establishing Team Norms: Breaking Through Dysfunction………………………………………...20

Soliciting Feedback: Do It Yourself 360 Assessment…………………………………………………..22

Talking With Your Boss: REAL Survey………………………………………………………………………..25

Reflecting For Improvement : Email as a Reflective Practice……………………………………..28



INTRODUCTION

I always felt like I had a secret advantage when taking on a new executive role. Whereas many leaders would depend on external consultants or HR to conduct leadership training or facilitate a teambuild-ing session, I would just tap into my bag of tricks from a decade of developing such programs in my HR roles at Verizon Wireless—and do it myself.

Over time, I found which sessions made the biggest impact, and learned how to tailor each approach to the team at hand. I also learned that bringing my team together on a regular basis to take time out to really invest in our development and growth as a team was vital.

During the times in my career when the business needs seemed too urgent to invest such time, results always suffered. Sometimes you have to slow down just a bit in order to go fast.

Today I share a few of these approaches with you. I’ve used these exercises with my own teams, and am actively working with teams across a wide spectrum of industries and sizes to leverage their magic.

This is just a small sampling of the kind of work I could do with your team. I’ve chosen some exercises that you can easily implement yourself, to get a flavor for my approach to employee engagement.

I never use an off-the-shelf approach to leadership and team development, and I never give the exact program twice. I work with each client to design and deliver a program just right for where they are and what they need to accomplish.

I encourage you to try an exercise or two that feels right, and let me know how it goes.

I welcome the opportunity to talk with you about how I can help you achieve breakthrough results through deeper connection, communication and trust.

Karin [email protected]



Sharing Values and Operating Principles:

Creating a Leadership Credo

Purpose: to get the team to consider and share their leadership values and operating principles.

Target Audience: Works at any level across a variety of organizations and contexts.

Materials Needed: Magazines or other sources of pictures, glue, poster board, dot stickers

Time Required: This easy exercise can be done in less than two hours. If you have less time, you can assign the credo creation as “homework” in advance of the session.

Summary: Authenticity and transparency create trust. Helping your team members to articulate how and why they choose to behave as they do will go a long way in fostering understanding and building deeper trust.

I’ve used this exercise in corporate, academic, and church settings, with groups of all back-grounds and ages. It’s easy to adapt to meet your trust-building goals.



Sharing Values and Operating Principles: Building a Leadership “Credo”

1. Set up

Set up the exercise in a way that’s most meaningful to you. Speak from your heart, perhaps sharing a story of your own journey toward authenticity.

Sample wording could include the following:

It’s so easy to run through our days without taking time to consider how and why we lead as we do. Days become months and months become years. Pressures, grooming, and politics all can create counter-pressures to authenticity.

This exercise gives each of us a chance to pause and consider what we truly value and why we lead as we do. The work will take place in two parts.

We will begin with time for personal reflection as you create your credo. Use this exercise to deeply reflect on your core values and operating principles, even if you sometimes fall short. This should be a reflection of what you truly believe about leadership and who you strive to be.

The second part will be a time of sharing with one another. We’ll talk about what matters most to each of us as leaders, and how that plays out in what we do. We’ll see what’s similar as well as the differences amongst us.

2. Constructing the Credos

Encourage each person to build their own personal credo using a combination of words, pictures, and any other creative sparks to articulate their values, principles, desired outcomes, and challenges (this could be done as a pre-meeting "homework" assignment if time will not allow.)

Invite participants to be as creative as they possibly can be. If you’re doing this on-site, provide poster board or easel sheets, pictures, markers, and other art supplies. Participants with laptops may also choose to create their credo electronically.

Each credo should include the following components:

Core leadership values (e.g. integrity, transparency)

Operating principles (e.g. develop strong peer relationships; follow-through) Desired outcomes (“As a result of my leadership this year, _______.”)

Challenges (“What sometime gets in the way of living my leadership credo is…”)

3. Gallery Walk

Provide each participant with six dot stickers for "voting" (three yellow and three blue.) Have each team member walk around the room and share their credos with one another. Give them enough time and space to really listen to one another's point of view and to identify similarities and differences. When they are struck by the message or creativity of a particular credo, they can recognize their colleague with a yellow dot for depth of thinking or a blue dot for creativity. You can reward the most dots in several creative ways.

Of course for a smaller team, you can always just sit in a circle and have each person share.



4. Discussion

Debrief the themes and process with the group.

What were the similarities? What were the key differences? What did you learn about others in the team? What are the common challenges that get in the way? What support would people like in staying true to their credos? How can we help one another lead with more authenticity?

5. Composite Credo & Next Steps

Next take an easel sheet and work to summarize the discussion by creating a composite credo, including val-ues and beliefs that cut across all team members.

Identify three key actions the team agrees to that would support more consistency of living out this vision.

You may also find value in revisiting the credos from time to time, as individuals or as a team. Some may chose to hang the credo in their office, or to take a digital picture as a reminder. A regular check-in is a great way to see how you’re staying true to how you said you wanted to lead.

TAKEAWAY

Authenticity and transparency create trust.



Building Competency:

Build Your Own Competency Model

Purpose: To clearly define the knowledge, skills and abilities for breakthrough results

Target Audience: Works at all levels

Materials Needed: Easel sheets

Time Required: About two hours

Summary: When is the last time you looked at the competency for your job or for the mem-bers of your team? Do you leave such things to the HR department and get on with your work? Or perhaps you work on your own or in a small company that just doesn't have time for such formalities?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for formal, validated competency modeling processes. Competen-cy models are extremely useful for staffing and selection processes, building training curricu-lum, compensation modeling and other contexts. I've spearheaded many such initiatives over the years, including the modeling of all the leadership jobs that were used in merger selection of the executive team. But, when it comes to running the daily business, I don't see too many leaders referencing competency models in their developmental conversations.



Five Easy Steps to Building Your Own Competency Model

What if, in the spirit of development, you worked with the team to build your own competency model, be-ginning with one simple question:

When a person in this role is at the top of the game, what skills do they do best?

Such an exercise gets people really thinking about what it takes to be successful in their role. They use their own words and describe the real deal. The debate and prioritization are worth the time, even if you never do much more with the model. Of course, the further you take it, the more impactful the exercise becomes.

1. Gather a group of people holding a similar role or function (e.g. call center directors, team leaders). You can have them work on their own role, or the role of the people they supervise.

2. Provide each participant with five index cards. Ask each person to envision the highest performers in the role and privately write down their thoughts on the following, putting one competency on each card.

What skills are most central to their success?

Considering where the organization is heading in the next three years, what skills will be most vital in this role? 3. If a formal model exists, use that for additional input and invite participants to update their cards if desired.

Which of the competencies listed feel most relevant to the role today?

Which are vital toward accomplishing your goals for the future? What's missing?

Which of these competencies has the biggest impact on actual results?

4. Have each participant share their competency deck, and sort the competencies of the group into similar skill sets.

5. Prioritize, discuss and debate the competencies you most agree to. Refine the words into easy to under-stand language that feels real and actionable to the team. Have the team pick their five favorites.

6. The next steps are limitless. Some possibilities include:

Turning the tool into a self assessment, describing what behaviors look like at a high, medium or develop-ing level

Having each team member pick one competency they really want to work on this year and create an ac-tion plan around it Partnering up team members as peer support to help one another

An Example

Here's what such an informal competency could look like in the call center director world.

1. A Wildly Passionate Commitment to the Customer Experience

Helps the team understand, and believe in, what great customer service looks like and why it matters. Holds high-standards and takes any breach of great service as if it had just happened to his mother… no, make that his grandmother. His energy toward great service serves as a charismatic contagious vortex that inspires dai-ly action.



2. A Beacon of Calm in the Midst of Chaos

Is not easily rattled. When the systems crash, the calls back up, the customer starts screaming, s/he takes a deep breath and moves into action. Can diffuse the negative energy in a crises and channel it into pro-ductive action. Is highly responsive, but has the ability to consider implications before reacting.

3. An “I’m in It with You” Attitude

Is seldom behind closed doors, but is on the floor, listening, observing and supporting. Won’t hesitate to hop on a call to deescalate a tough customer situation. Is an artful coach and works to draw out the best solutions from the team. Is not a blamer, but consistently works to bring the right people together to re-solve the problem.

4. A Legacy Mindset

Balances day-to-day operations with a longer term view. Is constantly encouraging innovation and new ways to make the work more effective and efficient. Invests deeply in developing her leadership team. Knows that a true sign of success is what happens in the center when s/he's not there.

5. A Penchant for Process

Understands that center leadership is a constant balancing between quality, efficiency, employee experi-ence and financials. Is constantly considering cause and effect and the downstream impact of decisions. Approaches problems in a systematic way and explores alternative solutions before making decisions.

TAKEAWAY

To achieve breakthrough results, you need to clearly define the knowledge, skills and abilities needed on the

team.



Encourage Conversation:

The Power of Naming

Purpose: To get the team talking about issues that matter to them

Target Audience: Works well with frontline or middle management teams

Time Required: 20-45 minutes based on question selected and depth of discussion

Materials Needed: None necessary, but easel sheets and markets can be good for summa-rizing themes

Summary: A good way to build trust is to get the team talking about what matters most

and common challenges. You can easily modify this exercise based on your goals or the cur-

rent dynamics of the team. It’s a simple exercise and can be used over lunch, or as a warm-up

icebreaker for a team meeting. It also works as part of one-on-one development sessions.



Name Your Role

Ask each member of your team to pick a poignant name for his or her current role (and for a twist, have

them add their desired role).

Examples:

Chief Difference Maker

Transformation Specialist Mind Reader

Provocateur Savior of Relationships

Service Specialist Firefighter

Babysitter Discussion Questions:

How does that name describe your contribution to the team?

What would you need to do differently to make your job more like your desired role?

Do the rest of you see her role in that way? Why or why not?

Name Your Challenge

Give a creative name to your biggest business challenge. The process of finding a name will help you get to

root cause and bring some levity to the scene.

Examples:

Operation (insert big goal here) Hurricane (insert competitors name here) Changes in Attitude All Aboard

Discussion Questions:

What did the names we picked reveal about our challenge?

How could we use this metaphor to inspire the team to action?

What does this metaphor tell us about what we must do next?



Name Your Anger

What’s really ticking you off? Name that frustration. Naming your anger helps you sift through the source.

Examples:

Frustration Jealousy Betrayal Disappointment


What is making you feel that way?

What can you do to reduce this frustration?

How have you overcome these feelings in the past?

Name Your Trigger Response

This one can get personal, but can be vital in an intrapersonal or team building context. Where do you go

when you’re stressed? Being able to name the patterns makes them easier to recognize. If you can get your

team talking about them, it’s easier for them to give feedback in a safe way when they see the response in

play (perhaps start with yours). By giving your response a name you give the team permission to talk about it

and help you grow.

Examples:

Disappearing Darla Roaring Rachel Joking Joe


How can the team best support you when the see you slipping into this pattern?

What would you like your response to be instead?

How do our own patterns interplay and impact the team?



Name Your Greatest Hope

What does your team want most… as individuals and as a team? Naming your dream simplifies the vision.

Examples:

To purchase a home To land the new account To be promoted

Discussion Questions

How can the team help you in this effort?

What will it feel like when you’ve accomplished that?

What are you next steps in moving toward this goal?

TAKEAWAY

A good way to build trust is to get the team talking about

what matters most, and common challenges.



Articulating a Team Vision:

Team Visioning Exercise

Purpose:

To get the team involved in understanding the bigger picture and envisioning the roadmap for success.

Target Audience: Works best in frontline, or middle management teams.

Materials Needed: Easel sheet, markers, and sticky notes

Time Required: Pre-work varies depending on the size of the team. The team session works well in half a day. It also works well to break it into two sessions, one focused on the vision and one focused on the behaviors.

Summary: Executives spend vital time communicating their vision to the frontline. Kickoff meetings, employee broadcasts, town halls… all serve well to share important vision, values and goals.

What’s often lost in translation is how this plays out at the frontline. The vision feels bigger

than day-to-day. So the frontline teams enjoy the message, and then get back to doing the

work the same as they did yesterday. To achieve breakthrough results, teams need vision too.

This exercise helps you build a strong vision at the team level, as well as identifies needed be-

haviors and actions to achieve it.



How To Create A Strong Team Vision

1. Start One on One

Talk to each team member offline about the possibilities for the team at it’s very best.

What would they be known for?

What would they accomplish?

How would the team be working together?

Define the future. Imagine possibilities.

2. Set the Stage

Schedule time where the team can work uninterrupted. Bring some easel paper, markers and sticky notes.

3. Begin with the company vision and values.

Ensure everyone understands the bigger context. The team vision must directly support the overall vision

and strategy.

4. Pick a technique or two and start brainstorming

Questions: Imagine it is 5 years from now. The team is being recognized for making a game-changing contri-

bution.

What is the most important work we are doing?

What are our customers saying about us?

What does it feel like to work on this team?

What is senior management saying about us?

5. Turn the ideas into a bold statement of the desired future

“We will be known for the best customer service in the nation.”

6. Determine how you measure success

“… as measured by NPS, repeat calls, and customer churn”

7. Identify specific behaviors

Identify behaviors that are needed from you (the leader), and each member of the team to make the vision a

reality. Write them down. Create a matrix of what each key role must be doing to accomplish the vision.



8. Stakeholder

Share your vision and key behaviors with your boss and other key players. Refine as needed to ensure your

breakthrough vision is aligned with evolving strategy.

9. Get to work

Link everything you do and say back to the vision. Recognize early success. Be impatient. (See Impatience

as a Leadership Virtue on Letsgrowleaders.com.) Support your stragglers. Teach your team to share their

good work (See Powerful Presentations: Teaching Your Team to Talk Strategy on Letsgrowleaders.com.)

TAKEAWAY

To achieve breakthrough results, teams need vision too.



CLARIFYING EXPECTATIONS:

Expectation Conversation Matrix

Purpose: To clarify expectations and have two-way conversation on how to improve commu-nication and execution.

Target Audience: Can be used in a team or in a one-on-one situation.

Materials Needed: Expectation Worksheet (included)

Time Required: About an hour. Best if each person completes the worksheet in advance of the meeting.

Summary: Most conflict in teams starts with an expectation violation. This exercise provides a quick and easy way to talk expectations and potential breakdowns and areas for improve-ment. It’s designed to promote two-way dialogue for a manager and employee, or to stimu-late a 360 conversation on a team.



The Simplest Way to Set Clear Expectations

1. Get Clear on Your Own Expectations

If you're not clear on what you want, I guarantee you won't be able to communicate it. I had one VP who could never articulate just what he wanted in the presentations we were creating. He just “knew it when he saw it." The lack of clear expectations always resulted in rounds and rounds of frustrating iterations wasting everyone's time and weakening respect along the way.

2. Engage in Conversation

Be clear about what you want, but also listen carefully to concerns. Better to identify expectation discon-nects as early in the game as possible.

3. Write them Down

In some circumstances it's useful to write down agreed to expectations. This works one-on-one and with teams. The process of writing down expectations often leads to further clarity and serves as an objective reminder as expectation violations arise.

4. Check in

From time to time it's useful to check in. You can easily draw a 4-quadrant box to guide the conversation (see graphic provided). You can do this as a one-on-one or a team exercise.

The Exercise

Step 1

Each person completes the matrix, jotting down areas where their expectations are being met and where they are not.

Step 2

Discuss areas of agreement and areas of concern

What do you expect that you receive, or don't expect and don't receive? Start with appreciating that.

What do you receive that you don't expect, or expect that you don't receive? Recognize the good or the issue here and discuss.

Step 3

Identify specific actions that would enable you to work more effectively together.

TAKEAWAY

Most conflict in teams starts with an expectation violation.



EXPECTATIONS EXERCISE

What I receive that I expect:

What I don’t expect and don’t receive:

What I receive and don’t expect (could be good or problematic):

What I expect and don’t receive:

How we make it better:



Establishing Norms:

Breaking Through Dysfunction

Target Audience: Works well in large or small teams at any level.

Materials Needed: sticky notes, pens, wall space or white board

Time Required: 1-2 hours

Summary: Whether your team is just starting up, or has the battle scars of a team fighting for results, they need to find a way to talk about the behaviors getting in their way. Great leaders look for ways to make this conversation easier.

Dysfunctional behavior can be hard to talk about because it feels so personal. Many times people wait to have important, difficult conversations until the issue has escalated. It's hard-er then.



A Functional Conversation on Dysfunction

It’s good to use this exercise early in a team's formation to get folks talking about common experiences and appropriate remedies as early in the game as possible. This conversation also provides a safer feeling infrastructure to surface important dynamics a mature team needs to share without direct confrontation.

Step 1: Give every team member 6-7 sticky notes. Ask them to identify the behaviors that (in their experi-ence) most get in the way of results or team progress. It's important to tee-up that this is based on a life-time of experience, not just this team. Then ask them to write one behavior on each sticky note.

Step 2: As team members are ready, have them bring their sticky notes to a wall or white board and begin to self-organize them into clusters. Enjoy the banter as the clusters form.

Step 3: Circle the biggest dysfunctions.

My experience shows they will read something like this:

1. Arrogance (by a landslide) 2. Unmotivated (and/or lazy) 3. Self-serving motives and actions 4. Lack of communication 5. Disrespect 6. Stubbornness 7. Drama 8. Anger-bullying 9. Passive-aggressive Step 4: Take the top few categories and invite the team to share what they would do when encoun-tered with such scenarios. Encourage them to share stories of best practices they've used in the past. Step 5: Develop a set of standards or team norms for how such issues would be addressed if they were to occur on this team. Encourage the sharing of stories from best experiences and overcoming dysfunc-tional behavior.

It's very important for teams to talk about their own dysfunction. But early in the game, it may be easier to talk about standards and stories to establish a framework for the future.

TAKEAWAY

If you wait to have a difficult conversation until the situation has escalated, it will be harder.



Solicit Feedback:

Do It Yourself 360

Purpose: To solicit 360 feedback amongst team members on the impact they’re having on the team and on results


Materials Needed: none

Time Required: Can be accomplished in a series of 30-minute conversations

Summary: Chances are, unless you ask, most people won't tell. People are holding back their best thinking on how you can improve.

In fact, research consistently shows that people rate themselves higher than others do. When it comes to self-assessment, our confidence seems to outweigh our humility.

This is partly because we know our own context, and therefore give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. "Sure, I slacked off a bit on that project, but, I'm only human for Pete's sake. It's back to school time, my husband's out-of-town, it's just a lot."

We know we are human and that we're doing the best we can, so we give ourselves some extra credit. We don't expect others to know or care, but we know in our hearts we deserve a break. If you want to know how you're really doing, you need to ask.



Don't Wait

Sure formal 360 tools are a GREAT way to get structured, anonymous feedback. I've learned a great deal from them over the years, and helped leaders at all levels do the same. But the truth is, what makes these tools valuable is always the conversation that follows. If a formal 360 is not available or not practical in your organization, you can achieve similar results through your own listening tour.

Rachel's Story

"Rachel" came to me frustrated by the feedback she'd been getting from her boss. She felt completely mis-understood. When I asked her what others in the organization thought, she admitted she hadn't asked.

We identified three simple questions she would ask her boss, her peers, and her direct reports. She went off an a two-week listening tour. When we met again to discuss the themes, she had learned a great deal. Most importantly she had made the strategic shift from, "My boss is a jerk," to “Maybe there are some things I could be doing differently.” She made the changes, and life got better-- for everyone.

The Listening Tour Approach

1. Get Your Head Right

Don't do this unless you're ready to listen with an open-mind

Absolutely don't do this to prove someone wrong-- people will smell that coming from a mile away

2. Identify Areas of Interest

Focus on a few key areas

Keep it short, simple, and exploratory

3. Craft a Few Open-Ended Questions

What could I do to be more effective in our meetings?

How could I have a more strategic impact on our results?

What about my communication style gets in the way?

What do you think are my biggest strengths?

If you could identify one area for me to work on this year, what would that be?

4. Identify People to Ask for Feedback

Include people up down and sideways.

Don't stack the deck with all friendlies or known detractors--work to get a balanced perspective.

Approach them one on one, and explain why you're doing this

Explain that you're really looking for candid feedback and that you'll be happy to circle back with themes and key actions.

Thank them



5. Identify themes and key actions

Look for cross-cutting feedback

Consider consulting a coach or mentor. They can be very helpful in this regard.

Circle back with stakeholders

Or Start with a "Survey"

I'm a big proponent to the listening tour approach. Nothing beats eyeball to eyeball conversation. But if you think you won't get the truth, or you truly feel uncomfortable, you can start by using a free survey tool like Survey Monkey to quickly distribute the survey and ask for themes. I would go with a few open-ended questions rather than ratings. Ratings without comments will just leave you scratching your head at best, or ticking you off at worst.

Process matters less than substance. Ask and you shall receive. If you want feedback, start with a simple question. How can I add more value?

TAKEAWAY

If you want to know how you’re really doing, you have

to ask.



Talking With Your Boss: Real Assessment

Purpose: To open up lines of communications between managers and team members


Materials Needed: The survey

Time Required: About an hour.

Summary: The most important predictor of job satisfaction is an employee’s relationship with their manager. And yet, it can be tough to talk about what’s working and how the rela-tionship could improve. This simple survey provides an opportunity for the manager and employee to reflect on the relationship and then sit down to discuss how they can take it to the next level.



GROWING YOUR “REAL” RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BOSS

REAL Focus Areas

Strongly Agree

Agree

Not Sure

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

RESULTS

Our work together leads to break-through re-sults

I feel supported by you in overcoming mistakes and setbacks

You are committed to helping me achieve my professional and career goals

Results Total

ENERGY

You help me tap into my gifts and strengths

I’m energized by our interactions

You support my healthy work-life balance and need for rest and renewal

Energy Total

AUTHENTICITY

You do what you say you will

I trust you to tell me the truth

I feel comfortable being myself around you

Authenticity Total

LEARNING

You provide me regular feedback to help me improve

You support me in my development

You challenge me to improve

Learning Total

OVERALL



TAKEAWAY

The most important predictor of job satisfaction is an

employee’s relationship with their manager.



Reflecting for Improvement: Using Email As A

Reflective Practice

Objective: To increase regular, meaningful reflection and communication during busy times.

Target Audience: Works at any level across a variety of organizations and contexts

Materials Needed: email

Time Required: Varies based on technique chosen.

Summary: Having a Reflective Practice means finding a deliberate way to stop and think. It's a ritual you do regularly to pause, consider, and learn. So, can email be a good medium on which to build a reflective practice? Stop laughing.

Now of course, I hate most email as much as the next guy. But after years of having large and geographically dispersed teams, I have found that email can be transformed into a use-ful tool for reflection and creating deeper connection.



Approach 1: Weekly Reflections

Ask the team to reflect on a few key questions and send you a note each Friday. The questions can be any-thing that gets people thinking.

I am most proud of... I am concerned about... I need your help with…

Of course, this is not a substitute for regular face-to-face connection, but can offer a nice supplement.

For some, this is a way to share some good news without seeming boastful. Others seem to feel safer putting something in writing, rather than surfacing tough issues in person or on the phone. I have been surprised about how some heavy professional and personal concerns have come up in these emails throughout the years. When they do, I always write back and ask if we can talk live. The answer has always been yes... and the conversation is rich.

Approach 2: Mid Year, End of Year Letters

As part of the mid year appraisal and check in process, in addition to the normal fare, ask each member to write a letter as if it were the end of the year.

Yikes... this has been the best year of my career...

I am so proud that... My team accomplished... I learned so much about... I will never do ___ again. People typically bring a good bit of humor to this exercise, and also dream BIG about their accomplishments (many mention a promotion). I also find that they include personal dreams and aspirations as well. The hu-mor creates a fun and light opening to the meeting that follows. But after the laughter, it’s easy to talk about how their ambition is really not really that crazy, and talk about ways to approach working toward those goals.

You can bring the letter out again in the end of year discussion (earlier as appropriate), and it is great to see how much they have accomplished. If their vision has not been fully accomplished, build it into the plans again for the next year.

TAKEAWAY

When used effectively, email can be a helpful reflecting tool.



About Karin Hurt

Keynote Speaker & Consultant

Karin has a diverse background of executive leadership experience in

sales, customer service, call centers, human resources, merger integra-

tion, training and leadership development-- the last 20 years of which

have been with Verizon.

She most recently served as Executive Director of the Strategic Partnership Channel at Verizon Wireless

where she transformed customer service outsourcing, working with companies and call centers to build

great customer experiences and strong cultures. Her high-trust, high-collaboration approach has led to sub-

stantial improvement across the portfolio, with centers performing at parity or above internal centers.

Karin inspires leaders to achieve breakthrough results through confident humility.

Her award winning blog, www.Letsgrowleaders.com has grown into a highly-interactive, International com-

munity. Her book, Overcoming an Imperfect Boss: A Practical Guide To Building a Better Relationship With

Your Boss is available on Amazon.

Karin has an BA in Communication from Wake Forest University, an MA from Towson University in Organiza-

tional Communication, and additional graduate work at the University of Maryland, where she now teaches

graduate classes.

She was recently recognized as one of the top 100 thought leaders in Trusted Business Behavior by Trust

Across America and as Multiplier of the Year by the Wiseman Group.

Karin lives in Baltimore with her husband and two sons. She knows the long road of the marathon runner and the joy of good song, all of which inform her leadership.



http://letsgrowleaders.com

@letsgrowleaders

[email protected]

Let’s Grow Leaders inspired leaders |confident humility |breakthrough results


http://letsgrowleaders.com

©Karin Hurt, 2014 [email protected] 443 750 ...worldwide.streamer.espeakers.com/assets/2/24852/106550.pdf · 4. Have each participant share their competency deck, and

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