Being a More Effective Leader — Expand Yourself in All Areas (Part II)

1. Ask more questions

Be curious. It is almost that simple. The more interested you are in a subject, the more you will want to learn about it. Push yourself to do this as often as possible, even with what might seem like a mundane situation. Exploring areas by asking questions and having a natural curiosity can yield remarkable results in learning, innovation, and experiences.

Whenever possible, prepare some questions ahead of a conversation. Then, actively participate in the discussion that occurs. This should lead to additional questions as part of that dialogue. I am confident that in practicing this for even a short period of time you will discover information you had no idea about. The worst questions are the ones that go unasked. Don’t fear asking what might seem like a silly question – as long as you have been engaged in the conversation, your question will likely be something that others wonder as well.

2. Schedule weekend sabbaticals

Once upon a time, this would have been easy to say and do (well, ok, relatively easy – scheduling is always hard). Now, there has to be a little more thought in where, when, and whether it can be done safely. Until the pandemic is fully under control, you may have to be creative in achieving this. Taking a weekend sabbatical can mean a couple of different things.

If possible, get away from your normal day-to-day surroundings and find a quiet place with as few distractions as possible. Be minimalistic in your packing – the fewer things, the better. Depending on what you are planning to do, you might only need a pen and paper. (I realize none of us go anywhere without our phones anymore, so I assume you’ll have that as well.) The idea is to recharge and reset. Plan to rest and sleep as much as possible. I know that sounds strange and may even be the most difficult part, but taking a weekend to really reset your body and your clocks can have a huge positive impact.

You may also choose to use your weekend sabbatical to do some writing or planning. Again, take only what you need and define some strict personal rules about what you will use your technology for. You want to avoid ‘getting away’ by watching YouTube videos for the entire weekend (I guess if they were all TEDTalks or learning videos that could be an exception, but do so with caution).

Build a loose plan for what you want your weekend to look like, and then let it flow. Ideally, you would be able to depart on a Friday afternoon so that you can settle in that night. That will give you all day Saturday to rest, relax, recharge. On Sunday, you can ease into the day and then head home. Treat this time as if you were away on vacation, somewhere that you do not receive email messages or phone calls (except for extreme emergencies).

3. Attend a webinar or online conference (quarterly if not monthly)

This has actually become easier to do since the pandemic began. There seems to be no shortage of webinars or virtual discussion sessions that have popped up out of necessity during a period when people cannot travel or gather in large groups. I believe this trend is likely to continue and even enhanced in the options that will become available for conferences and developmental learning sessions.

A small amount of research should result in multiple options every month to attend one of these types of sessions. Many bloggers or productivity expects host these types of online events to promote new products or ideas – and they are often free. These can be an excellent way to get exposure to new things and possibilities. If the timing doesn’t work, often when you sign up for the events you can get a replay of the webinar to watch on your own schedule. So, 1 pm may not work for you, but with a link afterward, you can watch later that day or the coming weekend. You miss out on some of the online interactions (if offered), but you still get the key elements of what you signed up for. I have found these very interesting and insightful in most cases.

4. Practice empathy

Empathy is a skill. It can be improved with practice. It starts with having a full understanding of what empathy is and how to connect with others. Empathy is not about feeling sorry for someone else. It is about feeling what someone else feels and placing yourself in their shoes. Empathy as a skill has taken more of a center stage as of late. Brene Brown began to popularize it several years back, and with a year like 2020, empathy became even more important to try to understand how different people felt.

For this particular skill, I recommend building time to research different aspects of empathy to gain a growing understanding of how it is demonstrated. I stop short of saying ‘full’ understanding because I believe it is ever-evolving. This subject is deep and requires ongoing learning and practice to ensure it can be employed effectively and meaningfully. In a world that continues to face numerous challenges and levels of divisiveness unseen in decades, empathy may be more important than ever before. We can only lead our way to a better understanding of everyone around us. 

5. Connect with new people

Here is a challenge – when was the last time you met someone new and spent some time getting to know them? This has been much more challenging over the past year as we have been locked down, and person to person contact has been limited. As we have become accustomed to using Zoom, Teams, or any other video conference platform, it will begin to feel more natural to meet new people this way. I am not recommending randomly dialing up people and asking to video chat with them. I am suggesting that you look for ways to extend beyond your normal contacts. For Store Managers, this may mean reaching out to a peer you really have not spent a lot of time with. For District Managers, the same, as with fewer in-person meetings, the likelihood you get the opportunity to see peers inside and outside your normal group is limited, so reach out to someone new and get to know them better.

Hopefully, one or more of this second set of tips will resonate and help you find some new areas to explore for yourself and those you serve. The next article will also have more tips in what will be a five part series.

Which tip did you select? How will you incorporate that into your routines?

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