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It has been 2 years since publishing my first book, “Rescuing the Corporate Exhausted Hero.”  And over those two years, I have more and more data indicating being an Exhausted Hero is a choice, not a life sentence.  

Over the last two years, I have coached c-suite Fortune 500 executives and mid-major directors who have struggled as Exhausted Heroes.  And 95% of them have made HUGE progress in elevating to more strategic leadership roles.  Through coaching and making minor changes to their leadership style, these leaders are finding better personal balance, gaining positive feedback from their teams, and delivering more innovative solutions for the business.

What is an Exhausted Hero?  This is a leader who maintains individual contributor responsibilities, manages a team, and in their spare time sets the vision.  In trying to do it all, they probably aren’t doing any of it well.  

An Exhausted Hero is a firefighter.  They run into the fire with the team to try to put it out, constantly reacting to the changing fire patterns and challenges.  They are exhausted, and therefore their team is exhausted too. A Strategic Manager is a fire chief who sets up the command post outside of the fire, continuously analyzes the fire, and proactively directs the team to put it out effectively.  They are composed, and therefore their teams are composed as well.

What is the key to becoming a Strategic Manager/Leader?  My research over the last four years shows 60% of leaders need to start with improving delegation skills.  By delegating the work, the overwhelmed firefighter can start to be a proactive fire chief.  Another 20% of leaders start by focusing on Influencing Change.  Through coaching, leaders learn to have more strategic conversations to drive more proactive decision making.  And finally, the last 20% of leaders start by focusing on Creating Vision.  My coachees learn to create new habits and re-invest their time into strategy, innovation, and learning opportunities which are used to build the vision for their teams.  

If you are a Corporate Exhausted Hero who feels trapped and hopeless, know there is a plan that works. It is a choice to not be an Exhausted Hero.  It takes discipline.  It takes courage.  But most of all, it takes your desire to no longer be Exhausted.
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 Be the leader your team is begging for.

Almost everyone I talk to in corporate America is exhausted.  The opportunities to drive the business are large, but the staff to execute the work is less than optimal with several open positions.  How do we manage the balance?  How do we try to maximize short term wins while not burning out the team? 

Middle managers often feel stuck in the middle.  Here are 3 tips for middle managers in prioritizing work:

1. Prioritize with your boss every day!:  Too many middle managers are taking the heat, trying to find the balance themselves.  Spend more than 70-80% of time with your boss discussing priorities.  They should help you in making decisions that align with the vision.  And the more overwhelmed they are with prioritization, the less time they will have in dreaming up less productive projects for your team.
2. Use Yes…And to get what you need:  I love the book “Yes…And” by Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton.  Instead of saying no, focus on what is needed to keep the project going.  “Yes, we can do that AND we will move this project to the 4^th quarter to make room.”  “Yes, we can do that AND we can do it more effectively with these three resources help.”  “Yes, we can do that AND we will start as soon your most important project is complete.”  This is a great way to gain the support needed for the team to complete all their projects effectively.
3. Be a Fire Chief, not a Firefighter:  in overwhelming circumstances, middle managers often have the urge to take on extra work to try to minimize the fires.  Instead, they get engulfed in flames and they can no longer prioritize and manage resources to put the fire out.  Be a fire chief who creates a command center analyzing the fires and provides direction to the resources to put the fires out.  When more fires are set, fire chiefs are able to prioritize the new work and provide the appropriate resources and timelines to achieve the goals.

In a time of exhausted teams, we tend to look at senior leadership to determine the priorities and workload of the team.  The best teams create a partnership between the senior leadership team and the middle management team to prioritize the work together.  The senior leadership team will clarify the vision of the organization and the middle managers can clarify what work can be completed to achieve that vision.  It is a partnership that your teams are desperate for you to make!

Everyone is coming into 2022 with burnout and exhaustion at the forefront of our reality, and also at the doorsteps of our teams.  Leading in 2022 will be like no other time in history!  It will take new proactive and strategic skills that are critical to survival.  To be a successful leader in 2022, you must be out front and lighting the path to success.  Here are five focus areas to thrive in 2022:

The world of work is not ever going back to the old normal.  Leaders in 2022 need to adjust to the new norm.  By focusing on these five points above, you will be able to blow away your goals, retain your talent, and build a culture that will sustain the unforeseen challenges ahead.  And if you need help through coaching or organizational development projects, email me at mark.heydt@gameplanleader.com.

Guest Blogger Alana Feigenbaum is a Sr. Organizational Development Consultant with GamePlan Leader, LCC. Alana has decades of experience working with organizations both internally and externally helping to analyze organizational practices, design development solutions, and implementing successful programs.

At this point many of you have already heard the latest employee retention buzzwords: Turnover Tsunami, The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffling. Your best people are being wooed and some statistics point to nearly 55% of Americans searching for new jobs in the next year. Your company will not be immune to this. Why are these people looking? What can you do retain your best talent? 

I’m from Michigan, and I grew up swimming in the Great Lakes. For those of you unfamiliar with the power of a body of water like Lake Michigan, it can have the high surf and surprise waves of an ocean. As kid, what I was most worried about was this mysterious undertow my parents would warn me of. I can’t see it coming, and if I do, I need to swim parallel to shore. What?? If I’m drowning, don’t I want to get to shore as quickly as possible? 

Many talent development teams moving into 2022 are going to be faced with the desire to move as quickly as possible to shore. They’ll be victims of the Talent Undertow, and will try to outswim it by outhiring it. But you can’t outswim this one. You need to feel the pull, find the current, and then find your opening. 

How does one navigate through this sort of environment, then? It starts with looking at the team you have. This group has been with you through the ups and downs of COVID. They held on through all the uncertainty and now are trying to decide if they stay with you, or not. When you look at your team, consider how burned out many of them have become, and reasons why. According to a survey by Human Resource Executive more than 4 in 10 employees say they are burned out. Does this describe your organization? How do you know if it does or doesn’t? Here are some ways you can get ahead of attrition in 2022:

#1 Figure out your source of burn out.

Culture surveys are a really important tool right now for talent teams. Quick pulse checks and larger-scale engagement surveys will provide key insights to the level of burnout your team is feeling. 

#2 Get organized on your hiring practices.

If you’ve been disorganized and disjointed on what level a person should be in an organization, and what the compensation ought to be at that level, you will come out of this with new hires being paid 10-20% more than your existing staff. The fact is, that existing staff knows more about your business and the way you do things than a new hire can, so why do companies often pay them so much more? Establishing career tracks for you team will empower you with the knowledge of where you actually have holes in your organization, and help you figure out who might be ready to step up. 

#3 Bring up your current team.

Often managers do not see the potential that already exists on their own team, because they have a hard time seeing it in themselves. Elevating your managers to lead, rather than do, will create space for others to develop. Promoting from within has always been good for morale, and is your most financially beneficial option right now.

As you plan for 2022, consider how you will address burnout, how you will address talent development, and how you will do all of this within the budget management has set for you. Teams who plan their talent will win the Talent Undertow. Teams who are just trying to get to shore will be fixing problem hires and expensive exits for years to come.

GamePlan Leader, LLC provides a High Potential Analysis which includes interviewing your high potential talent, analyzing your programs versus industry trends, and examining your compensation plans.  Reach out today to learn more about how we can help your organization.  mheydt@gameplanleader.com

In a recent study by DDI, 86% of high potential employees are feeling burnout. And high potential employees are twice as likely to leave compared to their peers.

With employee turnover exploding across the Corporate America, companies are starting to realize they need to step up their retention efforts for their best talent.  Human Resource departments are incorrectly assuming the HR procedures, which are focused on the general population of the company, are also positively impacting their best talent.  They are not!

Companies need to spend more time focused on their top talent, their High Potential Talent. 

Here are some High Potential talent assumptions companies are mistakenly making:

• Engagement – “High Potential talent is driving the business and showing extra effort in comparison to others, so they must be engaged and bought into their career at the company.”
  • INCORRECT:  High Potentials will continue to perform, but when they are exhausted, they will also evaluate their options. And they do have options!  

• Compensation – “With each annual review, our top performers get a higher percentage of the 3% average pay increase.  Therefore, we assume they are well compensated.”
  • INCORRECT:  High potentials need to be the top end of your pay scales and it is dangerous to assume without further analysis!

• Challenging Work – “Our High Potential talent is working on the most complex projects and therefore learning on the job to be leaders.”
  • INCORRECT:  Many High Potentials are drowning in busy work that is below their capabilities.  Companies are addicted to their productivity. High Potentials are looking for a more complex and elevated challenge. 

• Development – “Through mentoring and a good boss, our top talent is being developed and expanding their skills.”
  • INCORRECT:  High Potential talent need a blended learning approach for true development.  They need to try new skills and potentially learn by failing, which is challenging when all their work is heavily tied to the bottom line.  They need workshops, executive coaching, mentoring, and 360 assessments to expand their skills.

GamePlan Leader, LLC is partnering with companies to conduct analysis on High Potential talent and building customized recommendations and solutions for companies of all sizes.  We are interviewing High Potential talent to understand how their companies can best invest in and retain these important employees.  If you need this analysis at your company, email mheydt@gameplanleader.com

Building your talent retention plan during the Great Resignation

Organizations continue to ask, “Why are our employees quitting without jobs lined up?  Are they crazy?”  This is what I tell them.

Many of you know, I have a small addiction to Panera Bread.  Always good food and always a table available with great internet.  The Pandemic has changed my Panera experience for the better.

• Prior to 2020, I stood in line to order a large, iced tea.  I’d walk past the self-service kiosk and signs that tried to introduce me to the Panera online ordering app.  I would waste my time ordering the “old fashioned way” because it felt comfortable. 
• In 2020, to get my beloved Iced Tea, I had to order on the online ordering app and have it delivered to my car.  It really was simple, and I gained more value for my time. 
• Now in 2021, the old-fashioned cashier line is open, but I don’t use it.  I know the online app is faster and I can sit at a table to start working before it will let me know when my food is ready. 
• Never Going Back.  Why would I go back to the “old way” that is consistently slower and doesn’t value my time?  And if the app has technical issues, I can use different apps from Chick-fil A or Corner Bakery to get my breakfast!

So how does this relate to the Turnover Tsunami spreading across Corporate America: 

• Prior to 2020, millions of American’s were frustrated with their long commutes, annoyed with office politics, and uncomfortable in their corporate cultures.  Office based employees did not frequently jump to open remote roles that were available, because it was too easy to “just stay”. 
• In 2020, ALL employees instantly became remote workers.  Immediately, this forced action enabled millions to experience employment without a long commute, the annoying office politics, and a much more comfortable corporate environment.  And they blew away their annual goals!  They spoke with neighbors experiencing the same bliss.
• Now in 2021, “old school” companies are mandating office time, reintroducing long commutes and poor office environments.  But employees now know that a great job that values their time is possible.
• Never Going Back.  The balance has shifted.  It is deemed better to be unemployed and applying for a job worth having, than being employed to an old job that isn’t worth it anymore. Employees have been introduced to a choice, and they are taking it.

Employee Retention Plan 2021:

2021 should focus on options that drive the best results.  Notice, I didn’t say…that makes everyone satisfied.  What are the options that drive the best results?

1. Listen to the Individual.  What are their needs?  What do they value?  This isn’t making policies by department or by employee segment.  This is building an individual plan for each employee.  Some will go back to the office, some will not, and some will hybrid.  The real question…where can they drive the best results?
2. Evaluate based on Results.  If an individual exceeds expectations and soars above their metrics, allow them to work however and wherever they choose.  Or you can hire an “average” employee to replace them, but “at least I will know they come to the office.”  Focus on the results of the individual to support their individual plan.  And if they aren’t driving results, it may be time to change their individual plan.
3. Keep Listening.  This is an evolving market with new trends every day.  It is important to continue to gather information to ensure your instincts remain correct.  If you catch yourself saying, “this makes no sense, why in the world..?”, it means you need to be asking more questions and learning from your team.

At Panera, the shelf to pick up pre-ordered food is constantly being stocked.  Eliminating that option will result in a major loss in revenue.   In Corporate America, a remote option is here to stay.  And employees will hopefully find a remote option with your company, and not just with your competitors.

I recently found out I was nominated and awarded a CEO Today Magazine Top Consultant award. So humbled that one of my clients would nominate me for this award. Over the last three years, I have been blessed with amazing clients that have elevated their game and risen from Exhausted Heroes to Strategic Leaders. I love the work that I do and feel so blessed to create a satisfying career. Thank you for all of the support and trust!

https://managementconsultingawards.ceotodaymagazine.com/winners-edition/22/