Huwork

Category: Leadership

  • How to channel a higher cause at work

    Looking for a motivation reboot at work or ideas on how to be an inspirational leader? I’d recommend checking out Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game.  

    Simon takes an opposing view to Milton Friedman, the economist who posited that business’ sole responsibility is making profit. Simon argues that in addition to making profit, organizations should provide broader value to society, namely: 

    • Advance a PURPOSE: offer people a sense of belonging and a feeling that their lives and their work have value beyond the physical work

    • PROTECT people: operate our companies in a way that protects our workforce, our clients, and the work environment.

    • Generate PROFIT: money is fuel for a business to remain viable and to continue advancing the first two priorities

    According to Simon, any leader who wants to adopt this infinite mindset of running a business or team must follow five essential practices:

    1. Advance a JUST CAUSE: find a long-term cause the team can rally around

    2. Build TRUSTING teams: trust is key for engagement and collaboration

    3. STUDY your worthy rivals: keep tabs on your competition to understand the landscape

    4. Prepare for existential FLEXIBILITY: The capacity to initiate an extreme disruption to a business model or a strategic course in order to more effectively advance a just cause. 

    5. Demonstrate the COURAGE to lead: The willingness to take a risk for the good of an unknown future. Just like CVS deciding to stop selling cigarettes, even though they knew it would piss off Wall St. (BTW, the stock price only took a brief dip before recovering and gaining.)

    LEADERS especially must model the behavior they want to see, actively incentivize the kinds of behaviors that build trust, and give people the responsible freedom and the support they need to flourish in their jobs. It is a combination of what we value and how we act that sets the culture of a company. 

    CULTURE = VALUES + BEHAVIOR

    If leaders place an excess of stress on people to meet the numbers, and offer lopsided incentive structures, they risk creating an environment in which near- term performance and resources are prioritized, while long-term performance, trust, psychological safety, and the will of the people decline.

    Exhibiting the QUALITIES of leadership is what makes someone an effective leader. Qualities like honesty, integrity, courage, resiliency, perseverance, judgment and decisiveness. Ideally leaders would measure the inputs and the behaviors, rather than the outcomes.

    It’s very common for people nearing the end of their corporate careers to start foundations or distribute their wealth to charity, working to fulfill a desire to give back and do something more philanthropic. But purpose is not something that we need only find after a successful career. There are ways to infuse higher purpose in our everyday lives and work.

    Questions to ask yourself:

    • Am I just working for the money? 

    • How might I change my mindset at work to fulfill a broader goal I have? E.g,. treating people well, inspiring others to give their best, etc.

    • Should I move on to fulfill my desire to work for a cause bigger than myself?

    I’m here as a resource if you want to talk through your particular situation with a quick 20-min call. Interesting to note: about 50% of my coaching clients who originally wanted help finding a new career, end up renewed and remotivated in their existing role after a few coaching sessions. We look at how they are spending their time, what tasks they excel at, how they might improve their relationships with peers and their boss, and define their unique professional brand, leadership style, and goals.

    Warmly, 

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Chakras in the workplace

    While I was brought up in a traditional Indian household, the cultural aspects of our heritage were emphasized more than the religious ones. So it wasn’t until a yoga class in adulthood that I learned more about chakras. 

    Even to me, chakras sound a bit “out there”, but if we move beyond the esoteric term and just think about the ideas the chakras highlight, they are very much in line with HuWork’s philosophy of work being more human, and organizations having more human-centered practices in place. I would love to hear what you think.

    Each of the 7 chakras relates to a specific concept. I have added questions that pertain to the workplace for each:

    • TRUST: Is the work culture one of trust?

    • CREATIVITY: Do you have the ability to include some creativity in your work tasks, to make them your own?

    • WISDOM: Do you have a mentor and peers you can turn to for input? Are you continuously learning so you can provide wisdom to others? How can you create some space from the daily transactional “should do’s” to think about broader goals?

    • LOVE: What type of  energy are you bringing to your team? Are you finding the good in people and what went well, or always focusing on the negative?

    • COMMUNICATION: What is your communication style? Are you a GSD-kind of leader or more inspirational? Who do you want to be?

    • AWARENESS: Where are you on your career development?  What direction would you like to go?

    • ALIGNMENT: Is your workplace aligned with your values?

    Based on how you answered these questions, what’s one change that would have an enormous impact on your worklife? For me, I realize I have a gap in the wisdom category, specifically a male mentor. Anyone interested in that role? I promise reciprocity in knowledge, trust, and help.

    Warmly,

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family. If I can assist you on your path, please schedule a 20-minute call here. And don’t forget about my free open door OFFICE HOURS every Wednesday from 10-11am MT. All you have to do to attend is register here. The last two weeks have been lonely, so you’ll likely get 1:1 time for us to explore and brainstorm your particular situation.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Using LOVE to connect

    On Friday, HuWork is hosting a round table on Coffee and Conversation: Make Work More Human, to explore what it takes to be a more human-centered organization. We’ll talk about behaviors and practices that are going well in your organization, and things that you’d like to see changed. If you are interested, sign up ASAP as we only have 3 more spots available.

    One tenet of being more human at work involves an emotion people don’t always associate with work: LOVE. By love, I’m referring to our underlying motivation and sense of connection with other human-beings at work. I translate this LOVE at work into three core values: SERVE, LEARN, and CONNECT:

    1. SERVE: This is about our mindset: How can I come from a place of service vs. my own agenda?

    2. LEARN: How would learning something, whether it’s from books, articles, or conversations, increase the value and experience I can provide to others? What can I share with others to spread the love and ease their path? Can I make an introduction or share a resource?

    3. CONNECT: How can I build a more H2H or human-to-human connection with everyone, even people at work? How can I look beyond the task and focus on building a meaningful, reciprocal relationship?

    I invite you to take HuWork’s Human Factor Assessment to highlight the areas where you and your company are shining and think about changes to consider putting in place – whether you are working as a people manager, an individual contributor, or influencing change as an HR leader or consultant.

    Warmly, 

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Returning to a new “normal”

    Your organization is probably thinking about returning to the office, using a hybrid approach, or perhaps working from home permanently – all of these bring opportunities to think about new and better ways of working.  

     The 60-30-10 rule for effective teamwork, discovered by researcher J. Richard Hackman, states the following about a team’s success: 

    • 60% depends on prework, or activities before the actual work, 

    • 30%  can be linked to the initial launch (or relaunch) of the team, and

    • Only 10% is dependent on the day-to-day teamwork

    Anytime there is a major change to the team: new location, major project, new team members, I encourage you to hold a brief 60-90 minute launch session with the team. It can even be spread out over two sessions. But it’s critical that every single team member is present.  

    Using the image of a funnel – starting wide, then narrowing down,  include at a minimum in your agenda:

    1. VISION: Everyone must be crystal clear where the team is headed. Discuss where the team fits in with the broader company vision and the team shared goals.

    2. ROLES:  Everyone needs to have a shared understanding of how each person fits in and a frank discussion of potential obstacles.

    3. RESOURCES:  What resources are needed? (information, budget, people, etc.)

    4. NORMS: How will team members interact? What are the communication expectations, such as responses to emails in ”X” hours, process for raising issues, what mistakes are acceptable, what mistakes are unacceptable, etc.

    Use the (re)launch as an opportunity to get people excited, build trust, and bring focus back to the team’s goals.

    For more ideas, please join me on April 23 for Coffee and Conversation: Make Work More Human, to explore what it takes to be a human-centered organization. We’ll talk about behaviors and practices that are going well in your organization, and things that you’d like to see changed. 

    I invite you to take HuWork’s Human Factor Assessment ahead of time to highlight the areas where your company is shining and think about changes to consider putting in place – whether you are working as a people manager, an individual contributor, or influencing change as an HR leader or consultant.

    To join this virtual conversation on Friday, April 23 at 12pm MDT, please click here to register. I will email the Zoom link the day before the event.

    Warmly, 

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Manage your sticky situations

    Business management pioneer Peter Drucker’s philosophy was “before you can manage anyone else, you have to manage yourself first.” I come across this so often in leadership coaching sessions, that I refer to it as a person’s “sticky situations.” Sticky situations are ones where you are not showing up as your best self, ones where you feel stuck, and ones that unfortunately repeat themselves. 

    Some sticky situations I have heard from Clients recently include: getting stuck when pitching an idea to senior leadership, not stepping up to make a decision when the boss isn’t in the room, and keeping emotions in check when being asked hard questions about the team’s performance.  

    These sticky situations hold my Clients back from being the leader, team member, and human they have the potential to be. Here’s one process I utilize in Client sessions to get to the other side of these sticky situations:

    1. Identify your most prominent sticky situation 

    2. Identify the opposite situation, where you are “flowing” and able to show up as your best self

    3. Understand the parameters that allow you be your best self

    4.  Recreate those parameters for your sticky situations

    For example, if a sticky situation for you is pitching an idea to senior leadership, think of times when you are able to pitch your idea with full confidence and charisma. For one client, he realized he was able to show up as his best self when he had a prior relationship with the people in the room. He began to reach out to people who were going to be in the meeting ahead of time. A virtual coffee, asking a question on Slack, looking them up on LinkedIn to see if they had common interests or backgrounds. This eased my Client’s tension and freeze response once the meeting came around.

    Learning how to manage your “sticky situations” can have ripple effects, allowing you to be your best self both professionally and personally.

    Warmly, 

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Inspiring Others

    in·spi·ra·tion /ˌinspəˈrāSH(ə)n/:  the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something.

    Some days are easier than others to find your own inspiration. If you are in charge of inspiring others to action, it can feel that much more overwhelming. I recently gave a guest lecture at Wharton on the topic of how to inspire employees. 

    Here are my three key takeaways:

    1. CONNECT: find ways to meaningfully connect with your team members one-on-one. Ideally, at least 15 minutes weekly.

    2. ASK: don’t assume to know what motivates and what gets in the way for someone else. Ask each person. Perhaps in the weekly one-on-one mentioned above.

    3. ELEVATE: you can teach skills and knowledge, but you can’t teach a strength. A strength is an activity that you look forward to, feel energized by, and feel proud about afterwards. Focus on each person’s strengths, and you crowd out their weaknesses and elevate their work experience.

    And once you do the above, do it again! As Aristotle said, “Excellence is not just one act but what you repeatedly do.” 

    Warmly, 

    Bijal

    The intent of these emails is to provide different perspectives, ideas, and insights as you navigate the path forward for yourself, your team, your organization, and your family.

    Click here if you were forwarded this email and would like to sign up to receive my emails. You may unsubscribe at any time.

    Bijal Choksi, MA, CHPC, ACC

    bijal@huworkteam.com

    Follow HuWork on LinkedIn

  • Leaders: It’s Possible To Live A Life Of Healthy Habits (And Keep Up With Other Demands Too)

  • 15 Questions To Ask As Part Of Your Own Leadership Audit

  • Great Leaders Start with the End in Mind

  • Promoted From Peer To Leader? 18 Ways To Make A Smooth Transition