What Do You Do When Your Team Is Hurting Results?

“When a team fails to achieve intended results, bosses and leaders need to look in the mirror first for answers!” Jeannette Seibly

No one likes to think their team is hurting results. But dismissing the issue, believing it’s unimportant, and failing to take responsibility for the systems and outcomes is a no-win for teams, bosses, customers, and leaders! Remember, finding new customers and talent costs a lot of money. And it overlooks the necessity to improve quality and your team’s reputation!

Tips to Discover and Improve Results

Get into Action. Ask questions to get to the core of the issue. Use an objective process: “What Worked? / What Didn’t Work?” Debrief as a team. This exercise will end the usual finger-pointing or the blame game. During this process, use acknowledgment for the “good things that did happen.” Appreciation encourages viable solutions!

Be in Communication. Keep your team and co-workers apprised when there is an issue. Ask questions after conducting your team debrief to see what else may be missing. Do this immediately, BEFORE talking with the customer or other people affected. Keep everyone up-to-date while valuing their input! Promise to resolve the issue(s). (Very Important Hint: Don’t drop the ball … people have long memories when promises are not kept! These memories can stifle your co-workers and team from working with you in the future.)

“Excuses don’t help make things better. They only offer a rationale to avoid trying.”

Simon Sinek

Bring in Outside Expertise. Everyone wants to hide that they failed to achieve the intended results, fearing embarrassment and humiliation. Consider that bringing in outside help takes the pressure off you to have all the answers. (Hint: You don’t; others may not value your opinions right now.) Work with these experts to diagnose the actual issue. Listen. Make appropriate changes. Don’t forget that ongoing and consistent training is crucial when developing new habits!

Use a Qualified Job Fit Assessment. When teams and team members fit their job, it diminishes miscommunication, factionalism, and other mischief! Often, issues can be resolved by using people’s strengths and placing them in the right jobs! First, refine job descriptions and job responsibilities. Second, develop the skills that impact the quality of the results: communication, critical thinking, and team management.

Top-Down Challenge. When results fail, many bosses and leaders focus on the bottom-up (employees v. management). Consider the issue may be you! While many bosses and leaders believe they are above reproach, their rigid perspectives and do-as-I-say mindset get in the way. Remember, it’s not business as usual anymore! Bring in an executive coach/consultant to improve the management team’s coachability and ability to coach others for results. Then, empower each boss and leader and provide the tools to make the necessary team changes.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom guides clients to achieve intended dynamic results consistently! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about when your team hurts intended results: Set aside the normal finger-pointing! Now, create conversations and solutions to create win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to have conversations that produce intended results.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams. Along the way, they achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to achieve intended results for you and your teams!

Factionalism Hurts Retention, Revenues, and Results in Any Company

“Eliminating factionalism positively impacts your company’s revenues, results, and retention.” Jeannette Seibly

Factionalism is: A condition in which a team or company is split into two or more smaller groups with differing and often opposing opinions or interests. (Dictionary.com)

We expect teams and departments within any company to work well together all the time. This expectation can be unrealistic. In reality, every company will have conflicts here and there. It’s when those disagreements don’t go away that factionalism erupts. It creates dysfunctional workplace cultures and hurts employee satisfaction, customer retention, and the bottom line.

What Causes Factionalism?

When leaders cannot satisfactorily resolve animosity, competition, indifference, and ongoing disputes, teams, co-workers, and bosses often take on bad attitudes, take sides, or blame others.

Factionalism erupts due to:

  • Negative attitudes by bosses and leaders toward each other or a small group of people
  • Hiring, promoting, or job transferring people that don’t fit the job responsibilities
  • Pitting departments or groups of employees against one another for competing needs
  • Adversarial mindsets (e.g., sales reps blame customer service or operations when a customer is lost)
  • Allowing egos to get in the way (e.g., “we” v. “I” OR “us” v. “them”)
  • Forgetting about the importance of the mission and vision of the company
  • Withholding important information
  • Not holding remote and hybrid workers to performance and company standards
  • Blaming the customer or group of employees for mistakes or problems

How to Be the Solution to Factionalism and Not the Contributor to the Problem

Communication, Communication, Communication. There are many bosses and employees who are not good or great communicators. Poor communication causes people to take sides with “he said this” v. “no, she said that” v. “I thought it meant this.” As the boss or leader, ask questions to uncover the true intention and facilitate win-win-win outcomes. Remember, factionalism often begins as a small solvable concern before it erupts into an impenetrable mountain.

Solve Conflicts Immediately. When someone deliberately and consistently impedes progress creating confusion or chaos, s/he needs to be coached or removed from the job or team, or conflict will escalate.

Examples include:

  • Withholding information and resources
  • Ignoring emails or advice
  • Making the solutions more complicated than necessary
  • Blocking issues from being fixed
  • Hostility towards others’ ideas
  • Refusal to take advice that can make a difference
  • Failure to admit mistakes
  • Unwillingness to resolve team conflict

The truth is that when your team members (or you) lack the communication, project management, and people skills required, change is necessary. Hire an executive coach and use a performance improvement plan to ensure they are making progress.

Get Real. Gossip, myths, and lack of critical thinking impede the truth. Also, the lack of top-down or down-up conversations (communication) hinders addressing the real issues. You must realize that when customers and top talent leave, it’s important to tell yourself and co-workers the truth about resources, company and people changes, and customer requirements.

Hold Team Retreats and Inter-Team/Department Discussions. Training in communication, team building, team meetings, and confidence building are just a few examples that help everyone keep the lines of communication open to reduce factionalism. When your employees or teams get territorial about their work and systems, it’s usually because they do minimal work to get by (e.g., quiet quitting) or fear asking for help. Hire an outside facilitator to create insightful group discussions, ensure everyone is heard, and keep everyone engaged.

Use Job Fit Assessments to Understand Differences Objectively. When you or your team blame others for not thinking and working like you do, it’s time to understand “why objectively.”

In my experience, using a qualified job fit tool can reduce factionalism. It helps everyone understand and appreciate differences objectively; productive conversations and communication open up too. Job fit assessments have the highest scientific validation and reliability and provide more accurate data. They can eliminate miscommunication, blaming or nitpicking, or other disrespectful behaviors and attitudes that create factionalism.

Fulfilling Expectations. When you expect others to get along AND make your own effort to get along with others, you will reduce factionalism. Enforce policies and procedures, set clear guidelines on ‘no-tolerance policies’ (e.g., choice of words, favoritism), and refuse to allow your team to bypass others, citing the need for expediency. (Hint: It’ll actually take longer to resolve when the detour is discovered!)

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about factionalism in your workplace culture: As bosses and leaders, it starts with you! You set the example and the tone within your teams of how to get along and work well with others. Get involved. Listen to concerns. Have conversations for win-win-win outcomes. Contact me for a confidential discussion about how to reduce and eliminate factionalism.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to manage, lead, and influence others.

Bosses impact everyone’s ability to love their jobs, enjoy learning new skills, and work well with others. To accelerate your team’s results, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Tough Times Require Resilient Bosses to Achieve Results

“Bosses … resiliency during tough times is the key to achieve amazing results and future career opportunities.” Jeannette Seibly

Today’s workplaces are undergoing tough changes and need resilient bosses! But, instead, many bosses allow their frustrations and inability to transform relationships and situations to get in the way.

Do you:

  • Believe hiring for job fit is nonsense and takes too much time?
  • Believe your team should get their jobs done faster by doing it your way (aka micromanaging)?
  • Feel your customers demand too much from you? Your team?
  • Hate your team constantly bringing you problems and making your job more difficult?
  • Believe it takes too much time to get others’ input, especially when you won’t use it anyway?

If you are being truthful, you will answer yes to at least one of these questions.

As a boss, it’s usually easier to achieve intended results during the good times. But it’s during the tough and uncertain times that team members will either value and follow you for your resiliency and “can-do” attitude, or post negative ratings!

How to Build Your Resilience to Achieve Results

Develop Your Inner Power. Your self-esteem is important. It’s a reflection of your inner power and resiliency when mistakes occur and problems arise. Take the time to work with an executive coach. Also, consider talk therapy with a licensed therapist. Take part in workshops focused on developing your confidence and communication skills, while upgrading your project and people management talents.

Ask for Help and Feedback. Now, more than ever, you cannot go it alone, especially during tough times. Learn how to ask for help and ask for feedback from your team, co-workers, boss, and others when making decisions. Make sure you’re really listening! Be open to expanding your point-of-view … remember, it’s not business as usual. Example: When a customer is unhappy, ask for specific feedback of what didn’t work! Now, get the team in focused action to create and implement solutions, not excuses!

Hire for Job Fit. Job fit is why teams excel! But too many hiring bosses believe anyone can do any job successfully. The problem is, if the person doesn’t have the interest, thinking style, or core behaviors, they will fail to achieve intended results. Poor job fit often results in miscommunication, conflict, and other mischief (aka a lot of extra problems, work, and sleepless nights)!

Coach and Manage for Quality Results. Stop settling for mediocrity and accepting excuses, especially when you can make a huge impact during uncertain times. (Think, your competition has already given up.) Learn to ask good business questions designed to get your team thinking outside the box, and critically thinking about how to fulfill customer demands. Learn to brainstorm and do not dismiss off-the-wall ideas! (Hint: They are usually the best ones!)

Mindfulness and EI are Still Important. Your emotional intelligence (EI) and ability to be present during conversations are the marks of a good boss. Life and business are never easy all the time. Example: It requires continually developing your resilience and willingness to say, “I/we made a mistake … this is how I/we plan to fix it.” Then, get it resolved immediately!

Don’t Shy Away from Tough Conversations. Remember, your voice matters! Stop going into meetings believing your ideas won’t matter! Instead of being defensive in these meetings, state your commitment and concerns first. Second, ask questions to discover and uncover others’ true hesitations or differing opinions. Listen. There will be areas of agreement that you can build on. Be a parrot when necessary, and don’t become emotionally attached to the outcome. Remember, the goal is win-win-win.

Keep Developing You, Your Individual Team Members, and Your Team as a Whole. Guard your budget dollars to ensure ongoing training and development. Now is not the time to dismiss developing everyone’s skills because you cannot afford it! If there’s a will, there’s way (think, taking initiative and being resourceful). Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? With Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom, she guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about being a resilient boss during tough times: Remember, tough times don’t last, but tough bosses do! Do you know how to be resilient when you want to pull the covers up over your head and call-in to take a personal day? This week, discover and put into action at least one tip to develop your resiliency. Contact me for a confidential conversation about hiring, coaching, and managing for profitable success during tough times.

The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? Great bosses work with an experienced executive coach as a sounding board. I have extensive experience and wisdom in guiding bosses and leaders to hire, coach, and manage their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching increases your resiliency and has you succeed during tough times!

Bosses impact retention, revenues, and results each and every day by how they engage employees. To improve your bottom line, use the PXT Select to see the “whole person.”

Are You Sabotaging Your Employees?

“Good decisions will not sabotage your employees.” Jeannette Seibly
  • Are you a leader that believes you make good decisions?
  • Are you aware of the times your decisions have sabotaged your employees and others?
  • Have your employees and customers had to clean up issues caused by your bad decisions?

As a boss and leader, you must make decisions in the best interest of the company, its customers, and employees. But, often, due to limited/mediocre/poor critical thinking, playing favorites, or not understanding the core issue, these decisions sabotage your employees and negatively impact others.

Good Decisions Need These Critical Factors

It Starts with Clarity. What is the core issue of the problem? Once it is identified, wait! Before you implement a solution, conduct your due diligence! While you may believe you’ve answered the pros and cons, there is a bigger, often overlooked question, “How does this decision impact my employees now and in the future?”

Ask for Input! While it may seem like an excellent decision, it does not mean others will agree. Talk with employees and customers to better understand the core issue from their perspectives instead of relying on rationalization or circular thinking! Brainstorm possible solutions.

A company needed a better technology application for its core program. The problem? Their solution did not include input from the salespeople that use it, sabotaging sales!

Listen! Instead of pushing your agenda, talking over employees’ objections, and ignoring customers’ and coworkers’ concerns, listen! Or, they will covertly (and overtly) sabotage you! Don’t overlook or ignore the hard questions. For example, “What is the #1 challenge for getting everyone onboard?”

Plan for Impacts. When designing the plan, consider the well-being of your employees. Stress and mental health challenges are at an all-time high. So, plan for the number of hours expected, changes in workflow, and new skills required.

Focus on Creating Win-Win-Win Outcomes. Focus on alignment for the solution, not consensus building. Consensus building often sabotages efforts due to the fear of change and office politics.

Keep Everyone Up to Date. Use all forms of communication (emails, internal newsletters, and chats) to keep everyone apprised of the process and results. Include the challenges and wins. Good communication minimizes sabotaging or unexpected changes.

Get Real and Don’t Insulate Employees. When there are tough (and unpopular) decisions to be made, talk straight. Address the alternatives considered. Share the upside and downside of your decision. The worse things you can do are: be silent, hide, or make assumptions (or all three).

Compassion and Sensitivity. This can go a long way towards having your decisions well received with minimal disruption and sabotaging of your employees.

Most Importantly! Don’t Blame Your Employees. Every decision-maker has made bad decisions. But great leaders and bosses understand they must take responsibility for them. What can you do to correct them? Start first by talking with your executive coach and an internal company mentor before doing anything. Otherwise, you can make the outcomes of a bad decision even worse!

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Right Reserved

If you’d like to help employees to be talent ready, explore using the PXT Select to ensure job fit now and for future opportunities.

Jeannette Seibly is a champion for bosses and teams delivering intended results. Does your company or department have a persistent problem? Her wisdom guides clients through sticky situations and challenging relationships for dynamic results! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about sabotaging your employees: You and other bosses frequently make decisions believing they are in the company’s and customers’ best interest. But, at times, these decisions can and do sabotage or negatively impact your employees. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to avoid sabotaging your employees!

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to make better decisions and prevent sabotaging your employees.

Use Qualified Assessments to Ensure Talent Readiness

A note from Jeannette about using qualified assessments for talent readiness: Attracting scarce skilled job candidates and preparing current employees is critical for talent readiness. Using suitable job fit assessments and skills testing are vital, but require using the correct ones. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to get started.

  • Are you tired of hiring and promoting the wrong people?
  • Are you finding it challenging to find skilled, qualified job candidates?
  • Are you frustrated because you keep hiring people for the wrong jobs?

The biggest challenge facing many employers today, and in the foreseeable future, is talent readiness! Skilled workers are scarce. And many employees need upskilling and reskilling to meet technological, economic, and greener business practices. (ERE|Recruiting News & Information)

It’s time bosses, and leaders got serious about using qualified assessments and skills testing. These are essential to ensure your employees and job candidates are talent ready. As a leader, you can no longer avoid using qualified assessments without losing customers, top talent, and profitability.

Assessments Are Important to Ensure Talent Readiness

According to Talent Board’s 2022 research, candidates and employees, regardless of gender, race, and age, expressed higher perceived fairness when companies used job-related assessments. It also improved the company’s reputation as a good employer; supported diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and improved hiring, promotion, and job transfer results.

Choosing the correct pre-employment assessment is difficult. Too often, leaders and bosses rely on assessments that are only appropriate for team building and communication development. However, they failed to conduct research to ensure the assessment(s) meet Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines for PRE-employment purposes, and post-employment promotions and job transfers. Using the wrong assessment can get you in trouble.

Assessments that meet DOL guidelines have higher validity, reliability, and predictive validity. Some also provide cognitive abilities and occupational interests information. When used as directed, the correct assessments provide superior insights for talent readiness. (READ: Use the Right Assessments and Skills Tests, Hire Amazing Employees, Chapter 9)

Tips to Improve Talent Readiness

Use Qualified Tools. Many hiring managers overlook great candidates and employees by not using qualified tools. Using the right assessments removes the mystery of assessing for actual skills and job fit. Using high-quality assessments and skills testing shows who employees and job candidates are, not how they want to be seen. For example, many job candidates and employees want jobs in sales because they believe it’s where they’ll make the most money. The challenge is they can talk the talk but fail to produce the required results of prospecting, presenting, and closing sales.

Deep Dive Now. Focus on what is actually required for your workforce to be talent ready. Poll customers, talk with employees, and network with industry peers to help determine current and future requirements.

Train Your People. Training for hiring bosses and recruiters is often overlooked due to time and money, and egos. But failure to get real and use and follow a strategic selection system will hurt your company’s agility and survival. Savvy job candidates and skilled talent will leave due to being overlooked for the right jobs and opportunities.

Stop Requiring College Degrees. Focusing on talent readiness predicts job performance more than hiring based on education and past work experience. Employees who don’t feel they are utilizing their skills are 10 times more likely to seek a new job. (World Economic Forum)

Ask Job-Related Interview Questions. It’s a bad practice to rely on pseudo-psychology type questions like, “What’s your favorite color?” “Who’s your favorite author and book?” These do not support talent readiness and can create employment liability issues. Focus on the job skills required and the person’s interest and aptitude to learn the job.

Know Your Employee and Job-Candidate Skills. Use valid skills tests to determine the depth and breadth of job candidates and current employees’ proficiency in using the skills. Contrary to popular myths, employees and job candidates enjoy well-design assessments and skills tests to help them develop and improve their skills and employability.

Clarify Education and Training Required. Provide ongoing training to upskill and reskill your people. Remember, a certificate is not an indicator of the employee’s capability to use critical thinking and create solutions. It’s why skills testing is required. (Consider a recent conversation with a customer service rep who lacked the interest or skills to use the company’s system to resolve your issue. Frustrating, wasn’t it?) Don’t overlook developing communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and resiliency skills too.

Ask an Often-Overlooked Question! Ask job candidates and current employees, “What are your career goals now and in the future!” Their opportunities to pursue career and life goals are crucial indicators of long-term job satisfaction, and will impact your company’s retention. (Talent Board) Develop a personalized career path program, including the necessary education and training required to help employees succeed.

(c)Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Right Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She is an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author. Her wisdom of over 30 years guides clients to work through sticky situations and challenging relationships. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!’

A note from Jeannette about using qualified assessments for talent readiness: Attracting scarce skilled job candidates and preparing current employees is critical for talent readiness. Using suitable job fit assessments and skills testing is vital, but it requires using the correct ones. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to get started.

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one hour coaching program. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to be talent ready.

Great Results Require Winning Attitudes!

“A healthy relationship with ‘winning’ is required to blast through circumstances.” Jeannette Seibly

Winning isn’t everything, but developing a winning attitude is required to achieve amazing results, especially in the face of negativity, misperception, and other limiting circumstances. The bonus? It feels great!

However, many people today have conflicted feelings and attitudes about winning. They find it more comfortable to conform to peer pressure, not exceed others’ expectations, and not rock the boat. Unfortunately, this attitude gets in the way of winning for them and their teams. While it keeps them from overshadowing others, there is a huge personal and professional cost (e.g., being overlooked for promotions, not being selected for key opportunities, low self-esteem, confidence, etc.).

Why is having a winning attitude vital for you?

  • It creates healthy self-esteem while improving your results.
  • It builds your confidence and mindful awareness.
  • It provides you the courage to ask for help, hire a coach, and influence others.
  • It increases your ability to take the initiative, be coachable, and be resourceful.
  • It makes you promotable while having more fun and making more money.

Remember, especially when you want to throw in the towel and say, “I give up,” it’s not about whether you win or lose. It’s about your attitude toward winning. It’s about enjoying the process of gaining new knowledge, skills, and awareness that comes from a winning attitude. And these experiences are priceless.

How to Create a Healthy Winning Attitude

  1. Do the Work Instead of Creating Excuses. We all love our excuses. But they get in the way of winning! When the process isn’t working, don’t let it deter you from achieving the goal! Don’t change the goal; instead, change the process. Remember, the process rarely looks like you think it should! It requires stretching outside your comfort zone and developing a new one.
  2. Take Initiative. Too often, people dream the dream but fail to honor the commitments required. They blame other people and situations. Instead, make a good plan and follow it. To achieve any goal, focus on what’s important to you. Now, get in the game and go for it! That’s taking the initiative and getting into focused action.
  3. When Obstacles Occur, and They Will, Become Resourceful! Everyone hits a wall. Sometimes it’s a massive one. But giving up isn’t an option. Instead, be flexible, resourceful, and resilient. Adopt the winning mantra, “I can do this, and I do it.” Now, take it moment by moment, step by step, and day by day as you move forward. Yes, there will continue to be bumps in the road. But don’t let them stop you.
  4. Celebrate the Wins with Gratitude, not Ego. When you win, it’s important to celebrate and acknowledge your accomplishments! Add the achievements to your resume and bio. Bragging in a humble manner works! Don’t forget to say, “Thank you!” to those that helped you along the way! (You didn’t achieve it without them!)

©Jeannette Seibly 2021-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has guided the creation of three millionaires and countless 6-figure income professionals. As an award-winning international executive and family business management consultant, keynote speaker, and author for over 30 years, she guides others to make a positive difference. Feel stuck in a political work situation? Want clear advice on how to get out of it? Contact Jeannette for a confidential conversation.

A Note from Jeannette about having a winning attitude and achieving amazing results: Too often, we rely on our excuses for not achieving intended results. The truth is that we need to stop accepting mediocrity and develop a winning attitude. It’s not hard, and there is work to be done. The rewards are: It feels great and can offer external rewards too (e.g., promotion, new home, etc.)! What do you want to accomplish? It’s not too late to get started! Let’s Chat!

Are you frustrated because you are a results producer and now not producing the intended results? It’s time to find out “why” and get back into the game. It requires seeing your blind spots and hiring a coach! I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one coaching program over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to win.

Are You “Rage Applying” to Release Job Frustrations?

“Believing the grass is greener at another company will normally cause job disappointment and dissatisfaction.” Jeannette Seibly

“Rage Applying” is not new. It’s a form of “quiet quitting” that occurs when employees feel unappreciated, stuck, micromanaged, or frustrated with an inflexible boss and/or inflexible company policies.

If you’ve ever had a boss criticize your work and fail to offer constructive feedback, you can understand an employee’s frustration. (This is one example of so many!) Today, employees, often in retaliation, spend time blasting out their resumes looking for the greener grass. The problem is that it’s for jobs they don’t know, don’t have an interest in, and/or don’t meet fit job requirements.

As an employee: “Rage applying” is usually not the most brilliant move when feeling frustrated or stressed. It can hurt your future career options.

But there are benefits you can: Improve your interview skills, give you a broader professional perspective, and feel in control of your career. Also, you may find your boss and company look pretty good (the grass isn’t necessarily greener, just different).

As a boss, it’s essential to understand that employees need outlets to express their frustrations with you, the company, and the policies & procedures (that are probably out-of-date). SEE the paragraphs at the end of the article for recommendations.

How to Reduce Your Job Frustrations and Avoid “Rage Applying”

First, talk with your boss: Don’t bypass the boss when having conversations about what’s next and how you can achieve it. Otherwise, s/he can hinder your career progress.

What Do You Really, Really, Really Want? First, list in writing things you want in your job or future job you don’t currently have. Then, select the top 3 “must-have” items. If you get them, don’t keep asking for more, or it’ll backfire!

Complete Your Brag Work. Before pitching to your current boss your “wants,” showcase what you’ve achieved. Saying you’re great and wonderful will only have your boss roll his/her eyes and not take you seriously! So instead, do the brag work before pitching yourself.

Be Willing to Negotiate. Your boss may be unable to provide promotions, new work assignments, or pay increases. Be willing to negotiate for a win-win-win outcome. But remember, having your coworkers upset with you because the boss offloaded your work on them will not decrease your stress.

Pay Is Not a Motivator. Yes, I know. You really need that extra cash. But do your homework. Some pay increases may put you in a new tax bracket, and the net result is less than you’re currently making! So do your research.

Focus on Job Fit. This IS very important and often overlooked. If you’re stressed out a lot, chances are very good that you’re in the wrong job for you. Take a qualified job fit assessment and work with an experienced executive coach to ensure you’re not jumping from one bad situation into another. The bonus is: the awareness could alleviate your current job stress too.

Second, when applying for new jobs: Jumping from one job to another doesn’t quell the frustration or stress. Often, it can hurt promotability and pay increases. For example, if you’ve been unsuccessful in outside sales, look at inside sales or customer service as other options.

Get Real. Too often, we latch on to jobs that sound better and pay more (e.g., sales, being a boss). But usually, those jobs don’t pay more! The other challenges are: those jobs may not be a good fit for you, or you’re not ready! So, take a qualified job fit assessment and remove your rose-colored glasses. This can prevent you from getting snookered into thinking the grass is greener elsewhere. Otherwise, your frustration will follow you and hurt future job opportunities.

Tell the Truth About What You Want. Tailor your cover letters and resumes to the specific job posting and include your brag accomplishments in both!

Take Time, and Don’t Jump. When offered a new job:

  • Take time to review your top 3 “must-have wants.”
  • Ensure everything promised during the interviews is in writing.
  • Never rely on verbal promises that the new boss may not remember later.
  • Otherwise, you may find your new job opportunity isn’t so great.

Talk with Your Network. Now is a good time for lunch and after-work network meetings. Be clear about what you’re seeking. Otherwise, you’ll have many job opportunities that don’t support your career goals. (See Chapter 10 for how to network effectively: The Secret to Selling Yourself Anytime, Anywhere: Start Bragging!)

Do the work! It’ll make a big difference in the quality of your job offers and opportunities.

For ALL Bosses:

It’s a red flag when job candidates:

  • Apply for positions they don’t have the skills for.
  • Have had many different jobs in a short period of time in different companies or geographic locations.
  • Seem scattered and unprepared for the interview(s).

Use a strategic selection process and “Job Fit Triad” (e.g., give equal weight to interviews, job fit assessments, and due diligence). Otherwise, you’re hiring someone else’s problem.

Also, ensure your employees:

Employees that “rage apply” also cause upsets with your team members, ongoing projects, and customer fulfillment. Using the ideas above will reduce “rage applying.”

Last, but not least, get guidance to develop an effective “boss style.” Every boss needs help at some point to address “blind spots.” Yes, they pop up at inopportune times! But addressing them will improve retention, revenues, and results!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She is an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author. Her wisdom of over 30 years guides clients to work through sticky situations and challenging relationships. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about “rage applying:” This is the newest form of an old practice of quiet quitting. This article is written from both perspectives: employee and boss. Contact me for a confidential conversation about how to improve your retention, revenues, and results.

Have you considered the benefits of strengthening your superpowers and becoming a great boss? It’s not complicated, but it does require an experienced sounding board. I have extensive experience guiding bosses and leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one hour coaching program over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to win.

How to Achieve Results While Working through Uncertainty

“Uncertainty in life is normal. Embracing it fully creates a positive difference to achieve results.” Jeannette Seibly

When you feel uncertain about a decision, it is often due to your fear of making a mistake, experiencing a failure, or not being in control of the outcome. Uncertainty feels uncomfortable. Many people will do everything they can to avoid it, which causes anxiety in their jobs, relationships, careers, businesses, and life choices. But life never provides absolute certainty.

So, how can you make uncertainty a superpower and have it help you create a great business, career, and life? Keep reading!

Tips to Work Through Uncertainty for Great Results

Be Open to Others’ Ideas. Like many leaders, you rely on your thoughts, opinions, and feelings about what is true and certain. But this is short-sighted. Instead, welcome others’ ideas. Learn how to brainstorm. For each idea, develop five reasons it could work, not why it won’t.

Unleash the Power of Others. Delegate! Get comfortable delegating! Allow others the opportunities to explore new ideas, even if you’re uncertain whether or not they’ll work. Their ideas and results can often be better than yours if you get out of the way!

Embrace Not Knowing How to Achieve the Outcome. Otherwise, you’ll feel stuck, paralyzed, and procrastination will set in. Instead, allow for the fact that you don’t know that you don’t know! And not knowing is OK. (Yes, reread those sentences.) Be clear about the goal and outcome you want to achieve. Now, move forward step-by-step with your team and executive coach through the uncertainty.

Develop Inner Confidence. Celebrate each step along the way, no matter how big or small. Develop “brags” to help you gain confidence and believe in yourself. “Brags” remind you that you’ve handled uncertainty and achieved successful outcomes in the past.

Make the Best Decisions for Now. When making decisions, collect factual data and don’t rely solely on your intuition/gut or overthink everything. Remember, no one has a crystal ball that foretells the future. While many believe success demands you move forward, a good decision can also include staying where you are (e.g., signing a new lease with your current landlord). Remember, uncertainty can and will still occur because uncertainty doesn’t go away.

Avoid Group Think; It Impedes Agility. Too often, during times of uncertainty, fear will prevail. Then, the team will adapt to the fear. Instead, share your concerns, and ask good questions.

  • “What would be the best outcome for this project or program?”
  • “What would we need to change?
  • “Give me five reasons why these changes could work?”
  • “Why won’t these changes work?”

Now, allow the team to own the project. Be their champion for winning and working through the unknown factors! And always welcome critical thinking!

If you embrace these six tips, uncertainty becomes your superpower!

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She is an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author. Her wisdom of over 30 years guides clients to work through sticky situations and challenging relationships. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about embracing uncertainty in work and life: We seek certainty in everything we do. We think it helps us avoid making mistakes or experiencing failure while staying in control of the outcome. Yet, doing the same old same old will hurt your team, results, and bottom line. Want uncertainty to become one of your superpowers? Contact me for a confidential conversation.

Have You Considered: Strengthening your inherent superpowers? It can make a big difference in your success as a leader! I have extensive experience guiding leaders to work with and through their teams to achieve unprecedented results. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to win.

Taking the safe path to avoid uncertainty will never work in your business, career, and life. Develop your superpower and learn how to work through uncertainty. It builds confidence and the ability to influence others! Take action and contact me for a confidential conversation.

Want to Improve Productivity? Improve Your Meetings!

“Ineffective meetings drain productivity and results.” Jeannette Seibly

Harvard research found that 70% of meetings keep employees from doing productive work. The same study found that employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40% … also, employee satisfaction improved by 52%.

But before you throw out the importance of meetings, be clear about their purpose: communicating, getting everyone on the same page and in the same book, and solving problems (current, past, and future). The biggest challenge? Too many meetings are poorly planned and facilitated!

We’ve all attended bad meetings (in fact, most of them). But, unfortunately, the negativity sticks with you! It creates a meeting recovery syndrome that hurts your productivity and drains you. But before you blame the facilitator, look at the three fingers pointing back at you! Everyone has a role in conducting effective meetings, one-on-one or group, and onsite or virtually.

These 8 Factors Improve Meetings and Increase Productivity

The biggest question to ask yourself before scheduling a meeting is: “Can I send an email instead of hosting a meeting?” In many cases, the answer will be “Yes!” Do that instead!

MEETING PREPARATION

Before the Meeting. Send out an agenda of specific items for discussion and include all documentation for review. Plan on keeping the meeting short and on point. Remember, some issues are better handled 1:1 or in small groups.

Start and End on Time. This requires everyone to be ready to begin 5 minutes before the actual start time. Turn off all distractions: electronic gadgets, phones, and mind wandering!

If you are the facilitator or presenter, arrive even earlier to ensure:

  • The room is set up physically, or the virtual meeting (or hybrid) is ready to go
  • Ensure PowerPoint presentation works
  • Printed materials are distributed (it’s best if they are emailed the day before)

Come Prepared. Everyone is responsible for coming prepared — that means reading all documents, agendas, and other materials before the meeting and having them readily available to refer to during the meeting. (NOTE: Remember, simple graphs with short narratives are the easiest to understand). Write down questions. Or, better yet, get the questions answered before the meeting!

MEETING PROTOCOL

Take Turns. Make sure you hear from everyone! Unless each person contributes, ideas get missed, important nuances get overlooked, and conflict can erupt! Team members will not voice their concerns if they fear ridicule! Remember, conflicts should not be ignored… there is usually a valid point no one wants to hear. But it’s pay now or pay later!

LISTEN! This is the most critical factor in improving your meetings now. Listening requires active involvement. It includes hearing things you don’t know, don’t agree with, or don’t believe in. Active listening has three components: 1) hearing what is said verbally, 2) hearing what is not said, and 3) being aware of non-verbal cues (e.g., attitude, tone, physical). Good listening skills can resolve old issues and formulate new ideas for products and services. It’s a skill everyone needs to develop.

State Your Point Upfront. Most attendees will stop listening when others talk too long, share gossip, or use technical jargon. Avoid monologues or lengthy responses by starting with the point first, then providing any supporting information to reinforce the point presented.

Ask Questions. Too often, we don’t ask questions to learn more. Instead, we believe we “get it” and then misuse the information. Or, we judge the idea or information as irrelevant without further investigation. Or, we don’t want to ask questions because we feel stupid. (Get over it!) Instead, learn how to drill down and clarify by asking questions out of a commitment to resolve the issue or move the project forward. Stay away from sounding like an interrogator – it puts everyone on the defense.

Reach Alignment. Consensus is non-productive since too much time is spent wooing a person(s) to agree with the majority, creating groupthink. When you reach alignment, you and the team have taken the best information available and made a decision.

Then consider the following:

  • Can everyone live with this decision?
  • Is it workable and doable?
  • If not, what needs to be added or changed so everyone is on the same page moving forward?
  • Then, stand firm and respond factually to the naysayers.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2016-2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. With over 30 years as an award-winning international executive coach, speaker, and business author, Jeannette’s clients effectively work through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion. PS: She’s also a three-time Amazon Best-Selling Author!

A note from Jeannette about meetings and productivity: Did you know most meetings sabotage productivity and employee satisfaction? The reasons: poor facilitation and quality, and they are time-consuming. It actually creates a “meeting recovery syndrome” where people feel drained and non-productive. It’s time to develop the skills required to hold productive meetings and hold less of them! Contact me for a confidential conversation about a training program!

Consider: It can be challenging to facilitate meetings as a manager or director (or anyone else, too!). I have extensive experience guiding meeting facilitators to improve their meeting management skills, virtually and onsite. Learning this skill takes time and practice. Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Remember, coaching speeds up your ability to trust yourself and get results.

How’s your leadership development progressing? Are you moving forward … or a tad stuck? Do you need a “nudge” or “kick-in-the-butt?” Want to accelerate and soar your results? Then, get into action by contacting me for a confidential conversation.

How Do You Quietly Hire Employees?

Quiet hiring is a way to develop talent without hiring new employees or moving current employees to work when you cannot hire the right people. It was declared a new trend by Gartner, a technological research and consulting firm: Quiet hiring will open up new doors for retaining talent without the cost of a lengthy recruitment process.

While “quiet hiring” is new, the strategy is not. Wise companies have used “internal mobility or upskilling” to keep top talent for many years.

But before you jump on this “newest trend,” here are the issues to address before considering this strategy.

How to Use Quiet Hiring

Quiet hiring is how employers fill positions with current employees and leverage current talent. Normally, it’s done on a temporary basis, or you risk employment law issues.

For example:

  • If your company is a bank and needs someone at the teller window for several hours a day, it’s an excellent opportunity for a loan officer to learn more about the bank and its customers’ needs.
  • If your insurance company needs help in the claims department for a month, you may have one of your underwriters work there temporarily.
  • If your company is in any industry and needs help auditing for a quarter, you may place one of your IT people in that role.

What Are Three Criteria to Implement Quiet Hiring?

  1. It would be best if you had buy-in from your employees. Remember, any change can be scary to them. Be sure to communicate the intention, what is expected, and the benefits to everyone, not just those being “quietly hired” into new roles. Remember, it’s a temporary change and will not affect their benefits and compensation plans.
  2. How to Start the Conversation. You may say, “We/I value your contribution and would like to temporarily use you in a different role (or to take on additional responsibilities). Are you willing to do so?”
  3. Stay Connected. If there are problems before or after the transition, it’s essential to address them immediately. Remember that different teams have different work styles, and bosses have different work expectations (e.g., remote v. onsite, punctuality v. lateness).

How You Use Quiet Hiring to Improve Your Employees’ Skills

  1. Provides Skill Development. It’s a great way to help broaden an employee’s knowledge of the company. It allows them to experience how their normal position impacts the temporary one. Acquiring these new skills prepares them for promotions, new work teams, and other future opportunities.
  2. Reduces the Need for Layoffs and Terminations. It’s a great way to keep good employees by temporarily moving them into different roles or departments.
  3. Helps Them Understand the Impact of Work Quality and Decisions. The added benefit of quiet hiring is that they can learn about the impact they create when making changes in how they do their work or when making decisions. For example: Moving a sales rep into customer service is a great way to experience the aftermath of how the company’s products and services work with customers. (Also known as cross-training.)
  4. Training is Critical! Like anything new, it’s essential that you provide a training program and on-the-job training coach to ensure consistency in how work is done. Remember, they are transitioned to the new position temporar If they make any changes, it can inadvertently impact the entire company and its customers.
  5. Participate in Job Rotation or Job Sharing. These are more formal ways that “quiet hiring” top talent can develop the skills required for future opportunities.

Beware of “Quiet Hiring” Pitfalls

  1. Job Fit Issues. Placing a good employee in a position that does not fit their capabilities means you will lose a good employee. Use a qualified job fit assessment to reduce these types of issues. Remind them it’s temporary. However, if there are consistent problems, you must move them back to where they were doing well.
  2. Unwillingness to Move to New Position. If the move requires the person to be onsite or the person has other concerns such as commute and flex time, address them upfront. It costs time, money, and energy to train people in positions they usually don’t work in; since it’s only temporary, it may not be worth the effort or upset.
  3. Keep the Same Benefits and Comp. If you don’t, you will risk employment law concerns. Contact your HR or employment attorney to determine local, state, and federal impacts — also the same for international employees.

©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved

Jeannette Seibly is The Leadership Results Coach. She has over 30 years of award-winning international experience as an executive consultant, speaker, and business author. Her clients surpass the norm by working through sticky situations and challenging relationships to become positive influencers. Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.

A note from Jeannette about Quiet Hiring: This old employment practice of moving people temporarily into different positions now has a new name: Quiet Hiring! Before you jump on this latest trend, understand the legal, practical, and employee impacts before using! Then, contact me to talk through your hiring and selection challenges!

NOTE: Do you want to win? All leaders who are winners have coaches! I love coaching leaders and have for over 30 years! Contact me if you want an in-depth, one-on-one hour over 13 weeks. Having a coach speeds up your ability to influence others, hire the right people, and coach your team for unprecedented results.

Announcing New Workshop! Traditional leadership (e.g., formal, metrics-driven) is being replaced with human leadership (e.g., focus on the human dynamics that impact results). For example, “That’s how it’s always been done.” vs. “Great idea. How do you recommend we implement it?” However, your managers and directors are being overlooked regarding the training required to be an effective boss and leader. Read about my newest workshop: Are Your Managers and Directors Effective Leaders?