Leadership That Works: Building Accountability, Trust, and Team Performance
Discover how leadership development, building trust, and team performance create stronger, more accountable teams. Learn practical strategies to improve collaboration, strengthen workplace culture, and help your team achieve lasting success. Transcript below.
Dave Asheim [0:00-0:51]: Hello, everybody. Welcome to our great webinar. We'll start in about 2 or 3 minutes. Rudy and I are excited to have you here. While we're… we are. While we're getting our seats… Why don't everybody, go to the chat window? And tell us… What organization you are with, maybe what city you are in? And if you have any little leadership tidbits or anything you want to share, feel free to do that too. So, go introduce yourself in the chat window, if you would.
Rudy Racine [0:52-0:53]: Chris?
Dave Asheim [0:55-0:56]: Promptly.
Rudy Racine [0:56-1:01]: Familiar faces, or familiar names, so great to see some names on here. Very much. Rudy.
Dave Asheim [1:02-1:07]: I'm sure there's going to be many associates from your past life here, Rudy.
Rudy Racine [1:07-1:08]: I love it.
Dave Asheim [1:12-1:32]: Hello, Deb. There's a heart, yeah, we're very big about emojis here, everybody, so, throw the… throw the love towards Rudy, if you would. Just to give him some… some, acclimation, I think.
Rudy Racine [1:32-1:55]: Yeah, man, so I'm gonna talk about that as well, and you know, I… for those that know me that are on this session, and you've been on a webinar with me, if I can't see you, I really thrive and operate off of the emojis, so the heart emojis, the applause. By all means, hit me with that as much as you'd like, I appreciate that.
Dave Asheim [1:55-2:00]: Nothing negative, though. Rudy only operates based on positive behavior, so…
Rudy Racine [2:00-2:01]: smiley face.
Dave Asheim [2:01-2:08]: Only smiley faces, there we go. Okay, this is… this is what we're looking for. The audience is getting the drift here, Rudy.
Rudy Racine [2:08-2:11]: I love it, I love it, I appreciate you all.
Dave Asheim [2:11-2:40]: We'll start in just another… another minute. We're recording this session. We will send it to you tomorrow morning, and we'll include a copy of the slides. And then you can share it with others, if you like. And we'll also put Rudy's contact information at the end, and we'll email you Rudy's contact information, because I'm gonna guess many of you would want to continue the leadership discussion with Rudy afterwards.
Rudy Racine [2:41-2:42]: And I would love that.
Dave Asheim [2:42-5:39]: Yeah. Well, I think you and I can start at least chatting. Rudy's got a little presentation, we have a little interaction thing going, so if you've got your phone handy, we want to see that. So, here we go. My name is Dave Asheim. I started this company called Engage by Sell about 20 years ago, all about trying to use mobile phones to improve the way we communicate with Whatever audience we're communicating with. And, we've probably got about, 600-700 clients around the United States. We're pretty diversified, we're in the cultural space, providing tours, we're very heavy in the workforce development, job-seeking world, and training world. That's where we got to know Rudy and his past life. Everything we do has to do with, software. We're a SaaS company. All that means is everything is hosted in the clouds. And our services include a text messaging service, where you can send text messages out to your workforce, your employees, your clients. They can reply. And then we have a mobile platform where you can store content. And in just a second, we'll actually have you join our text message list, just to get a few texts that Rudy and I will be sending to you during this, during this presentation. Alright, Megan. So, alright, everybody, this is a participatory webinar. We promise we're not going to, spam you after this. We'll delete all of your phone numbers, but it is really fun to participate, so everybody take out your phone, open up your camera, and scan that code. What it's gonna do is it's gonna pop open your texting app. And there should be something that's in the… in the… in the body that says Demo Rudy. Just hit send, and you'll be on our list. And then Megan, our marketing head in the background, will be sending some text messages out, just to kind of reinforce some of the messages that Rudy will be talking about today. Everybody, give me the thumbs up, or the, hearts, or the, give me an emoji, if that, if that worked for you. If not, there we go. If not. Put in the chat window, and then, Megan will figure out a way for you to get on that list. Alright, so let's go to the next slide. All right. Before I turn it over to Rudy, I just wanted to let everybody know We're giving away a couple of books. Rudy, when did your book come out? What, what month?
Rudy Racine [5:39-5:43]: March 24th, 2026.
Dave Asheim [5:43-5:44]: Excellent.
Rudy Racine [5:44-5:45]: months old.
Dave Asheim [5:45-7:43]: Few months old, I have my copy, I have a million notes. It's unbelievable. Let me give you a plug. If you don't know Rudy, let me give you a plug on his leadership thoughts. I mean, I've been reading leadership books for a long time. Everybody from Tom Peters. to, Peter Drucker, to, you name it. And I think this is one of the easiest to read and most concise leadership books I have seen. At the end, we're going to text everybody a link to the Amazon page where you can buy it. It's 20 bucks or so. It will be a great investment. Rudy and I have done some prep before this presentation, and both of us agree that being a great leader is probably the hardest task of any job you can have in a corporation, because there's no training for being a great leader. And people that you think are very outgoing and extroverted, as Rudy's gonna tell you, may not be very good leaders. So, this book is fabulous. Rudy's got some… Wonderful points here. Rudy, you'll be talking for 20, 25 minutes or so. Feel free to ask questions in the chat. We'll probably get to most of those in the Q&A afterwards, and we're going to be around here for as long as you want. I have about 20 questions ready to ask if, if you folks don't have any So, let's start with this poll question. Take a, take a… 20 seconds here, and answer this question, what's the most difficult part about being a leader for you? And in about, 10 seconds, Megan will assemble the results and show it to us, and we'll get Rudy's opinion. Alright, let's…
Rudy Racine [7:43-7:48]: I already saw someone in the chat say going… essentially going from buddy to boss is a challenge.
Dave Asheim [7:48-7:49]: That's a good one.
Rudy Racine [7:49-7:50]: definitely released.
Dave Asheim [7:51-8:00]: Body to Boss, yeah. Alright, Megan, let's see the results. Okay, Rudy, can you see those alright?
Rudy Racine [8:00-8:00]: I can.
Dave Asheim [8:00-8:01]: Yeah.
Rudy Racine [8:01-8:01]: Come here.
Dave Asheim [8:02-8:04]: What do you think?
Rudy Racine [8:05-8:33]: Well, I think, without giving away what I'm going to talk about in this session, holding people accountable while maintaining positive relationships is definitely a challenge. When you incorporate egos and just personalities and communication and listening, all of that mixed in together makes it incredibly difficult to kind of hold people accountable without causing them to lose motivation, so I can absolutely relate with that being a challenge.
Dave Asheim [8:34-8:43]: Alright, well… Let's have you take it away. I will hide my video, and we'll let you take it away.
Rudy Racine [8:43-8:48]: Awesome. Again, Dave, thank you so much for the platform, for the invitation.
Dave Asheim [8:48-8:48]: My pleasure.
Rudy Racine [8:48-31:11]: communicate with this audience. Megan, the magic behind the scenes, you are incredible. Megan is actually facilitating the PowerPoint behind the scenes, so I appreciate her greatly. Welcome, everyone. As Dave mentioned, my name is Rudy Racine. I am the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Higher Learners. I'm also the author of the book that you see on your screen, called The Leadership Mile. Motivate, Inspire, Learn, Empower. I want to shout out those of you that chose to join us this afternoon. For those of you that I've worked with in the past, thank you for your continual support. Those of you that I have not met yet, I look forward to engaging further, so please, I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn. Let's continue the conversation after this session. As many of you were joining, I did say that, you know, being that we're on Zoom and I can't see you all, for those that have been on sessions with me before, I really build off of and play off of the head nods and the smiles on these sessions. But being that I don't have the opportunity to see you, I don't see the head nods, I can't connect with you through a smile, I do invite you and encourage you to hit me with a couple of heart emojis, applause, whatever. If you agree, thumbs up, I love those, and that keeps the energy going. It keeps the engagement flowing. So, with that. without further ado, we'll move to the next slide. My goal for this session… So, I've been in leadership, leading teams, leading… working with leaders. for over 20 years, and I've encountered leaders that all seem to struggle with the same challenges when it comes to the people they lead. How do I get my team to buy in? How do I create a culture of performance and collaboration? How do I establish a team dynamic that results in consistent and sustained performance? And how do I get my team to a point where I can deliver feedback and prioritize accountability Without having to navigate defensiveness or emotional responses and potential conflict. Of course, my phone rings. Whatever happens can happen. Alright, sorry. I'm using my phone as the camera. Don't call me if you're on this session. So, yeah, how do I get my team to a point where I can deliver feedback and prioritize accountability without having to navigate defensiveness, emotional responses, and potential conflict? So these are challenges that many leaders in my orbit. I've helped coach and help them navigate these questions and responses, and they're part of the reason why I wrote the book, The Leadership Mile. So, my hope is that today's session adds value to your leadership journey. Whether you're a new leader, you're an existing leader that may be struggling with this from time to time, I want to make sure that I leave you with answers to these questions, and arm you with 3 principles during these next, maybe, 20 minutes that will help you answer these questions and help you be a leader to successfully build accountability, build trust, and drive your team's performance. So. With that, we'll move to the next slide. And it's the first principle. The first principle is, tied to the five methods of motivation, and it's important for you to realize that your team, while it may be made up of a variety of individuals, and those individuals may have similarities, they all might need to be motivated differently. And as a leader, it is your responsibility to learn about the people on your team and understand which methods of motivation resonate most with the individuals on your team. There are 5 methods of motivation. You see them on your screen, we'll go through all five, and I'll explain them all. We'll start at the top of that circle, contact. Next is acknowledgement, next is rewards, next is assistance, and next is time. And as I go through this, we'll actually have a poll to see where, or which methods of motivation resonate most with you, but I want to ensure that you understand them first. So the first is contact. Within a corporate environment. You may not see contact as frequently, but it is a method of motivation. These are simple gestures. These are simple gestures of connection. They could be, high fives, fist bump, a pat on the shoulder, a pat on the back. Right? To acknowledge good effort, to acknowledge great work, to acknowledge the things that you've done for the team. Something as simple as a high five and a fist bump. And again, this may not be something that motivates you, but there are people, and there may be people on your team, that are motivated by a simple gesture, a simple contact, fist bump, high five. Pat on the back. Those are… that is one of the methods of motivation. Again, not the most common within a corporate environment. The other four are more common, but I wanted to introduce you to all 5. The next is acknowledgement. Acknowledgement is when a leader takes the time to recognize efforts and celebrate your contributions. This can be in a public forum in front of team members, whether it be via email or in person. Or it could be in a private forum, during a one-on-one, or via email again, where that leader sends a note to just acknowledge something specific that you did to contribute to the team that they appreciate. There are people on your team that may be motivated by consistent Acknowledgement, where you take the time to identify something specific that they've done, and you make it a point to let them know how much you appreciate it. There are those that appreciate that. That is a method of motivation. The next is rewards. Rewards are… Tangible items used to celebrate employee performance. Again, there may be people on your team, there are those that are motivated by rewards. That might be something as simple as a gift card. It could be cash, it could be a raise. It can be a certificate, it can be a medal. Anything tangible that an individual receives in recognition for the work that they do. is… it falls into the bucket of rewards. That is a method of motivation. There are those, again, that are motivated by the dollar, and those that are motivated by, hey, you gonna give me some extra money? They are motivated, they fall in the rewards bucket. Assistance is the next method of motivation. Assistance is essentially when a leader is willing to roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty and do work alongside their staff, their team. There are individuals on your team today that may be motivated just by the fact that you are willing to roll your sleeves up and get the… and do the job alongside them. And it doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna do the job for them, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna do the job for an hour, two hours, but just the simple gesture of. Being willing to get your hands dirty and work alongside your team, is something that could potentially motivate your staff. And last, but certainly not least, time. Time is the fifth method of motivation. That is when a leader takes the time, whether it be in a one-on-one or even a quick 5-minute, 10-minute, 15-minute chat with an employee, just to check in, just to see, how are things going. What's going well? Where can I be of support? What are some of the challenges that you're experiencing? There are individuals on your team that appreciate when a leader Gives them their undivided attention, and essentially focuses their attention on that individual to talk about what might be going on with that individual, whether it be professionally or even personally, if you have that relationship. Your team is constructed of individuals that may be motivated by one or more of these five methods of motivation. And as a leader, again, it is your responsibility to Pay attention to the clues that your team gives to understand which of these methods of motivation work best for them, so that you can be intentional about showing up With these approaches, or using these approaches, and showing up with your team, so that they can see that you are… you care enough to motivate them. So, these are the five methods of motivation. And again, going back to principle number one, before we go to the poll, essentially, your team is made up of a variety of individuals. It is your responsibility to learn about your team. and understand which methods of motivation resonate most with them, so that you can show up, with using these methods of motivation with your team. So now we've got the poll, I invite you to participate. Which one of those methods resonates most with you? Again, I am not a part of the audience, so I'll tell you, for me, it's acknowledge me. acknowledgement, when, you know, those thumbs up, those high fives, those, well, high fives virtually, that's a hand raise, I guess, that is something that resonates a lot with me and keeps me energized and motivated within work. Alright. So, I'm gonna ask Megan… I don't… I'm not sure if I'll see the results of the poll, but when the poll is up, we will see. Alright, so there are many… As you can see, based on the makeup of this audience, so it looks like this audience is made up of about 20-some people that participated in the poll, and you'll notice that there are several that are motivated by acknowledgment, but again, it varies. So, use the poll results to give you an example of how your team Might consist of individuals that are motivated by these different approaches. And as a leader, you've got to be flexible and have the ability to adapt your approach and your motivation style to ensure that you're meeting the needs of everyone on your team, so that you can continue to drive performance. So, again, I only got a couple of minutes to go over these principles. So, principle number one, we've kind of hammered home with the five methods of motivation. Along those lines, we're going to go to principle number two. Next slide, please, Megan. And, you know, if you follow me on social media, you'll see this image. This is one of my favorite images. And it's essentially me telling you that it is important to understand the power of perspective. understand the power of perspective. When you're dealing with an employee, whether it be when dealing with employee conflict, when delivering constructive criticism, when providing coaching or feedback, or just trying to develop an employee and help them to grow in their career, it is important For you to understand how to see things from their point of view. It's your responsibility to take the time, at least, to try to understand their point of view. And the reason I think this image is powerful is because, as you can see from the image, there is a number between two individuals, right? The individual on the left thinks they see a 6. The individual on the right thinks they see a 9. Which one is right? Some might say the one on the left, some might say the one on the right, some might say it depends on where you're standing. And… the last answer, I think, is the one that I tend to side with. It depends on where you're standing, right? Now, if you are a leader, and you are a part of this discussion between these two individuals, how simple would this conversation be if the leader, I'll say the leader's the one on the left. took the time to go to the other side and see things from the perspective of the employee, just to understand why they're so adamant that they're seeing a 9. It doesn't solve the point, it doesn't make the leader wrong, it essentially tells the employee, hey, I am willing to understand why you see what you see the way you see it. And then, once you've done that, you've extended the olive branch, you've built the relationship with the employee, you can then Show them why you were adamant that it is a 6. This image helps you understand conflict and feedback delivery when it comes to employment. Again, if you are finding instances where you are trying to deliver feedback to an employee, and they're resistant, or it's resulting in emotional responses, or it's just not connecting, that is your cue to Pause. and do your best to understand what might be influencing this individual. What might be shaping this person's lens, alright? And sometimes it has nothing to do with you. It may be that this individual was burned by a previous supervisor, or manager, or a leader, or they lack the trust in the organization because they might not have been with the organization long enough, or they've been with the organization so long that they realize that they can't be as trusting to a leader, and you may be a new leader for them. The point I'm trying to make is your responsibility, when you take on a team, when you have the privilege of leading others, is to be intentional about trying to understand the perspective of your team. And again, this image resonates so greatly with me, because it's a reminder that, hey, maybe I'm standing on one side of an argument, or maybe I'm standing on one side, and I don't fully see where my employee is coming from, so I've got to take a step back, pause, and try to understand their perspective. And I can tell you that Using this approach, understanding the power of perspective, is one of the main keys to connecting better with your team. Alright? We're gonna go to principle number 3. And then again, I invite you to ask any questions or post your comments in the chat. I will try to respond as best as possible. Alright, so principle number 3… Is when it comes to holding people accountable to do the job that they were hired to do. And when it comes to developing the professionals on your team, you have to remember your ABCs. What are your ABCs? The ABCs of accountability. A stands for acknowledge, B stands for benchmark, C stands for cadence. And so, the acknowledge bucket it's tied to those first two principles, the methods of motivation, the understanding the perspective. Before you go into any situation trying to deliver feedback, trying to coach, correct, or develop an employee, it is important to acknowledge the effort that they've put in, ensuring that they feel seen by you as their leader, right? So taking the time to acknowledge just the effort, and I'm not trying to confuse effort with results. There may be instances where you as the leader see someone's performance and think. it requires improvement, and the employee thinks that they're doing just fine, if not being stellar, performing stellar. It is important in those moments to still first acknowledge the performance, the effort, the time, the energy that the employee has displayed before going into the B and the C. And what is the B? The B is benchmark. The B is benchmark, and it means defining success. Sometimes on teams. Your definition of success may not match the employee's definition of success, and it is your responsibility as a leader to ensure that those definitions match, and you have conversations where you can align and collaborate, possibly, on what that definition of success looks like. I like to ask team members, and I like to ask leaders specifically, if you… if I were to ask you, what is a good week look like in your position? What… what needs to happen? If I were to ask you, what does a great week look like in your position, what needs to happen? And if I were to ask you what an amazing week looks like in your position, what needs to happen? You'll find that sometimes if you ask a leader that question. And then you ask an employee that question. There are instances where they give you two completely different responses. You may have a leader that focuses specifically on the results, the outcomes, the deliverables. And you may have an employee that focuses on the time spent, the effort that they put in, the energy that they exhausted to complete a task, even if that task fell short of your expectations. The benchmark component of ABCs is to work with them to ensure that there is no subjectivity in the definition of success. It's gotta be objective. It's gotta be, in some cases, quantitative. It's gotta be something that can be confirmed that, yes, we've accomplished the task at hand. So… Good, great, and amazing are qualitative expectations. I had a great week. Me, Rudy Racine having a great week. I might think my week was great, where someone else might look at it as mediocre, right? Because it's a qualitative expectation. It is important from a leadership perspective when you are going back to the ABCs of accountability. On the benchmark piece, it is important that you eliminate all subjectivity in what success looks like. So I challenge you all, if you're leaders on this call, answer those questions and ask your team members those questions. And if you're not aligned, don't get mad, don't be upset. That is your opportunity to align with that employee and have a conversation. And it brings me to the C in the ABCs of accountability. the cadence piece. So, once you've acknowledged those efforts, and the time, and the energy, and once you've established a clear definition of success, it is important to establish a set cadence that works for you and works for the employee. So, it might be a weekly check-in, it might be a bi-weekly check-in, it might be a monthly check-in. That check-in needs to make sure that it meets your needs and doesn't kind of take over your schedule, but it also needs to ensure that it doesn't take over the employee's schedule. It's gotta be a cadence that works for both parties, where you have the ability to take some time to check in on what's going well. discuss what challenges an individual might be experiencing, and establish or identify where you can be of greater support to that individual. The ABCs of accountability are the key to getting an employee to buy in, because they see that you're acknowledging their efforts, and that you recognize the time and energy and effort that they're putting in. They are also involved in the discussion, the benchmarking, the discussion around what does success look like, and how does it… what does it take to be successful in this position? And then the cadence is establishing an opportunity and a time to check in with one another frequently. So, principle number 3, when it comes to holding people accountable to doing the job they were hired to do. And when it comes to developing professionals on your team, you have to remember your ABCs. Alright, so I think I'm at my 20-minute mark. We're gonna go to the next slide. Higher Learners has developed a proprietary… oh, actually, there's a poll question. Sorry, Megan, ask the poll question first. So, which part of the ABCs of accountability offers you your greatest opportunity for growth? Is it the acknowledgement piece? Do you… could you be doing more to acknowledge the efforts that your team put in? Could it be the benchmarking piece? Is there some lack of clarity around what success looks like between you and your team? Or is it the cadence piece? Do you find that you're canceling meetings frequently when it comes to check-ins? Each of those are very important. So we'll leave some time, to see what the results of that poll are. Can't wait to see the results. So there's a… it looks like there's a… the benchmarking piece seems to be the leader here, the defining success, but there are those that may struggle with the acknowledging piece, taking the time, and those that struggle with the cadence piece. I appreciate the honesty. So what I invite you to do, if we go to the next slide, I got an extra barcode Here. higher learners, we've developed something called the Accountability Audit, and if you have not already taken this, I invite you to take the Accountability Audit. It is a quick assessment, it takes you about 4 minutes, you can do it after this session, and it tells you where you may be strong, which of the ABC… which of the ABCs you may be strong in, and where there may be opportunity for further development. So, now that you've responded to this poll, I invite you to take the accountability audit, and see if the audit agrees with your assessment that, A might be an area of opportunity for growth, B, or C. To recap the principles, principle number one, it is your responsibility as a leader to learn about the people on your team, understand the methods of motivation that resonate most with those individuals on your team. Principle number two, it is important to understand the power of perspective. When dealing with employees, it is your responsibility to take the time to at least try to understand your employee's point of view. You're not always gonna get it. You're not always gonna understand. I'm not trying to say that you're gonna understand the employee's point of view, but the simple gesture of trying to listen and understand, again, goes a long way with getting your team to buy in and feeling connected, and feeling like they have a voice with you as a leader. And last but certainly not least, principle number three, when it comes to holding people accountable to do the job that they were hired to do. And when it comes to developing the professionals on your team, you have to remember your ABCs. Acknowledge benchmark, and cadence. With that, my friends, I thank you again for your time, your attention, the emojis, I appreciate it. And so I will stop talking, and I'll turn it back to Dave so we can get into this Q&A.
Dave Asheim [31:13-32:16]: Excellent. Alright, that was fantastic, but… everybody needs to buy this book, because there's just so many more juicy things that Rudy could talk about. We've got a chat window going on, so drop your chats there, or you can respond to the text. While they're coming in, I'll start, Rudy, and just pepper you with a couple. But, all of you in the audience, we'd love to hear yours as well. I see David said. Already owns the book, and it's excellent. Okay, there's a good one. All right, and Regina, okay. Rudy… being a good leader can take the… your entire day. So, especially, you know, you've got 10 employees, 20, 30, some of you have just, you know, almost hundreds of employees underneath you. How does somebody balance really doing the check-in and the spend 5 minutes and the… and the attaboy without letting your own job suffer?
Rudy Racine [32:17-33:45]: Yeah, Dave, that's a great question, and I feel like in today's market, in today's job market, leaders are incredibly busy, right? You know, I come from being accountable for over 750 staff, and having, you know, 9 direct reports, 7 direct reports, but then you had the indirect reports that were almost like direct reports, so it can be draining, it can be a lot. What I will say, though, is being a good leader is part of the way you measure a leader's performance, right? So, if you're finding that your overall job performance is struggling, but you consider yourself to be a good leader, there may be a disconnect. So, like, your overall job performance, if you are a good leader when your overall job performance is thriving. Right? But there may be instances where you need to delegate more, where you may need to empower your staff more. And that's where feedback comes into play. You know, asking if you are a leader and you report to a higher level leader. asking for that feedback, but also discussing and benchmarking what success looks like. You might need to go through those ABCs from the employee side to, you know, acknowledge your greatness and the great things that you've done, but also ensure that you are benchmarking with the leader or leaders that you report to, to ensure that success is real. It's realistic, and it's possible.
Dave Asheim [33:46-33:52]: Would you ever have that conversation with your superior, or would that almost be… Blessed.
Rudy Racine [33:52-33:52]: this…
Dave Asheim [33:52-33:55]: Show… yeah, showing, weakness.
Rudy Racine [33:55-35:04]: So, I think this is a quote that I've shared with my team in the past, and it kind of applies. I'll say that tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy, right? And so, I use that quote when it comes to delivering feedback, but to answer your question. The tact piece is you have to be strategic when you bring that up with your superior, right? You have to say… you have to maybe frame it and say, listen, I think… I think I put in a lot of time and energy and effort into being great, but I want to be better. And I'm curious, from your standpoint, like, where can I be better? What are some things that I can do to improve? And then have an open discussion around what that is, what that looks like, right? What does good, great, and amazing looks like? That's… that's something that, again, Higher Learners does training on, working with teams. to help them define good, great, and amazing for the individuals on their team, because oftentimes, there's a lot of disconnect when it comes to defining what good looks like, what great looks like, and what amazing looks like. And from an individual standpoint as a leader, sometimes your view of what good, great, and amazing leadership looks like may not match your employees or your superiors.
Dave Asheim [35:05-35:13]: Yeah, and it can change. I mean, your boss's perspective of how you're doing can change based on the pressures that your boss is under at the same time, so…
Rudy Racine [35:14-35:15]: Absolutely.
Dave Asheim [35:15-35:25]: Mark, one of our participants, has a question about how to motivate an employee who is feeling overwhelmed and might be on the verge of disconnecting.
Rudy Racine [35:25-36:49]: Hmm. I think it's… it's… it's the… the A needs to happen first, right? So… you've got to acknowledge the overwhelm, right? And you can't project that overwhelm. So, again, overwhelmed. is subjective. What I deem to be overwhelming may not match what somebody else deems to be overwhelming. And I think one of the mistakes that leaders often make is when an employee comes to them and says, I am overwhelmed. We take that word, and we assign our own definition to it. Alright? If you have an employee that says they're overwhelmed, unpack it. Acknowledge the fact, but listen, I can understand completely, this job can feel overwhelming, right? And I'm curious. what specifically is the most overwhelming piece of your position? And then when you do that, when you ask that question, you gotta pause and listen, because you ask 10 employees that question about, like, what is it that's causing you to feel overwhelmed? And I guarantee you, they will all give you different responses. Right? So, don't get caught up in the word overwhelm, because it might be different for everyone. And if you can get clear on what that overwhelming feeling is, you can then start to take the steps To help that person feel less overwhelmed, and also help them feel acknowledged for just sharing that with you.
Dave Asheim [36:50-36:58]: Yeah, it's pretty scary when an employee actually comes to their boss and says, I'm overwhelmed, because it takes… It's a big hill to climb for someone to acknowledge that.
Rudy Racine [36:59-37:40]: For sure, and so, shameless plug for you and Engage by Cell. I think Engage by Cell and your platform is such a great way to engage staff. Because, just like in this webinar, where you can push out, different questions and prompts, like, you can easily use something like Engage by Sell to engage your employees and check in and get the pulse for your team, asking questions that may be triggering, but they open up an opportunity for you to have these discussions with staff and get a feeling for where they are. I know I've used Engage by Cell's platforms with clients in the to kind of do that same thing. So, shameless plug. Sorry, Dave, I didn't mean to make this a commercial about Engage Myself, but definitely a fan.
Dave Asheim [37:40-37:57]: Yeah, thanks. Deb has a question, and I'll read it to you, and we might need her to refine it. She asks, how do you say as a supervisor that I get information that I can't share? The general response I get is, oh, that's above my pay grade, I guess.
Rudy Racine [37:57-39:03]: Oh, no, don't do that. So, you are a leader, so you are going to be entitled to information, whether it be information from your superiors that you can't share, but you know something is coming down the pike. In those moments, you don't want to diminish your power, you don't want to diminish your authority and say that, hey, this is above my pay grade, I don't know. Because when you do that, again, you're diminishing your authority as a leader, and that employee may be like, alright, well, I gotta talk to the next person above you, because I'm feeling unsettled, right? if a piece of news or information has been given to you that is not prepared or not ready to be shared with employees, you have to take, you know, you're in a leadership position, you represent the organization, you might represent the board or what have you, so you have to care for that information. You do also have to care for your employees, so you can give them feedback and advice without necessarily releasing that information. You don't want to be in a situation where you're sharing something that is too early to be shared.
Dave Asheim [39:04-39:21]: Got it. Maria's got a question. How do you overcome A long-term supervisor that never really launched or adopted a leadership role. So they're kind of… they're stuck in doing their former job, but now they're a leader as well.
Rudy Racine [39:21-40:55]: Well, yeah, and so I can relate, because in some instances, you may end up working for an organization, and you work You… you are direct… you are direct… you are a direct report to a leader, that may have never led a team before, right? And your performance is almost tied to this leader. And so… When I talk to leaders, I say, you gotta have conversations, you have to deliver feedback. You also have to do this, you have to have the ability to manage up, and be tactful in managing your leader, helping them to understand what support you need to be successful. And it starts with ensuring that you have that face time with them. So, if that cadence has not been established, asking for an opportunity where you can establish a set cadence of check-ins. Hey, can we meet for about 15 minutes? Just once a week to check in? I want to be able to talk to you about where I need some support, what's going well, and where I'm still struggling. If you have that cadence. then you can go back to the ABCs, right? You can acknowledge the efforts and the energy and time that that leader might have demonstrated. you can say, listen, I really want to make sure that you and I are aligned with what success looks like, and benchmark. And then it goes back to the ABC. So, I said all of that to say, just because you may report to a leader, that doesn't always put it in the hands of the leader to define the relationship and the coaching. You can do that, you just have to… you have to be intentional and tactful with that as well.
Dave Asheim [40:57-41:26]: Another question for you that I came up with. Your book doesn't really put are leading in buckets of, like, Gen X or Millennials. It's more of, you know, you've got all these roles. So, was that intentional? Because I think an awful lot of newer managers will say, oh, I'm leading a bunch of millennials, I'm leading a bunch of Gen X, so I need to treat them in a category, but that's not really what comes out in your leadership mile.
Rudy Racine [41:27-43:06]: So, it's not, and that was intentional, so I appreciate you asking that question, Dave, because I can tell you, just from my personal experience, I've managed Gen Xers, I've managed Gen Ys, and I've managed Gen Z, right? And… I'll use the ABCs of accountability as my… for my response. Acknowledgement for someone that is Gen X, Acknowledgement for someone that is Gen Y, and acknowledgement for someone that is Gen Z may look very different, right? I had a Gen X employee, that did not appreciate and did not like when I shouted her out and gave her kudos. In a public forum. She was like, I'm here to do my job, I don't need all of that, right? But she loved when I gave her a day off, when I approved time off, right? So… Everyone in the Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, they still all… need you to understand the ABCs of accountability. That acknowledgement may look different for each audience. The benchmarking may be a different conversation, but at the end of the day, you need to ensure that you are aligned and you've defined success with your audience and with your team. And then the cadence is important. You might have a Gen Xer that doesn't need you to meet with them every week. It might be a monthly meeting, because they come very much prepared. You might have a Gen Z employee that needs a little bit more of your time, and where you might need to meet with them weekly, and it's not that they're not better employees or good employees. It's just… That each generation represents a different type of employee, and again, as a leader, it's your responsibility to understand the people on your team, so that you can support them the best that you can.
Dave Asheim [43:06-43:36]: Let's talk feedback for a sec… for a second. When I started my career as a banker, I would get a yearly performance review, it was about 7 pages, about 8 paragraphs per, and all of this stuff would come pouring out that I had no idea that was a problem. Then you go fast forward to a micromanager who every day is saying, you know, when you talk to somebody that little… like a micro… what's the right balance?
Rudy Racine [43:38-44:56]: So, that's an excellent question, and I would say that you've gotta… it depends on the person, right? You don't want to just wait on yearly performance reviews. I can say that. I think any HR professional that's on this call or outside of this call will say you never want to surprise an employee by giving them feedback for the first time on their annual performance evaluation, right? There definitely needs to be, again, a set cadence where you are checking in with an individual. I would say, if it's something that they've done that is egregious, that needs to be addressed. You gotta have a conversation. Now, that does not mean that you have to put it in writing and give them a performance improvement plan, or give them a corrective action. But if they showed up 5 minutes late, and you don't say anything. then that's acceptable behavior in the minds of some employees, right? So you've got to say something. So there has to be a set cadence, and you have to make sure that you address any egregious behavior when it happens to prevent it from becoming acceptable in the mind of the employee, or for the employee to say that, hey, you don't… you let such and such employee do that, and you're addressing that with me. You don't want to establish that… that disparity amongst your team, so you've got to address things when they come. But again, how you address it might vary.
Dave Asheim [44:57-45:33]: Okay? Let's talk a minute about motivation. Leaders will always talk about, well, I need to motivate my employees. That's an almost impossible thing to do, because we don't know what's really… motivating them might be… I didn't get yelled at today, or I got my 5% raise, or whatever. My idea of motivating as an employee might be very different than the CEO or my bosses, who's got performance reviews, and they're trying to drive this company. How do you weave Motivation into managing.
Rudy Racine [45:33-46:47]: So, I think motivation is more short-term, right? And I kind of talk about that distinction in the book, right? So, motivation is short-term. Inspiration is really connecting to the why. Like, why does this person do the work? And am I speaking to what, like, what is really driving this individual to do the work? You know, motivation, again, it's short-term, so you're not going to be able to motivate someone consistently if they're not also self-motivated. If they're not connected to the why, and the mission, and the vision, and the purpose of the work that they're doing. I would say that the key for an effective leader is just being intentional. Again, some simple gestures. You heard me talk about the high fives, the fist bumps, the email that says, thanks for ABC what you've done. Being intentional and communicating things that an individual did, or recognizing things that an individual did, will keep them motivated when it comes to their job. As far as inspiring them and keeping them connected to the overall mission and vision of an organization, that's a longer conversation with that employee, and it requires multiple conversations in some cases. To ensure that they're continuously aligned with the direction that the company's going.
Dave Asheim [46:48-48:13]: Great, great answer. Time for another question or two, so those of you still with us. Drop it in the chat window, and, If not, Megan, maybe we can go to the kind of the wrap-up. Wrap up, slide with… emails, if we've got that. We'll also text everybody a link to an Amazon order, so if you, would like to buy the Buy the book, please do. Rudy, you are doing full-time consulting now. You're speaking, you're advising, so any of you that are listening to this, feel free to contact Rudy for one-on-one, or for team consulting, or if there are conferences that you're involved with. I'm sure all of that Rudy would love to be involved with. On the… on the engagement side, obviously anything that, that you might think of in terms of using some of the… some of the messaging or mobile services, feel free to ping me. You'll get these slides, and you will have all of our emails. But I think that, you know, we've been doing this for 15 minutes. Maybe that's time to wrap it up, Rudy. Thank you so much. The inspiration and the book are well needed, I think, in today's day and age of uncertainty.
Rudy Racine [48:14-49:04]: I appreciate you, Dave. I appreciate the audience. I'm loving the love, and the hearts, and the thumbs up, and the applause. You know, thank you so much for your time, your attention. Thanks for showing up. I invite you again to connect with me on LinkedIn if we aren't already connected. I invite you to visit higherLearners.com. I invite you to take the accountability audit. I do a keynote speech called the Leadership Mile, Motivate, Inspire, Learn, Empower, where I touch on some of the things that I've touched on here with some stories. I also do a talk on the accountability Reset, where I talk about pushing the reset button with employees that you may not have been holding accountable, and you may need to reintroduce the ABCs of accountability. So, if you want to talk more, I invite you to connect with me, shoot me a message, visit my website, or connect on LinkedIn. Thank you so much to all of you, and thank you, Dave and Megan.
Dave Asheim [49:04-49:09]: You're welcome. All right, we'll wrap it up, and thank you again, Rudy. Bye.
Rudy Racine [49:09-49:12]: True. Alright, everyone, thanks so much.
Dave Asheim [49:12-49:12]: Bye.
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