Any Good Strategy Starts with Hope w/ Libby Gill [Episode 651]

Libby Gill, executive coach, leadership expert, speaker, CEO of Libby Gill & Company, and author of The Hope-Driven Leader: Manage the Power of Positivity at Work, joins me for the second time on this episode.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Libby says hope is not a plan or a strategy — but — giving strategies to a hopeless workforce does not work. First, infuse the workplace with positivity; then strategies can work and growth can be achieved.
• Libby explains happiness and hope. Both are positive. Hope is attached to actions moving toward a vision. Hope is the confidence that you can “make it happen.”
• The world is changing. Right now, we may be experiencing the slowest rate of change we will ever experience! Hope is the fundamental belief that change is possible and that your actions control your outcomes.
• Libby notes Amazon and Uber as radical recent changes that no one notices anymore. Change continues to speed up around us. We need to embrace change with attitudes of hope, happiness, and optimism.
• Libby discusses servant leadership she observed in training she did at Abbott and how the leaders interacted with their teams. She explains how leaders can help individuals to relate to where the company is going.
• 67% of the workforce is disengaged, according to Gallup. Many employers think this is a low estimate. Gallup says $400 billion is lost yearly by the lack of productivity.
• A team that is “fired up” in spite of stress and change can overcome these difficulties together.
• Libby talks about women causing change in the workplace with the #MeToo movement. She talks about the dynamics the Millennial generation brings. They will outnumber Boomers in 2020. It’s time to work together.
• Have we leaders changed in a rapidly-changing world? Do we have values and do we follow them? Do we hire for values and principles? How do individual values inform team values? What have we done that makes us proud?
• Libby shares a case study of a leader who decided to go personal with his direct reports. After a couple of months, people began to get to know each other as humans. Communication, collaboration, and results improved.
• Libby uses herself as a case study of sharing personal vulnerabilities as a keynote speaker, and what results she obtained. People received hope for themselves through the shared humanity. Success comes after setbacks.
• C.R. Snyder, Ph.D., called ‘waypower’ multiple pathways to an end goal. Define the goal to your team and let them get they using their own tools and methods; check in for milestones. Some managers resist this level of freedom.