Leadership, Management, and Team Engagement (A COVID-19 Conference Favorite)

Episode #406 with Josey Sewell

Do you find yourself dreading Mondays? Well, 70% of the working world is with you! Employees are disengaged worldwide, and they are increasing in number. And to help prevent you from having frustrated and disconnected workers, Josey Sewell from Dental Intel shares how to grow better leaders and managers and have better team engagement. If you want to create a healthier, more joyful work environment so you can look forward to Mondays, listen to Episode 406 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Only about 15% of the world’s workers are engaged.

Great managers are critical for worker engagement.

Lack of clarity creates chaos and frustration.

People want to be coached, not managed.

Create vulnerability-based trust with your team.

Don't be afraid of numbers and data.

Quotes:

“People are looking for purpose in work, and it’s up to us to provide them and help them see that purpose. And when you can do that, it’s amazing how your team can support you.” (10:49—11:02)

“[According to a Gallup poll,] just 15% of the world’s workers are engaged at work or appeared to have great jobs. 70% are just not engaged. And what I mean by “not engaged” is that maybe they clock in, and they clock out, and they're not necessarily super excited to be there, but they're not really that miserable. They're just in-between. They just do enough to not get fired. And, unfortunately, 70% of the world’s population is living that. The other 15% are actively disengaged. So, what that means is they are miserable, and they want to commiserate with everybody and make everything difficult for everybody else.” (11:51—12:35)

“One of the things that I learned is that that 70% [who are not engaged], sometimes they were on the fence. And what we found in working with a really large team is that their choice to become the active employee or the disengaged employee often had to do with how we dealt with the 15% of people who were disengaged. Because if they got away with whatever, and there was no accountability, and they made everybody miserable, but it didn't matter that they didn't follow the rules, why on earth should I really put forth a lot of time and effort into this team or into this company? So, make sure that you are consistent with your rules. If you say this is the way that it’s going to be, you stick with it.” (12:36—13:16)

“Gallup says that if we increased even just to 50% of people being actively engaged in work, the world would literally change overnight. Actively engaged employees boom your business, inspire teams, and solve problems instead of creating them. They volunteer in the community, have fewer workplace accidents, have better health and well-being, and make fewer mistakes.” (13:26—13:51)

“The single, most profound, distinct, and clarifying finding ever: 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. It’s the manager that makes such a difference.” (14:24—14:42)

“Being a great doer of tasks does not always make somebody a great manager. And there's not a lot of training or things that are available for managers, so you have to put an emphasis on helping them lead and manage people.” (15:29—15:43)

“If you're just doing an annual performance review like they used to do decades ago, that is not enough. [Employees] want constant feedback and coaching.” (16:37—16:46)

“People don't want to be managed. People want to be coached. And so, the manager has to turn into being a coach. The coach does not only just provide answers with every question that's asked; they ask good questions to facilitate learning. They're not judgmental. They're supportive. They do not dictate what must be done. They facilitate development and learning. Command and control is out, and collaborate and coordinate is in. So, it’s much more that your team members, every single one of them, is leading within their position.” (16:54—17:31)

“To be a great coach, you have to be coachable yourself. So, asking for feedback, admitting mistakes, and taking responsibility. I see so many, whether it’s dentists as a manager or office manager, that put up this armor and they think that they have to have all the answers, what they say goes, and they can't admit to their team that they are scared, or worried, or don't have the answers.” (17:32—17:56)

“Vulnerability is the most powerful thing that you have. It’s okay to say, ‘You know what, guys? I'm not sure. I don't have the answer. But I'm confident we can figure it out together.’” (18:01—18:13)

“[In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni says] great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal. And this is something that I think every team member, every manager, every owner wants. They just don't know how to get there.” (19:35—19:56)

“The best teams, the most high-functioning teams, are ones that constantly work on trying to have this environment where they can be open. And it takes consistently coming back to it.” (21:11—21:23)

“Vulnerability-based trust is being able to be who I am, faults, mistakes, screw-ups, and all, and know that my team wants me for my strengths and what I contribute, and we can forgive each other for our mistakes and our failures. So, it takes so much to be able to create this within a team. And not only that, but once you've created it, when team members do come back and offer feedback, it is so important to create a safe environment.” (23:02—23:34)

“Trust is not based on the absence of conflict. Trust is actually gained by working through these things together. And when I say conflict, I'm not talking about tearing anybody down, or calling anybody names, or screaming or yelling, anything like that. What I am saying is, ‘Can you tell me why you want to change the process? Can you tell me why you want to do this? Because I'm not comfortable, or I think that there's a better way.’ Or so many times, people just want to understand, ‘Why are we doing this?’ and they need to be able to ask why.” (25:10—25:43)

“When you can create an environment where there's peer-to-peer accountability and we’re comfortable with that, that is so much of a better environment because we don't feel like we’re being told what to do, or somebody’s picking on us, or whatever the case is.” (28:23—28:36)

“The way to really create sustainable results is to mix and have a healthy and smart team.” (29:14—29:22)

“There will be some people who maybe have been furloughed or let go, hoping to get their job back, that may be sitting back and, just like everybody else, asking themselves, ‘What is most important to me, and where do I want to show up for work every day?’ And it may or may not be your office. And I hope that it is, and I hope that that works out for you. But there will be some unintended consequences of [the pandemic]. So, having a healthy team and creating this environment and being that vulnerable leader is going to bring to you the best talent — those people who really, really want to work hard.” (30:31—31:08)

“We have to recognize that when we start a new job, we are so overwhelmed with information. We can't just drop somebody in, give them one day, and then, all of a sudden, they're good to go. In my experience, dental training and onboarding has simply been, ‘Here’s how you learn to use Open Dental. Here’s how you learn to use Dentrix if you haven't done that.’ And onboarding is so much more than that. You need to have a system and a process for your onboarding.” (32:13—32:46)

“It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. These emotions are poison to any living goal.” (34:28—34:35)

“Metrics are important because what gets measured gets done. And I love to talk to teams because sometimes they're intimidated by numbers. But I want to tell you that you want to have metrics in your practice. You want to be able to measure your performance because, number one, numbers cut through murky, subjective communication between a manager and direct report. So, rather than being like, ‘Oh, she just doesn't like me so I got a poor performance review,’ you can show your value to the practice.” (45:24—45:52)

“I love this quote. ‘We’re all facing the new normal. And in the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.” (50:57—51:07)

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:02 Josey’s background.

3:53 Why this is an important topic.

6:58 Create a better work environment.

8:40 Gallup poll on what makes a great life.

12:36 Why employees become disengaged.

14:07 Managers are critical to engagement.

15:44 The changing demands of the workforce.

18:49 How to create a great team.

21:24 Create vulnerability-based trust.

24:13 How to work through conflict.

27:51 Peer-to-peer accountability and results.

29:23 A healthy environment attracts great talent.

31:10 Give team members clarity of expectations.

36:24 No profit, no mission.

41:14 The profit formula.

43:37 Important metrics to understand.

46:39 Examples of important metrics to track.

50:07 Conclusion.

52:01 Q&A: Handling negative people on your team.

54:16 Don't be afraid of data.

57:26 What Dental Intel is and how it can help you.

Reach Out to Josey:

Josey’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josalyn.sewell

Josey’s social media: @hygienistinheels

Resources:

It’s the Manager by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter: https://www.gallup.com/itsthemanager/home.aspx

Books by Patrick Lencioni: https://www.tablegroup.com/books/

TED Talks by Brené Brown: https://www.ted.com/speakers/brene_brown

Radical Candor by Kim Scott: https://www.radicalcandor.com/the-book/

Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott: https://fierceinc.com/fierce-conversations/

Josey Sewell, RDH Bio:

Josey is an enthusiastic leader who finds joy in solving the toughest problems entrepreneurial companies face: team engagement, scalability, and a need for appropriate infrastructure. She is dentistry's expert in applying an operating system in dental groups to help them clarify their vision, focus on what matters, and achieve improved team health. She has unique expertise and the ability to weave together sound business systems and team development strategies. Her development programs have empowered leaders and executives to find more joy in their work and control of their business. Josey has one goal: to make work a joyFULL place to be.