Category Archives: Insights Discovery
July 10, 2019 Use Insights Discovery to Create a Welcoming Workplace
In a past blog post, I addressed diversity and how it goes beyond physical characteristics and also involves diversity of thought, behavior, and perspective. Today, I’d like to discuss how your diverse workplace can be a welcoming one. First, let’s define what a welcoming workplace looks like.
People in a welcoming workplace…
…feel a sense of belonging, are treated fairly, and have equal opportunities
…feel like they can be themselves and allow others to be themselves
…are fully engaged and part of a team
…remain authentic
The result of a welcoming workplace? Innovation, creative ideas, and fresh ways of looking at things. These are all things any organization wants, but how to achieve them? How can people with widely differing outlooks on life work together harmoniously and accomplish great things?
According to the principles I’ve learned from Insights® Discovery (a tool for understanding and developing unique personalities), inclusion really starts from the top. Company leadership needs to be fully invested in the idea of fostering a welcoming workplace before the rest of the team can truly adopt it.
The organization should consider these questions:
- Does the leadership recognize the diversity of its team?
- Do they know how to adapt and connect with all the people on their team?
- Do they know what motivates certain people on their team? Do they know what derails them?
- Are there open lines of communication in the office?
- Are questions and concerns addressed or ignored?
- Does the leadership make an effort to hear from everyone at the table?
Company leadership can facilitate an open, welcoming environment, but it takes the rest of the organization to keep it up on a day-to-day basis. That takes awareness and reflection. We should be asking ourselves questions from time to time like: “How does the work environment feel?” “How comfortable is it for me? For my co-workers?” “Does the minority have a voice in the office?” “Are we encouraged to raise questions or concerns?”
It takes time to build a welcoming environment, but the results are worth it. Each person has the ability to add unique value to the organization, so it’s important to create an environment where that value can come through.
If you’d like to delve into creating a welcoming workplace in more depth, I encourage you to contact me so we can discuss your organization’s needs. Thanks for reading!
Margaret Smith is a career coach, author, Insights® Discovery (and Deeper Discovery) Licensed Practitioner, and founder of UXL. She hosts WORKSHOPS for people who need career or personal guidance.
NOW LIVE: Check out Margaret’s NEW online Leadership Course.
Tags: benefits of Insights Discovery, Insights Deeper Discovery, Insights Deeper Discovery Workshops, insights discovery diversity, Margaret Smith licensed Insights practitioner, Margaret Smith Twin Cities, welcoming workplace
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- Posted under Better Business, Insights Discovery, Organization
September 5, 2018 Your Leadership Might be Missing…A Color?
Every leader has their strengths. You might be an excellent idea-generator or public speaker. Maybe you’re great with details. Or, maybe your team considers you a trusted confidante. Whatever the case, it’s great to celebrate and emphasize your strengths…but it’s also a good idea to identify your areas of opportunity.
No leader is perfect. There is always room for growth. But how can you get started with self-improvement? Isn’t that a bit daunting?
It doesn’t have to be.
By assigning certain personality traits certain colors, it’s easy to identify the areas where you are lacking. That is precisely what the Insights® Discovery program does. According to the Insights® color model, each individual has the capability to embrace and utilize all four color energies, but we typically only emphasize one or two. In essence, the color system breaks down like this:
The basic traits of each Insights personality. Everyone has a little of each color in them!
(For more information on Insights® Discovery, please visit my website!)
So what happens when, as a leader, you don’t tap into each color energy?
You may find that you’re not as well-rounded as you could be. For instance, if you lead with a lot of yellow energy, you may jump into projects feet-first without thinking through all the details. While this is great for motivation and could have positive effects on your team initially, the long-term effects may be disastrous if certain key factors were not taken into consideration (Oh…we needed to get permission from corporate before contacting that client…).
On the flip side, if you lead with a lot of blue energy, you may nit-pick the details to death and have trouble starting a project (let alone drumming up enthusiasm for it).
To examine this idea further, take a look at the following chart. Which areas in YOUR leadership need a boost? How could “Fiery Red” be useful at times? How could green? Yellow? Blue?
Coming from someone who is strongly yellow (with dashes of the other colors), I know the importance of tapping into my “blue side.” How will you call upon your under-utilized colors today?
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: business coach Margaret Smith, improve leadership, Insights and Leadership, Insights Discovery, insights discovery leadership, leadership lacking, margaret smith leadership, Margaret Smith licensed Insights practitioner, well-rounded leader
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- Posted under Insights Discovery, Leadership
May 9, 2018 Delegating at Work is Like Hosting a BBQ
Your perfect barbecue goes something like this:
- You create the perfect guest list (people you enjoy hanging out with and who get along well with each other)
- Each guest takes on the responsibility of making a different dish (something they’re good at making!)
- On the day of the event, everyone enjoys a delicious spread of food and each other’s company.
- Even if it rains or someone spills the potato salad, you’ll still have the makings of an excellent get together.
Of course, not every BBQ turns out this way. You might encounter drama between guests, or you may end up with seven different desserts, but no potato chips or veggie tray. The trick is knowing your guests’ personalities, knowing their strengths, and delegating effectively.
You can probably already draw parallels between the perfect BBQ and delegating to a work team, but let you give me my take on it:
When you’re leading a team, it’s difficult (and frankly inadvisable) to do everything yourself. If you tried to cook everything for a twenty-person barbecue, you’d end up pulling out your hair and not having much fun.
At work, the stakes are higher. If you’re working on a project, you’ll have deadlines to meet, stakeholders to please, and a team to attend to. Instead of taking on the bulk of the work yourself, TRUST that your team is capable enough to shoulder some of the burden.
Not only will delegating tasks to others lighten your load, it will help your team members feel like they are important parts of the work (just like the people at your BBQ who are providing the watermelon or deviled eggs).
Furthermore, delegating adds diversity of thought.
Your team members will inevitably do things a little differently than what you might have done on your own, and THAT’S OKAY. It’s great to work with a diverse set of ideas—that’s what drives innovation. Just like the person who brings a unique dish (grilled asparagus and ricotta pizza, anyone?), you will find creative new ideas through your team that you might not have found on your own.
Just make sure everyone is well-suited to their tasks.
In the workplace, certain people will love crunching numbers and digging into strategy. Others will love idea-generation. Still others will take pleasure in the artist elements of a project.
The better you know your team members, the better you can assign tasks. Just like you know Bill makes delectable beer-battered chicken, but you wouldn’t trust him to know merengue from tapioca pudding, so too should you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team.
Don’t forget to make things fun.
One of the keys to successful delegation is making sure people are working well together, connecting, and facing any issues with a positive attitude and a problem-solving mentality. Day-to-day work doesn’t have to be a grind. If everyone is well-suited to their tasks and the team is keeping an affable, open line of communication between one another, the work can actually be (gasp!) fun.
You can also amp up the fun factor by hosting lunch-and-learn meetings, creating light-hearted challenges, raising money for a cause, or going on the occasional team outing. Though these may seem like frivolous activities to some, they are actually great ways to help your team members connect with one another, build a sense of camaraderie, and help YOU better understand what makes the people on your team tick. Having a deep understanding of your team members is crucial to effective delegation.
So, make a plan, start delegating, and get ready to fire up that grill!
MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM
Tags: benefits of delegation, Better delegation, Delegating like BBQ, Insights and Leadership, Insights Discovery for teams, leadership and delegation, Margaret Smith business coach, Margaret Smith licensed Insights practitioner, smart delegation
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- Posted under Better Business, Communication, Insights Discovery, Leadership
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