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Mike Robbins

Infusing Life and Business with Authenticity and Appreciation

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Bring Your whole self to work

How Men Can Support Women and Empower Female Leadership

January 11, 2018 2 Comments

Like millions of people around the world, I was deeply moved and inspired by the recent speech Oprah Winfrey gave at the Golden Globe awards.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend checking out the video.

Oprah touched on, among other things, the cultural moment we’re in right now with respect to sexual harassment and gender equality.  Over the past few months, I’ve been reflecting on my own thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions, and challenging myself to be even more aware, understanding, and inclusive.  I’ve also been trying to figure out what I can do as a man to advocate for and support women – those whom I know personally and in our society at large.

Issues of gender inequality run deep in our country and our world.  And while we’ve made a lot of progress, we clearly have more work to do.  There are also layers of complexity and emotion to this issue that make it tricky, especially for us men, to fully understand and to address openly and effectively.

On this week’s episode of my podcast, I interviewed Will Marre, co-founder of the Covey Leadership Institute, who recently founded an organization called A Million SMART Women.  He’s worked for the past thirty years creating breakthroughs at some the world’s top organizations including, Johnson & Johnson, Nike and Gap. He’s a thought-leader and trusted advisor on corporate transformation and the competitive advantage of female leaders.

Will and I talked about some of the dynamics of gender issues in today’s business world, how men can advocate for and support women in leadership, and how we can all remember that we’re in this together.

Some of the key things men can do to support women and empower female leadership are:

1)  Listen.  Listening is always important – it’s the key to communication and fundamental to connection.  Now more than ever, it’s important for us men to really listen to women, hear their stories, and try to understand their experience at a deeper level.  When we open our minds and our hearts to the experiences of others with curiosity and compassion, not only do we learn, but we make it safer for them to speak up and more likely that we can find common ground.

2)  Advocate.  Research shows that when women advocate for others in business it’s seen as a positive quality, but when they advocate for themselves it’s seen as a negative one.  However, when men advocate for themselves, it’s seen much more positively.  We all need advocates if we’re going to succeed and move forward in our careers.  Given many of the gender-based double standards that still exist, male advocacy for female leadership is essential and valuable.

3)  Engage.  Thinking about and talking about gender can be challenging for us men for two main reasons.  First of all, we aren’t always paying attention to it.  Second of all, we worry that if we do engage about gender, we’ll say something wrong, offend some of the women around us, or be seen as sexist.  Because of these things (and others), we sometimes shy away from doing or saying anything about gender at all.  Even though we may be uncomfortable, it’s important for us to engage and to remember that gender equality and the empowerment of female leadership is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human issue that impacts all of us.

What can you do to create an environment that is as safe, open, and inclusive as possible?  What can you do to support and empower female leadership?  Share your thoughts below in the comments section here on my blog and/or join the conversation we’re having about this on my Bring Your Whole Self to Work podcast.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bring Your whole self to work, female leadership, gender equality, golden globes, Men, metoo, Mike Robbins, oprah, women

‘Whole Self’ Culture Key to Thriving Organizations

November 15, 2017 2 Comments

How does a culture of healthy, high expectations, balanced by nurturance, enable individuals and organizations to achieve greater fulfillment, competitive advantage, and success? How can companies create an environment where their employees feel safe and encouraged to take risks, give more of themselves while maintaining balance, and deliver results? And, what does it mean to individuals to bring their ‘whole selves’ to their work?

My new book, Bring Your Whole Self to Work, is scheduled for release in May, 2018. In it, I examine what I’ve learned over seventeen years as a researcher, writer, and speaker regarding workplace dynamics and how an environment of authenticity, healthy risk-taking, and support helps both individuals and companies thrive.

When we enthusiastically challenge our employees to bring their best—their whole—selves to work, we and they reach new, higher levels of creativity and performance. Individuals’ passions and talents are engaged. They connect—with their own aspirations, and with others. As they do, teams and organizations push farther. Reach higher. Grow and succeed.

But, individuals need to feel safe to bring all of who they are—and that takes courage. My experience and research has shown that when we nurture and support employees, their fulfillment influences those around them to aim higher for the organization’s collective success.

Consider implementing these steps to help attract and retain employees committed to personal and organizational growth and success.

First:

Encourage your employees to embrace their vulnerability. We erroneously think being vulnerable is a sign of weakness. It’s not. Vulnerability can be scary, but it’s essential to encourage healthy risk, change, creativity, collaboration, growth, and results. Dr. Brene Brown from the University of Houston says, “You can’t get to courage without walking through vulnerability.”

Next:

Encourage your employees to have ‘sweaty-palmed’ conversations. A mentor once said to me, “Mike, what stands between you and the kind of relationships you really want is probably a ten-minute, sweaty-palmed conversation you’re too afraid to have.”

Too often we avoid conflicts with others because we’re afraid of the consequences that come with speaking up. Yet, when we muster the courage to start those sweaty-palmed conversations we strengthen our ability to resolve differences while deepening our connections, building confidence, and contributing to collective success.

Remind your employees to:

Stop trying to just survive. When we do things that truly matter to us, it’s tempting to hold back and play it safe. Don’t!

I learned this playing baseball for much of my early life, on into college and at the professional level. Some of the most disappointing moments I had weren’t when I failed, but when I held back—due to my fear of failing. Encourage your employees to let go of their obsession with survival and instead take risks. Go for what they—and the company—want and need to succeed. As one of my early mentors pointed out: “Mike, you’re living your life as though you’re trying to survive it. You have to remember. No one ever has!”

As I mention about in my most recent TEDx talk, whether you run a business, manage a team, or simply want people around you to feel safe and empowered to bring all of who they are to their work, there are two components to creating an atmosphere of authenticity that leads to greater levels of engagement, performance, and success:

  • Healthy, High Expectations. High expectations are essential for people to thrive. We almost always get what we expect from others, but if we demand perfection many may fall short. Employees will feel they’re not set up to succeed. Healthy, high expectations challenge people to do their best, without pushing for insatiable, unhealthy perfection.
  • High Level of Nurturance. People want to feel they’re seen, heard, and valued—not just for what they do, but for who they are. A high level of nurturance creates a safe space for employees to make mistakes, ask for help, speak up, and disagree. Nurturing environments are filled with compassion and empathy. People feel supported.

We often think in order to have a high bar we can’t be nurturing. Or, we think if we nurture people, we can’t expect a lot from them. The goal is to do both, and to do so passionately.

Asking our employees to bring their whole selves to work, and creating an environment that allows them to do so, is no small feat. It takes courage on everyone’s part and can, at times, go against conventional wisdom. However, technology companies must do all they can to attract, develop, and engage the best people in today’s competitive global economy.

Creating an environment where employees feel safe and encouraged to flourish will help your company attract individuals committed to your organization’s success.

What can you do to create an environment where you work that is conducive to this type of culture?  Share your thoughts below in the comments section here on my blog and/or join the conversation we’re having about this on my Bring Your Whole Self to Work podcast.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bring Your whole self to work, culture

My New TEDx Talk – Bring Your Whole Self to Work

April 9, 2015 1 Comment

I hope you’re doing well and having a great week!

As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter blog post (and you may have seen from some if my social media posts), I recently gave another Tedx talk.  This new one is called Bring your Whole Self to Work.

I wanted to share the video of the talk with you in case you haven’t seen it yet, for two main reasons.  First of all, because I think you’ll enjoy it and get some good stuff out of it – especially as it relates to your professional life.  And, second of all, because if you feel moved to do so, I’d be honored and grateful if you shared it with others…via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. 🙂

The talk is just 12 minutes long and focuses on the importance of bringing all of who we are to the work that we do, as well as doing what we can to create an environment around us where people can do the same.  These are things I’ve been researching, writing, and speaking about for years – and I feel like this new TEDx talk encapsulates some of my newest thinking and most exciting insights.

I hope you enjoy this talk and it gives you some inspiration and ideas about how you can more fully bring all of who you are to work that you do (and encourage others to do so as well).

And, if you’d like to share the video of this talk, you can simply forward this link (https://mike-robbins.com/tedxberkeley/) or this email to others.  If you’d like to post it on social media, here are two samples you can use or edit:

For Facebook/LinkedIn:

Mike Robbins, author of Nothing Changes Until You Do, just gave a great new TEDx talk called Bring Your Whole Self to Work, check it out: https://mike-robbins.com/tedxberkeley/

For Twitter:

Check out this great new TEDx talk by author @MikeDRobbins called Bring Your Whole Self to Work, https://ow.ly/LgAl5

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bring Your whole self to work, Mike Robbins, TEDx

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