A mystery blanket, the leadership shuffle, and ask me anything

Who Sent Me This Blanket?

See that photo above?

“Is that a dog’s head on a military-type uniform?” you ask? “What the heck?!” you exclaim.

I know. It’s crazy. And, yes, it’s a blanket and with my dog’s face on it.

Someone sent me that blanket. To my office address–with NO card. (The return address is a fulfillment center in NJ, and yes, I tried tracking the package to see if that info revealed the sender: it didn’t.)

Mysterious, funny, or weird? What do you think?

It’s driving me nuts that someone sent me something, and I can’t say, “Thank you!”

I’m not a big social media person (not apologizing, and one day, very soon, gonna do something about that), and I posted to Instagram and Facebook, and no one has come forward yet. Huh.

Please, if you sent me this crazy blanket, which Fergus, the real Corgi, really digs, please let me know, so I can say, “Thank you!”

I can’t tie the blanket to leadership other than finding out it’s called the “red general” design from Crown & Paw. Ha! Fergus the Corgi General.

I sent the company an email to see if they could help me identify the sender. No, I don’t have too much time on my hands, and yes, I love a mystery.

How Many People Resigned From Your Company in Q4 2021? Leadership Shuffle? Realignment?

Two weeks ago, we updated the chart of resignations on the front door of AwesomeLeader.com. In the US, 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November.

In the UK, firms are getting ready for another US export–resignations–to wash up on the shores, says this Bloomberg piece. Israel may only be seeing a “correction” (I’m going to ask some former clients for their “word on the street” POV).

Is there a tidal wide of people jumping ship on your team or at your company? Or a “reshuffle” or “realignment” instead (nice short piece here)?

The #1 reason why people leave hasn’t changed that much–it’s the manager–but a new reason has risen, fast: people are ready to think about something different. Something new. This pandemic has caused them to stop and say, “Why am I doing this?”

Understanding what you need to do as a leader to engage your direct reports is critical.

And if you haven’t begun to figure it out yet, I’m going to help you.

Next week the first lesson of the first module in the Awesome Manager program will be available. It’s all about employee engagement.

∫I’ll send the link to you all, and it’s the first of several lessons I’m sharing with you.

I still think a resignation (plural, acutally, and millions of them) is going on. If it’s only a “shuffle” or “realignment” at your company, I feel you still need to consider what to do–and what role your leaders are playing.

Ask Leila Anything: Office Hours/Ask Me Anything Starts February 22

I used to spend so much time sitting on planes, like 100K miles a year–sitting on my rear. Now I spend that time sitting in my office or my video studio, and it’s getting older and older (meaning–less fun. I’m not the one getting older, jeez!).

Same amount of time on my rear, yet the view and the currency and weather don’t change like before. And I don’t get to meet as many people as I did back when traveling on planes, trains, and automobiles.

I want to hear more about the challenges your teams and companies face. And so, I’m introducing “Ask Leila Anything.”

Once a month, for one hour, I’ll sit in a Zoom room (more sitting) and wait for you to come by.

This month it takes place on February 22 at 8:30 am PT/11:30 am ET/16:30 GMT/17:30 CETDownload the invitation, and next week I’ll have this info and the link posted on AwesomeLeader.com.

Please stop by to say hi.

February’s Workshop: Ready to Tackle that Bad Manager Problem?

Last week, I shared thoughts about leadership being contagious.

You might have the good or bad version of it, and either way, you’re spreading it around.

In February’s webinar, I’m going to help you think about the people at your org who may be spreading around the bad leadership: the bad managers.

The title for February’s workshop is Managers Behaving Badly: Stop It Now.

This is one of my favorite topics, and it’s no coincidence that it happens in February, close to Valentine’s Day. I totally LOVE digging into figuring out bad management.

Please join me for a great discussion. You’ll receive a workbook in advance of the event, so you’ll be prepared to learn a lot. To “get” all the good stuff!

Register now and invite your colleagues, team, and friends.

January Workshop Replay & Transcript Available

Last week, a few of you reached out and said, “Please keep up the replay of the January webinar; I still want to watch it!”

And I thought, “Hmm, why do I take down replays if people want to watch them?”

And so, just like that: I’m leaving replays up. Maybe not forever, but I’m thinking for at least a quarter at a time.

Here’s January’s workshop on EQ (emotional intelligence) and goal setting.

Check it out, and you’ll see you can view the transcript and a list of the “highlights” from the discussion.

Open Enrollment for Awesome Manager: Details Next Week

Last year, many of you asked if I would open up the Awesome Manager program to open enrollment. Could just 1 or 2 people sign up—and join a group of 25 peers from companies around the world?

Numerous people have raised their hands and said, “I have 3 leaders. Can they participate? Please!”

In Q2, I’m opening the doors to open enrollment registration for the Awesome Manager program. And I’d love to hear from those of you who want to participate.

Full details will be ready next week. If you want to be the first to know when that information is available, send us an email.

Thanks for Reading. Tell Me What Info Helps You Become An Awesome Leader.

OK, time to register for February’s workshop. Again, it’s February 17, and it’s all about what you don’t want your team to catch: bad management!

Lead with ease and talk to you next week,

Leila

PS If you missed last week’s newsletter, I wrote about how covid and leadership are both contagious. You don’t have to dig into your Inbox: you can read it here. And once again, here’s a great New York Times article on how when someone quits, others start thinking,”Hmm, maybe I should quit, too.” Time to start thinking about training those managers, amirite? Learn more about how I train and coach managers it in a fun, practical, and tangible way in the Awesome Manager programSix weeks, your company’s leaders, one executive coach, and retention goes up and profits too, and yes, resignations go down.