Back to School: No Supplies Needed
August feels different this year. I know you get that.
Back to school doesn’t feel or look like back to school. No one is finishing up a vacation, few people are dropping college freshman off, and in California, we are already staying indoors, evading smoke, as wildfires rage around us.
I haven’t even been to a Target this month, and usually I’m there at least once in August with my kids, as we check off the school supply list. The list dwindles as they age, and yet it gets more complicated. Why teachers love college-ruled composition notebooks and they are in short supply confounds me. Digging through the large cardboard display box of composition books, searching, searching, and only finding wide-ruled ones. Ahhh.
For me, the best part of going back to school was a new box of crayons, paired with a fresh notebook. I was prepared to color. Not sure what I would be coloring, but I was ready to color with the biggest box of crayons I could finagle out of my mom (remember: the larger the box the more likely it came with a sharpener inside the box). My mind was sharp and ready.
The feeling of the first few days was so lovely and light. You are settling in, organizing that desk or backpack, getting to know people and teachers, and feeling, well, as if things are going to be OK.
And, those crayons. The paper is wrapped so securely around them. It’s going to be a good year, I told myself. But inside I was nervous and worried—would I be smart enough? (Imposter syndrome has haunted me for a long time . . .)
I want you to have a little of that new box of crayons and back to school feeling about being a leader.
And, so, dah-dah . . . I have the first Awesome Leader coloring book for you.
Download it and color away.
It’s short, it’s easy, it’s fun! You’ll get an A even if you color outside the lines.
Please let me know what you think, and if you have an idea for future coloring pages, I’d love to hear them.
Managing Relationships from Afar: September 10 Webinar
I’m hosting a webinar SHRM.org (Society for HR Management) on September 10, 2020, and it’s free and open to everyone. Register here and join me.
We all need to embrace working from home or in an office with fewer colleagues who are faaaar away from us. That’s the new norm for the foreseeable future.
In this webinar, we will cover best practices on how HR leaders dig deep into their relationship-building toolboxes and use EQ to help clients build and maintain relationships from afar.
We will discuss:
- How to assess the current state of relationships: do you know which ones need some care and feeding
- What approachability in the era of COVID-19 means
- Identifying key stakeholder relationships to tackle this fall
- Mistakes to avoid when building new relationships—and how your clients may be thinking too much about “waiting” to develop relationships
- Cover mistakes leaders oftentimes make during stressful times
Again, this webinar is free, so sign up and I will talk to you on September 10.
Random Things Rumbling Around in My Head
In closing, things you’ll find interesting and tasty (that word can mean a few different things).
#1. I want you to read this Gallup piece on how to build trust and boost productivity within remote teams. It’s good. Really good. Also check out their guide on developing a WFH strategy (your company probably just did WFH—and didn’t think about how to set it up—learn more about it and adjust).
#2. Iced coffee. I’ve been indulging in Viet iced coffee, made with sweetened condensed milk. Wow. If you’ve never had one, don’t start. You will not thank me.
#3. Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science. Yes, they are politically incorrect. Yes. Yes, yes. But the name of the album—how did I miss this until now? It’s perfect. There’s no link for you: you have to find it and listen to the album yourselves.
#4.World Photography Day was August 18th, and these photos helped me get beyond my pandemic living when I viewed them earlier this week. Lovely articles about a few photographers: Steve McCurry and the relationship between animals and humans; nostalgia in new photos from Mexican photographer Tania Franco Klein; Oye Diran and vintage Nigerian family photos. Does this have anything to do with leadership? Not really, and that’s OK.
#5. The missing elephant shrew reappears after 50 years. I’m taking this as a sign things are getting better. These little ones run up to 30 km/hr, and they “reappeared” near the Horn of Africa.
I bet they went missing on purpose. How much have they missed?
By the way, how are you? Email me and let me know what leadership help you need.
Lead with ease,
Leila
