Work-life balance. Employee engagement. Bring your best, most authentic selves to work. Dan Pontefract believes these are myths. He joins Kevin to redefine the relationship between work and life. Employees possess one of four work-life personas (blooming, budding, stunted, or renewal) and it’s a leader’s responsibility to understand which persona their team members possess. He also highlights the six work factors and six life factors that leaders should consider creating a supportive environment for their team members.

Listen for...

00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:21 Introduction to the guest, Dan Pontefract 00:05:28:22The myth of work-life balance and the need to demarcate work and life 00:06:58 Defining demarcate and the importance of separating work and life 00:08:03 The connection between work-life bloom and leadership 00:09:00 Employee engagement as a flawed concept 00:09:53 The impact of work on our lives and the importance of seasons 00:10:36 How our lives shape our work and vice versa 00:11:19 Impact of personal situations on work performance 00:12:27 Importance of acknowledging and supporting employees' personal situations 00:13:13 Negative effects of ignoring employees' personal situations 00:13:47 Blooming as a metaphor for work-life integration 00:15:01 Blooming as a positive persona when work and life are going well 00:16:06 Other personas: budding, stunted, and renewal 00:19:20 Introduction to the book "Work Life Bloom" 00:19:42 Six work factors: trust, belonging, value, purpose, strategy, norms 00:21:07 Belonging as a key work factor 00:21:55 Belonging leads to engagement 00:23:02 Three elements of belonging: understanding, representation, and safety 00:23:57 Six life factors: meaning, relationships, well-being, skills, agency, respect 00:25:09 Difference between meaning (work) and purpose (life) 00:26:02 Integrating work purpose and life meaning 00:27:05 Open dialogue between leader and team member 00:28:51 Importance of acknowledging and addressing individual differences 00:29:13 Leaders hesitant to ask questions without answers 00:30:11 Importance of vulnerability and continuous learning for leaders 00:31:17 Shifting focus from engagement to how people feel at work and in life 00:32:14 Having honest conversations about work and life 00:33:05 Importance of empathy and being human as leaders 00:34:24 Dan's hobbies: cycling and spending time with family 00:34:59 Book recommendation: "10X Easier Than 2X" by Dan Sullivan 00:38:42 Closing remarks and gratitude from Kevin.

Meet Dan

• Name: Dan Ponefract 
• Dan's Story:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpontefract/

This episode is brought to you by...

The Long-Distance Team. Remote leadership experts, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, help leaders navigate the new world of remote and hybrid teams to design the culture they desire for their teams and organizations in their new book!

Book Recommendations

• Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team that Flourishes by Dan Pontefract 
• 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less by Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy

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• Culture and Values with Joe Tye
• Creating Loyalist Teams with Linda Adams & Rebecca Teasdale
• Culture is the Way with Matt Mayberry

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