Shannon Waller's Team Success

Shannon Waller, an expert on language and team dynamics, delves into how terminology shapes workplace culture. She discusses the implications of calling people 'staff' versus 'team members,' highlighting that the former fosters a bureaucratic mindset while the latter promotes collaboration. By shifting language, businesses can enhance engagement and unlock individual potential. Waller emphasizes that treating people as unique contributors rather than mere costs can transform team performance and create a more vibrant work environment.

Nicole Pitcher, a Strategy and Planning Support Partner, revolutionized the executive assistant role, focusing on strategic collaboration over mundane tasks. She shares insights on how shifting this paradigm empowers entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. The conversation touches on the importance of self-awareness in partnerships and effective communication strategies that enhance team dynamics. Nicole emphasizes that a strong support system can maximize productivity and help maintain a healthier work-life balance, vital for any entrepreneur's success.

Shannon Waller, an expert in leadership and team success, dives into the transformative concept of leading from 'The Gain' instead of 'The Gap.' She shares practical strategies for overcoming perfectionism and emphasizes the importance of focusing on progress to build confidence and motivation. Waller highlights how acknowledging achievements fosters a positive team environment, enhances psychological safety, and drives growth, encouraging listeners to celebrate accomplishments rather than fixating on what's lacking.

Before important client meetings, are you and your team running around handling last-minute logistics? How prepared does your team feel going into the meeting? In this episode, Shannon Waller discusses the value of bookending client meetings with clearings and debriefs to elevate the overall experience for clients and team members. Here’s the why and how of Strategic Coach’s backstage process that prepares the team for delivering exceptional front stage results. Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Clearings Before Meetings: Positive Focus®: Starting with the Positive Focus exercise allows everyone to: Feel energized and excited by reflecting on a recent win. Get present and shift their focus from past or future distractions. Preview of the day: Providing an overview of what to expect during the day: Helps everyone get familiar with the agenda, timing, and their roles. Focuses the team on key conversations or key points to make. Setting intentions: Everyone states what they want to be true at the end of the experience, thereby creating a shared vision they’re all aligned on. Debriefs After Meetings: Reflection and sharing: Debriefs at the end of the day provide an opportunity for team members and clients to reflect on the experience, share insights, and discuss key takeaways. Continual improvement: By discussing what worked well, areas for improvement, and any insights gained, the team can continually enhance their performance and refine their approach for future meetings. Leaving on a positive note: As a final wrap-up, each person shares the value they got from the meeting. Benefits Of Clearings And Debriefs: Being present: The team has greater engagement in, participation in, and ownership of a superb client experience. Centering the results for the client: By focusing on what will allow clients to leave feeling more confident and motivated, the team can stay responsive to delivering a more personalized and impactful experience. Psychological and emotional preparation: The team is alert and responsive to client needs, ready to expand and elevate the thinking in the room. Everyone is more confident, clear, and prepared to take action to achieve the agreed upon-result for the client. Transformational experience: When the team is focused on the clients, they have the opportunity to create unexpected value for them, elevating the interaction from a transactional experience to a transformational one. Teams can incorporate clearings and debriefs with meetings, coaching sessions, workshops, or any other key client interactions to significantly enhance the overall experience for both clients and team members. At Strategic Coach®, we also have clearings and debriefs for internal team meetings so that we can continually improve our internal experience. Though the goal is to constantly improve client satisfaction, this always has to include elevating the experience for team members too. Resources: Article: “Your Business Is A Theater Production: Your Back Stage Shouldn’t Show On The Front Stage.” Free tool kit download, including The Positive Focus® EOS®: Entrepreneurial Operating System®

Shannon Waller discusses the dangers of the 'Excellent Trap' and advises on identifying activities to let go of. Emphasizes the importance of saying 'yes' to new ideas to foster collaboration and creativity within teams. Provides practical techniques for engaging with and validating ideas to promote constructive dialogue and problem-solving.

Shannon Waller, a knowledgeable speaker on personal and team development, dives into the 'Excellent Trap'—where doing things well can stifle passion. She discusses how to identify tasks you're good at but no longer enjoy and emphasizes the importance of letting go. Shannon offers advice on recognizing signs of boredom and suggests that passing off these tasks can spark new creativity and provide opportunities for others. Embracing delegation not only frees up your time but also fosters growth for both you and your team.

Entrepreneurs Mark O’Donnell, Kelly Knight, and CJ DuBe’ discuss the importance of building intentional cultures in organizations. They explore topics like different culture types, right people in the right seats, and mindset for leaders to create a thriving culture. Transform your organization with this insightful episode.

Discover why leaders tend to micromanage, learn effective strategies for addressing micromanagement, and explore the importance of self-awareness in team dynamics. Tips for fostering clear communication and setting boundaries to overcome micromanagement challenges are provided.

In this engaging discussion, Kathy Kolbe, a thought leader and founder of the Kolbe Index, dives into the essence of conative intelligence and its impact on leadership. She emphasizes the significance of emotional buy-in for teams, arguing that when individuals connect personal goals with team objectives, productivity soars. Kathy also shares her journey of self-discovery, advocating for the power of understanding unique abilities in fostering creativity and effective teamwork. Her insights reveal how genuine care can transform leadership and drive entrepreneurial success.

Are your team members growth oriented? How do you foster that mindset in your company? Today, Shannon Waller breaks down the January Strategic Coach® team meeting in which each of the 100+ team members thought through their personal growth and contributions for the upcoming year. How did it work, and how does that investment translate to the success of the business? Download Episode Transcript Show Notes: Motivated For Growth The ROI for investing in your team’s personal and professional goals is team members becoming self-managing and growth-oriented. For the kick-off meeting of the year, the 100+ team members at Strategic Coach spent three hours thinking about their values, their intentions for the year, and their areas of growth. The meeting began with asking everyone to share their intentions for the year based on their values and PRINT® motivations. Celebrating The Previous Year’s Achievements And Progress Next, the team walked through The Positive Focus® exercise to reflect on achievements and progress from the past year. Everyone was asked to write down three business achievements and two personal achievements from the previous year. For each achievement, they wrote its significance and why they viewed it as progress. Then, they considered what further progress they could make on those achievements and what their first action would be. In small breakout groups, they then shared one or two of their achievements, allowing for 20 minutes of celebration and connection. Connecting Past To Future Next, Strategic Coach founder and lead coach Dan Sullivan led the team through the Triple Play™ exercise, which involves reflecting on and finding connections between three past accomplishments or experiences. The insights Shannon gained through this exercise gave great clarity to her 2024 intentions, distilling the lessons of the past year into ideas for a bigger future. Creating A Bigger Future One of Strategic Coach’s favorite mantras is, “Always make your future bigger than your past.” Strategic Coach co-founder and CEO, Babs Smith, shared the 10-year vision and three-year vision for the company. This set the stage for an exercise called The Bigger Future™, which helps make ambitious long-term plans more concrete. This exercise has people envision their six-year ambitions, then work back to the three-year capabilities they’ll need to develop, and then the one-year challenges that will move them toward those. Expanding Capabilities Expands Positive Impact Expanding individual capabilities expands the positive impact of each team member’s Unique Ability®, which creates a growth path for a Unique Ability organization. Encourage team members to pursue self-directed growth rather than having growth paths dictated to them. Give them ownership over their development goals but provide them with the capabilities to achieve them. Look for job candidates who are self-motivated learners who bring their own drive and initiative. Benefits Of Investing In Team Member Growth By investing in team members’ personal and professional growth, leaders can gain their gratitude, develop more capable teams, and create loyalty within the organization. This can result in lower team member turnover and higher retention of high-performing individuals. Even if team members do leave after being supported, they may become raving fans who recommend the company. Resources: The Positive Focus The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan Unique Ability Unique Ability Teamwork Wanting What You Want by Dan Sullivan EOS®: Entrepreneurial Operating System PRINT: Team Success Podcast, episode 224, “Uncovering ‘The Why Of You,’ With Debra Levine” Deirdre Van Nest of Crazy Good Talks