Leadership

Establishing an Environment for Growth

November 2, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Leadership, Relationships, Team, Team Building, Work Environment
Establishing an Environment for Growth

There’s an old parable about a man who planted seed.

He tossed some of the seed on rocky ground. Little plants peeped out of the ground, but because there wasn’t much soil, they died away without much growth.

He tossed other seed on the ground that was covered with thorns. But the seed couldn’t settle into any dirt because the thorns choked them out.

He then tossed some seed on ground that was hardened because it was a pathway. This seed simply laid on top of the hard ground, which made it easy for the birds to come and feast on.

Finally, the man tossed some seed on good soil that was soft, watered, and full of nutrients needed for growth. The seed sprouted and produced a sun-kissed harvest. Some of it was thirty, sixty and one hundred times greater than what was planted!

The moral of the story? It’s important to establish the right environment for growth. (more…)

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Asking Better Questions Leads to Better Answers

October 5, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Asking the Right Questions, Empowerment, Leadership
Asking Better Questions Leads to Better Answers

Has it ever occurred to you that the quality of the answers you receive is dependent on the quality of the questions you ask? Consider these three conversations.

  • I talked with a coachee about some career decisions he was facing. After a lengthy discussion of the pros and cons, he asked me point blank, “What should I do?” My response was to ask him a question; “Where is your heart?” He paused then responded with a definitive answer. The right questions culminated in the most important one to help him decide.
  • I met with a leadership team and asked them a set of questions about their business. Going into the meeting it appeared as if they knew many of the answers. But by the time we finished the meeting, it was clear that they saw value in spending more time discussing and determining their plan of action. Taking the time to dig into the original questions opened the door to underlying issues that needed to be addressed.
  • I met with a different leadership team regarding a new initiative for their organization. They asked me questions about my experience in their area of interest. I asked them questions to understand why they were undertaking this challenge. It was an interesting and thought-provoking discussion as we both walked away with more questions on our minds. But we recognized that the appropriate timing for asking and answering the next set of questions would come in the future.

(more…)

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Where Do You Belong?

September 7, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Belonging, Inclusion, Leadership, Team, Team Building
Where Do You Belong?

Where did you come from? Who are your people? Who do you look like in your family?

If you can readily answer these questions, congratulations. But for some people, these questions evoke anxiety because they have little to no contact with their family of origin.

Many non-profit organizations around the country take on the herculean and important work of meeting the needs of children in the child welfare system who require interventions to support their well-being. In the past, this frequently meant residential stays in group homes. (more…)

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Inspecting the Expected

August 3, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Capability, Leadership
Inspecting the Expected

I love looking at HGTV shows. It’s interesting to watch the variety of homes people purchase and their excitement to describe how they’ll use the new space. In some cases, they want a “move in ready” place where they don’t have to do a thing. The layout and basic décor should already suit their style.  In other cases, they want a blank palette where they can move walls, change the paint and flooring, update the kitchen and bathroom to “make it their own.”

More unsettling though is when their excitement over their new home is interrupted by a friendly inspector with bad news. Close examination uncovers things like termites, asbestos, water or mold damage, cracks in the foundation, roof leakage, faulty electrical wiring, old plumbing…the list goes on.  The cost for repairs eats into the homeowner’s savings or impacts their renovation budget. (more…)

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Building Meaningful Leadership Relationships

June 1, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Leadership, Relationships
Building Meaningful Leadership Relationships

“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.”
Peter F. Drucker, management consultant

This is a profound quote that made me think of another difference between leaders of the past and leaders of the future.

The leader of the past was a person who had a hierarchical relationship with their team. The leader of the future will be a person who has a warm and meaningful relationship with their team. (more…)

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Leading a Remote or Hybrid Team

May 4, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
hybrid work, Leadership, remote work, Team, Team Building, teamwork, values
Leading a Remote or Hybrid Team

It’s no secret that many companies are struggling to find the right balance between remote and hybrid work policies for their knowledge workers. After over two years of forced remote work, announcements and retractions of return-to-office dates, remote local hires who have never stepped foot on site, and remote countrywide hires who will never be expected to work on site, many hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. They just don’t know if it’s sunlight or a train headlight. (more…)

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Three Inches of Doubt

March 2, 2022
Priscilla Archangel
Communication, Credibility, Leadership, Relationships
Three Inches of Doubt

A skyscraper in lower Manhattan, New York City is reportedly leaning three inches to the north. The 58 story, 670-foot tower, known as One Seaport is only partially built. And in 2019, the tower’s contractor sued the developer alleging they allowed it to be built on a substandard foundation. The developer in turn alleged that the lawsuit was a distraction based on the contractor’s inability to complete the structure. You can imagine how the accusations are flowing from there. And the misalignment of the structure is compromising the installation of the building’s glass exterior. (more…)

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The 4Rs of Organizational Self-Care

November 3, 2021
Priscilla Archangel
Leadership, Life Work Balance, Relationships, Self-Care
The 4Rs of Organizational Self-Care

The past 19 months have provided an abrupt recognition to many people about the importance of personal self-care. It’s been a wake-up call for individuals to make decisions that support their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health needs. And while many organizations have adopted new policies and practices to support this, the whole topic of organizational self-care is an opportunity to strategically plan how leaders can support their current and prospective team members to provide an environment where they can thrive.

The reasons for its importance should be clear by now. With attrition rates rising (The Great Resignation), reports on increasingly aggressive behavior in public places (airplanes, stores, and schools to name a few), and a general unease in the workplace (as reported by a variety of leaders with whom I’ve spoken), we have to approach work differently in the future. Worker shortages along with high unemployment, are evidence of a great reset on the number of people available and interested in the types of jobs that are open. The proof of that is our recognition of the difficulty in finding a salesperson in a store, a server in a restaurant, and a delivery date for a desired item; along with employers dealing with increased time-to-hire.  (more…)

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10 Core Responsibilities of Leaders: Understanding Your Role

October 6, 2021
Priscilla Archangel
Accountability, Change, Communication, Leadership, Purpose, Responsibility, Strategy
10 Core Responsibilities of Leaders: Understanding Your Role

As the leader of your team or organization, are you experiencing any issues similar to the ones on the list below?

  • Product quality is declining, and costs are increasing due to rework.
  • Delivery timetables aren’t being met as staff struggle to prioritize projects.
  • Leaders are competing for limited budget resources and quibbling about the value of their different initiatives.
  • Cybersecurity attacks have hindered your organization’s ability to deliver programs and services as planned.
  • Employee engagement is lagging, and turnover is increasing.
  • Communications initiatives are more focused on overcoming negative press than touting the value of your brand.
  • Ongoing customer complaints center around several core areas, and the proposed solutions aren’t working.
  • Your recently released, long awaited product is floundering in the market, unable to gain a foothold with the targeted demographic.

(more…)

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Shifting Work Motivations: Employee Well-being Takes the Lead

September 8, 2021
Priscilla Archangel
Leadership, Life Work Balance, Motivation, Self-Care, Work Environment
Shifting Work Motivations: Employee Well-being Takes the Lead

As a leader, do you care more about employee well-being or business performance?

You want both of course because you know that you can’t have one without the other. But employee well-being has taken on a new level of priority in organizations. It’s never been more important than it is now, and it’s never been more challenging for employees to be and stay well. (more…)

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