Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Kelly Monahan on Why the Future of Leadership is Emotionally Intelligent

Over the last decade, I've had the privilege to work with the brilliant Christie Smith and Kelly Monahan while they were at Deloitte, and then again with Kelly as a future of work subject matter expert for Upwork, where she leads the Upwork Research Institute. When I learned they were writing a book together, I couldn't have been more excited, and Essential: How Distributed Teams, Generative AI, and Global Shifts Are Creating a New Human-Powered Leadership has certainly delivered on its title. I recently sat down with Kelly for a Q&A to share more details about the book writing process and the 21st century leadership advice we can't afford to ignore.

How did you two meet each other and how did this collaboration come about?

Kelly: Christie and I met almost a decade ago at Deloitte. She and I began to partner on research together and figured out pretty quickly we enjoyed working together. I bring more of that analytical research thinking while she brings the executive strategic viewpoint. Our paths then crossed again at Accenture where we started kicking around the idea of a book, but the timing just wasn't quite right. Finally in 2023 we were both at a point to visit this collaboration again and as they say the rest is history!

 

Briefly, what's the origin story of Essential? Why did you both feel you were the right duo to write this book?

 

Kelly: I am using the Elmo fire GIF to describe the way most leaders feel today. Yes, leading teams and businesses have always been challenging. But what's different today is that there is disruption at nearly every level of society today. Whether it's working across distributed teams, dealing with the fast and furious AI developments, government changes and a generally burned out workforce coming out of a pandemic, there is a lot to manage. And, most leaders haven't been trained in the psychology of human behavior at work. We've taught a lot of leaders how to manage a P&L in a relatively stable environment, but haven't done a lot to help them navigate the needs of people in uncertain environments. So, we wanted to provide a research based look at helping leaders navigate the human side of business today. We feel we are the right duo because of generational differences. Christie is a seasoned executive representing the existing leadership paradigm that Baby Boomers have established. I represent the Millennial generation that has often challenged a lot of what Baby Boomers have normalized in business settings. Our hope in writing this together was to bridge the generational gap that we often experience in the workplace and bring both sides of the lived experience of work today.

 

An emotionally intelligent leader in the age of AI may at first seem counterintuitive. Why do you feel human-powered leadership is more important now than it has ever been?

 

Kelly: I think AI is challenging us to ask the fundamental question of what does it mean to be human today. When a lot of the cognitive work can know be done by AI, what should humans be doing. For so long we've used technology to do the same type of things faster and cheaper, but now it's time to upend what we know of work and ask newfound questions like how can organizations better meet the needs of their people? How can leaders suspend their self-interest so that more people thrive in our organizations? How do we optimize rather than maximize resources at the expense of people and planet? We are at a critical juncture in our shared human work experience and I think AI can cause us to ask even more human questions than we've done before.

 

Both of you have very deep research benches. Why do you think it's important for "future of work" people to have quantitative support for their forecasts?

 

Kelly: The reality is if you want to get a seat at the table you need to bring data. For too long the people movement have been overlooked by business executives and board rooms because they've failed to see the link between performance and meeting human needs. This is why we wrote Essential. We wanted them to have the data and science behind elevating humanity at work. At the end of day, yes it's the right thing to do, but as we laid out in the book, it is also the right business thing to do. Businesses that treat their people well outperform in the long-run those who don't.

 

If readers could remember one thing from Essential, what's the lesson you'd want to impart?

 

Kelly: Stay curious! The world is rapidly changing around us and we have to keep an open mind to rethink many of the norms of business today. Relationships, routines and resource allocation can all be done better if we change our frame about people at work. Most people today want to work; they just feel overlooked and forgotten in their work systems. Be the leader that sees their people and remains curious!

 

Thanks to Kelly (and Christie) and please check out Essential at your first opportunity!

Essential New Read: The Skills-Powered Organization

My friend Ravin Jesuthasan is a leading voice on skills-based employment. His latest book, The Skills-Powered Organization: The Journey to the Next-Generation Enterprise, which he cowrote with Tanuj Kapilashrami, is an essential read for leaders who are in the difficult spot of touting the importance of skills without fully understanding how to shape their organization accordingly. This Q&A with Ravin captures some of the highlights, and I hope you’ll pick up a copy for a deeper dive.

Ravin, now did you come to collaborate with your co-author?

Tanuj and I have known each other for about 4 years. We both sit on a couple of committees at the World Economic Forum and have long had a common interest in how skills can unlock significantly greater productivity, agility and engagement. My interest and the ideas in this book stem from and build on the four books I have written with my good friend John Boudreau. Perhaps most importantly, we wanted to write a practitioner’s guide. A book that was rigorous with research and frameworks AND clearly demonstrated how leaders can make these changes in their organizations

Can you share why you have focused your content on skills?

The growing volatility and velocity of change in the world necessitates a different set of building blocks for work. The IMF estimates that uncertainty over the last 3 years is up 2.5X over the previous 30 years. For companies, crisis is no longer a one-off event, but a recurring one. Think of the 4 shocks we are experiencing today: 

• The climate crisis
• The energy impact from the invasion of Ukraine.
• Geopolitical issues with China and the Middle East
• The technology shock and especially AI

All independent events but with massive feedback loops. Each of these 4 shocks is world shaking, but cumulatively happening in a 18 month period, puts us in unprecedented times. In Work Without Jobs, John Boudreau and I introduced the concept of a new work operating model and this books builds on an extends that idea with a deep dive into why skills need to be the currency of work; in order to enable organization to respond (and thrive) in this rapidly changing world of ours

What does this journey look like for a typical organization?

In our research we identified 3 core capabilities of the skills-powered organization. The capability of work design is essential to understanding the true demand for skills and how they can best be connected to work. Talent development is pivotal to ensuring skills are acquired in a timely and efficient manner based on the demand signals from work design. Last, talent deployment is the critical capability of enabling the expression of the demanded skills across a variety of work engagements with optimal efficiency, effectiveness, and impact

How did Standard Chartered Bank get started and what can its experience teach us?

As I mentioned, the thing that was attractive to me about partnering with Tanuj was to tell the story of a progressive organization that was bringing these ideas to life and fruition. Standard Chartered is a 170-year-old, leading international banking group with a rich history and legacy.

For Standard Chartered, the skills-powered journey started with transitioning the narrative from jobs to skills. It began with a commercial business case based on its own strategic workforce planning analysis, highlighting the jobs and skills within the organization that would soon no longer be relevant (which it refers to as “sunset” roles). This might be due to changing client expectations or the evolution of technology and automation of tasks. New jobs and skills would also be created and demanded as a result (“sunrise” roles). The strategic workforce plan (SWP) also highlighted the broader impact of the changing demand for skills—the disproportionate displacement of junior roles and the resulting cost implications as the organization shifted from a pyramid to a diamond shape.

Additionally, it highlighted the potential impact on gender diversity due to the higher number of women currently employed in sunset roles and with many sunrise roles being currently more male dominated. The tangible economics of “build” versus buy versus borrow versus bot,” and the far-reaching impact of decisions related to upskilling and reskilling, created a compelling foundation for the board and the global management team who made skills a critical element of the overall strategic plan.

What do you believe leaders who want to build a skills-based organization should do first?

As we often say, you have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. There are 3 things we defined as being pivotal to this journey:

1. Establish a North Star to anchor your journey: So, what do we mean by a North Star? It is a clear statement about your vision to guide your direction and program of work to becoming a skills-powered organization. A North Star is simple and enduring—it is your touchstone to ensure you remain on track and is clearly aligned to addressing specific business needs.
2. Experiment, experiment, experiment: We have seen through the Standard Chartered examples the power of prototypes and experiments in enabling the shift in mindset, skill set, and toolset. Experiments are critical for testing and applying the design principles underpinning the skills-powered organization before they are deployed across the organization
3. Focus on the key enablers of success: Too often organizations believe the answer to any problem is to throw technology at the problem. We define 8 critical enablers for this journey (including AI and technology):

•  Leadership (where every change journey starts)
•  Governance
• Employee engagement in the journey
• Culture and change management
• The HR function and its role
• Functional processes, such as finance, IT, and legal
• Technology and AI
• Foundational enablers (e.g., skills taxonomy and data)

Thanks, Ravin! 

Want to Do Something Important? Stop Procrastinating

At the New York Times, I had the privilege of working with Phyllis Korkki, an assignment editor for the business section. In addition to her new role as executive editor of Hooked, an app that tells fictional stories in the form of text messages, Phyllis has written the new book The Big Thing, which is about how to pursue meaningful, creative projects amidst a hectic schedule and a pull to put them off. I recently interviewed Phyllis about how she found time for her own "Big Thing" while keeping up with a busy, stressful job. 

 

Phyllis, how did you plan your own "Big Thing" while working an editorial job at the New York Times?

 

When I was at the Times, I did work hard but I rarely worked more than 40 hours a week. And here's the truth: When I wasn't working I wasn't that busy!  If only I hadn't been so lazy in my off time I could have written plenty of books. I finally realized that the only way to finish my first book would be to create conditions that were similar to those in a newsroom. I found people to hold me accountable for various stages in the project and to give me deadlines at crucial stages. I even paid someone to call me every morning for a week and hector me to wor

 

What are some of the biggest challenges people face in their pursuit of a creative dream?

 

Creative people must break their Big Things into manageable increments. If they don't, their projects will remain big and vague and impossible to start. In fact, some people deliberately (if unconsciously) never start their projects so that their creations can remain grandiosely perfect in their heads. Rather than leading a person toward a more fulfilling and meaningful life, the Big Thing feeds into an unhealthy narcissism. People need to be honest with  themselves about why they are pursuing a project. If its main purpose is to boost their ego, then giving up on it may be the best option. A big creative project should be compelling for its own sake. Accept that it will be imperfect and involve psychic struggles. Know that satisfaction and joy will (eventually) emerge from those struggles. Perfectionism is one of the biggest obstacles to completion. 

 

You describe yourself as a procrastinator. How have you overcome this to achieve such remarkable career goals? 

 

Many journalists will tell you that they went into the field because they are procrastinators who must have deadlines. The great thing about working in a newsroom is that people are constantly breathing down your neck to hand in your story. I would never have gotten as far as I have without urgent deadlines emanating from my colleagues. 

 

If a reader has their own idea for  Big Thing, what are the first 2-3 things they should do to get started tomorrow?

 

1. Commit the idea to paper, and be as specific as possible about what it is. And I mean literally write it down on a piece of paper, with a pen. Tear that piece of paper out of your notebook and tape it to your refrigerator. Write at the bottom of the paper in big capital letters: DO IT!

2. Look at that piece of paper and say to yourself, what is one tiny thing I could do today to achieve this goal. It could be writing just one sentence (c'mon -- you can do it, and I'm giving you permission for it to be a really bad sentence). It could involve sending an email to one person, or buying one paintbrush, or clearing off all the papers your desk, or  ... whatever it is, you can do that one thing. 

3. Announce to your spouse or your bestie  that you plan to do this thing. Say something like: I plan to write a paragraph of my novel by tomorrow. Will you check in with me to make sure I did it? (Offer to do the same for them too, of course!).

 

And that is how a Big Thing begins. It won't ever get done unless you start small.  

 

I know you want to hear more! Check out The Big Thing on Amazon.

Our Digital Future: Machine, Platform, Crowd

The MIT Sloan Expert Series recently presented a webcast with Andrew McAfee ​and ​Erik Brynjolfsson, co-authors of the new book Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing our Digital Future,  Beth Comstock, vice chair of GE, and Sandy Pentland, MIT professor and expert of group dynamics in a digital world.

A crucial theme of the new book is that unsettling, disruptive change is becoming the status quo. Suddenly, companies we think are going to be around forever are being instantaneously upset by start-ups. Machines gain more complex cognitive abilities every day and are rapidly taking over jobs in a way we never dreamed was possible. And the corporate research labs? They’ve got nothing on the collective brainpower of the Internet.

Given these scenarios, effective human leadership is more critical than ever. In Machine, Platform, Crowd, McAfee and Brynjolfsson encourage professionals to leverage technology to make our organizations and industries better and to transform our global world into a more educated, entrepreneurial, and inclusive place. The most powerful force at play today is not solo automation, but the combined strength of humanity and technology. Here are a few key takeaways from the webcast:

Let Go of the Concept of Management

Our traditional notion of leadership came about because the industrial age mandated hierarchies. Today, we don’t have to be so static and rigid about how we organize our companies and need to be adaptable and willing to move things around.

Focus on Connector Jobs

The highest paying, most competitive jobs today and in the near future will employ people who understand how to connect people to people and people to machines for the purpose of exploiting new business opportunities. Consider where in your organization connectors can add the most value.

Hone Interpersonal Skills

Ensure that your team members have adequate training and strong skills in negotiation, persuasion, and coordination. Jobs that require these will not be replaced by bots anytime soon.

For more from this webcast, check out the full post on the QuickBase Fast Track blog.

Announcing My New Book Collaboration: Mom.B.A.!

When I met Karyn Schoenbart in the summer of 2013, I never imagined that I'd embark upon a partnership and friendship that would be one of the most defining of my life.

Karyn's the CEO of global market research firm The NPD Group, and today we publish the book we've been working on together for two years, Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next.

The book asks the reader to imagine life would be like if your mother was the CEO of a global company. She could provide the type advice that would propel a career and help them overcome the many stumbling blocks that keep people from fulfilling their full potential at work. That's the idea behind Mom.B.A. 

Mom.B.A. is based on Karyn's lessons to her daughter Danielle, now an established businesswoman in her own right. And in it, we include lessons on everything from effective first impressions and workplace politics to relationship development, skill building, and priority-setting. Alongside current employment research and trends, Karyn candidly shares funny anecdotes, triumphs, and missteps as she recalls her journey from an entry-level market research position to CEO. By the time you finish reading, you'll feel like you know her as well as I do. 

We've fortunately gotten a lot of support from senior leaders in the business community, and here's my personal favorite endorsement:

"Sometimes, matter-of-fact approaches to our biggest challenges are hiding in plain sight. Karyn Schoenbart blends the learnings of her life into a set of guidelines notable for their straight shooting, and credible because they ring with the truth of her own experience. Karyn s excellence as a business leader, as a mother, as a philanthropist, and as a friend are not separate achievements, but instead part of one storyline and approach that she has weaved together beautifully for us in this terrific book." --Oliver Libby, chair and co-founder, The Resolution Project.

I thank you in advance for your support of my latest endeavor and hope you learn as much from Karyn as I have!

 

Bridge the Soft Skills Gap in Your Young Professionals

Why don’t young professionals today hold themselves to a higher standard when it comes to their attitude, work habits, and people skills? In his new book, Bridging the Soft Skills Gap, my friend and colleague Bruce Tulgan explores these five reasons:

Pretend Adulthood

Most entry-level professionals are coming to you straight from school. If they have the most in-demand technical skills, then they are probably coming from college or university; maybe graduate school. That means they’ve probably become quite accustomed to a very luxurious form of pretend adulthood. Of course, there is substantial coursework. Still, they have very little supervision and a great deal of latitude in all manner of their personal habits and conduct. They are accustomed to staying out late hanging with their friends and skipping morning meetings.

Helicopter Parents

Even after they arrive in the workplace, new college grads are still only a phone call or text away from their parents.  Even worse, maybe they are on their own now, for the first time, after being reared by parents who did all the work for them of closely scheduling, managing, and supporting their every move. With their parents doing so much of the work, many young professionals never mastered the basics of taking care of themselves.

High Expectations

The customization of everything has entrenched in young professionals a fundamental expectation that individual accommodation is the norm.  And surely too many people told them each and all, way too often, “You are a special case.” Their basic assumption is that they should be able to just “be themselves” and “express” their true identity at work, even if that might include stuff like failing to follow through on a day when they are “just not feeling it.”

Unpracticed Interpersonal Skills

Communication practices are habits, and most young professionals are in the habit of remote informal staccato and relatively low-stakes interpersonal communication because of their constant use of hand-held devices and social media and instant messaging. They stare at their devices too much, send too many texts, and are becoming increasingly less articulate because they have so little practice having real conversations.

Professionalism Vs Individualism

Much of what older, more experienced people might see as matters of professionalism—attitude, self-presentation, schedule, and interpersonal communication—new college grads are likely to consider highly personal matters of individual style or preference and really none of their employer’s business.

Want to learn how to cope with these young professional characteristics more effectively? Check out Bruce’s book for practical answers and advice for better preparing your young professionals for success.

How to Be Useful Instead of Salesy

When I took the Dale Carnegie class many moons ago, I remember the instructor saying that the worst thing a door-to-door salesperson could do is show up at a prospect’s house and launch into a speech like this:

“I want to sell you a new vacuum cleaner. I saw this thing pick up dirt off my floor, and it had the best suction I’ve ever seen. I can give you a great deal on this baby.”

I, I, I. This salesperson would be lucky if she didn’t have the door slammed in her face.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

Here’s a cardinal rule of human nature: people don’t care what you want, they want to know what’s in it for them. If the salesperson wanted to sell a vacuum cleaner, she had to first find out why the prospect desperately needed one (e.g. he was feeling frustrated and inferior because his home was unkempt, and it was unkempt because he could never get his carpets completely clean). She had to first help him identify a problem. Then and only then could she present a solution (e.g. a vacuum cleaner with more powerful suction).

Bestselling author John Jantsch has long been teaching how to be effective on a shoestring budget, reminding us of common sense that’s uncommonly used. In his new book, Duct Tape Selling, he agrees with one of my favorite mantras that we’re all salespeople. And John suggests that in trying to get people to do anything for you – whether it’s supporting a pet project or buying a vacuum cleaner – you have to be useful.

The pitch transformed

According to John, the traditional sales pitch is no more. Instead, listening carefully is the new prospecting. With so many online tools available, we have no excuse for approaching people with little or no knowledge about them. So if you want something from a colleague, manager, or client, find out where her head is at first. And think through a message that will directly align with that state of mind.

For the rest of John's advice, head over to Intuit's Fast Track blog.

How to Use Incremental Planning to Your Advantage

Take a look at most current research on the most necessary business competencies and you’ll see adaptability. In most organizations, conditions change on a dime and you must be prepared to shift course accordingly. So although some long-range planning is still desirable, incremental planning is equally if not more important.

According to Patti Johnson, author of the new book Make Waves, incremental planning is:

• Future focused
• Flexible
• Short horizon, with long-term goals in mind
• Collaborative

Incremental project planning assumes you make adjustments as you go and still reach your overall goals, even if they change over time. It’s a fine line to walk, though, between having no plan and having so much structure that you can’t react nimbly in the face of unpredictable challenges.

I recently walked this line myself when I engaged in a research project that was impacted by evolving market conditions. On the one hand, we had to develop a clear hypothesis, a relevant audience analysis, and a sound methodology. But on the other, we knew that our results might be unexpected and affect the recommendations that would be derived from the research.

Even while our data collection was in process, we weren’t entirely sure of our final product. We knew what we needed to accomplish from a business perspective, but we didn’t know how it would look just yet. Some of the higher-ups were more comfortable with this approach than others, but we were able to share just enough concrete planning to satisfy them.

Johnson suggests these steps to infuse your project management with more incremental planning.

Have very clear outcomes

Even if you eventually move in another direction, know where you are headed. Keep your goals simple and achievable and revisit them frequently.

Balance specific plans with flexibility

Plans are essential in order to be in a state of perpetual action. However, making changes to plans doesn’t mean you’ve made a mistake or taken the wrong path. You aren’t necessarily changing your destination, just how you get there.

For more tips from Patti, head over to Intuit's Fast Track blog.

A-Z Retention Strategies from Beverly Kaye

Since employees who quit cost their companies up to 200 percent of their annual salaries to replace, retention is one of the most important issues facing businesses today. Virtual employees are especially vulnerable to retention issues because they often lack the camaraderie that’s present in an in-person environment.  Adapted from the new edition of Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans’ bestselling book Love Em or Lose Em, here are 26 A to Z strategies you can employ right away to keep your virtual team members from quitting this year.

Ask WHAT KEEPS YOU?

Do you know what your virtual employees want from their careers? Never assume. Since you don’t have the benefit of face-to-face communication, you’ll be wrong.

Buck IT STOPS HERE

Your virtual employees are every bit as much of your responsibility as your in-office employees. It’s up to you to make sure they are engaged and want to stay.

Careers SUPPORT GROWTH

Don’t confuse virtual employees with short-term, hourly employees. They need viable career paths too. Facilitate these. Don’t ignore them or get in the way of professional development.

Dignity SHOW RESPECT

Do your virtual employees know that you value and appreciate them? Ask yourself honestly if you are taking them for granted because you don’t have a strong in-person rapport.

Enrich ENERGIZE THE JOB

Are you constantly challenging your virtual employees, or is it the same old, same old? Make an effort to take things up a notch.

Family GET FRIENDLY

Even virtual employees can have work/life integration challenges. Don’t force them to choose between work and loved ones.

Goals EXPAND OPTIONS

Your virtual employees might not be interested in moving up, but they should have some forward-thinking goals. Take the time to help them develop and execute these.

Hire FIT IS IT

Take care to hire people upfront who will not only be successful virtual employees but who will also be a strong fit for your culture.

For the rest, visit Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office

Ten years ago, I first read a fantastic book by Lois Frankel called Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office, which was about unconscious mistakes women make that sabotage their careers. Well, apparently not much has changed in a decade because nice girls still don’t get the corner office, and in response Lois has released a new edition of her essential advice guide.

Given that I’m still making some of these errors myself, I thought it might be helpful to show my fellow professional women how to overcome deeply ingrained habits that are presently holding us – and our teams – back. And guys, you owe it to the women you love to share this piece with them.

Needing to be liked

The desire to be liked is so strong in some nice girls that it becomes impossible for them to act in any alternative manner. They become immobilized at the thought of disappointing someone. But there’s a difference between being liked and being respected, and if you’re concerned only by being liked or preserving your workplace relationships, you will not take the kinds of risks that lead to respect. Lois suggests that you use self-talk to counter the need to have everyone like you all the time, because that won’t happen no matter what you do. Replace the thought “but people won’t like me if…” with “people might get upset with me, but at least I will be acting in accordance with my values.” Also, balance your inclination to serve others’ needs with serving your own. Before agreeing to something you don’t want to do, ask yourself how much it will matter if the person’s a little annoyed.

Playing the game in bounds

Even when a woman knows the workplace is a game, she has the tendency to play safe rather than play smart. She obeys all the rules to the letter and expects others to as well. If the policy says don’t do it, then it can’t be done. If it might upset someone, she doesn’t do it. Lois says that you never want to act unethically, but it is a game, and one you want to win. Therefore, you should play the game within bounds, but right at the edges. If you’re not sure where the edges of your company’s playing field are, look at the women in your workplace who are winning the game. Consider what they’re doing that you should be doing too. Also, try writing down two rules you interpret narrowly and always follow. Have you seen other people bend these rules? If nothing has happened to them, take the risk!

For the rest of Lois' tips, please see the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.