Relationships at Work - The Guide to Building Workplace Connections and Avoiding Leadership Blind Spots.
Relationships at Work - your honest guide to building workplace connections and avoiding leadership blind spots.
A relatable and honest show on leadership, organizational culture and soft skills, focusing on improving employee engagement and company culture to inspire people to apply, stay and thrive.
Because no one wants leadership that fosters toxic environments at work, nor should they.
Host, speaker and communications leader Russel Lolacher shares his experience and insights, discussing the leadership and corporate culture topics that matter with global experts help us with the success of our organizations (regardless of industry). This show will give you the information, education, strategies and tips you need to avoid leadership blind spots, better connect with all levels of our organization, and develop the necessary soft skills that are essential to every organization.
From leadership development and training to employee satisfaction to diversity, inclusivity, equity and belonging to personalization and engagement... there are so many aspects and opportunities to build great relationships at work
This is THE place to start and nurture our leadership journey and create an amazing workplace.
Relationships at Work - The Guide to Building Workplace Connections and Avoiding Leadership Blind Spots.
Leadership Checkin - Being Aware of Our Arrogant Assumptions
In leadership, even the best-intentioned among us can fall into the trap of making assumptions, often without realizing it. This week, we’re diving into a common leadership pitfall: the arrogant assumption. Inspired by Jacqueline Novogratz's Manifesto for a Moral Revolution, I explore how these assumptions can impact our teams, business relationships, and organizational culture.
From dismissing ideas without consideration to believing we know better than others, these assumptions communicate an unintended arrogance. We’ll break down ten common ways this behavior can show up, how it diminishes innovation and psychological safety, and why it's crucial to replace arrogance with curiosity and moral imagination.
I’ll also share some of my own leadership moments where assumptions got in the way of growth. We all want to lead well, but it’s vital to align our intentions with our impact. In a future episode, we’ll explore practical ways to address assumptions, but first, don’t miss our special 200th episode celebration next week! See you then!
And connect with me for more great content!
Welcome back to Relationships At Work – Your guide to building workplace connections and avoiding leadership blind spots.. I’m your host Russel Lolacher
I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better. If you’re a leader trying to understand and improve your impact on work culture and the employee experience, you’re in the right place.
This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to get you ready for the week ahead.
Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you…
Avoiding those Arrogant Assumptions
No one wants to be a bad leader, or model bad leadership behaviour. But even those of us, who most would say do a pretty good job, can fall into our biases and comfort levels.
One common example of this is making assumptions. And the arrogance that is communicated by it.
I'm reading Jacqueline Novogratz's book Manifesto For A Moral Revolution: Practices To Build A Better World. (really recommend, by the way) and in it, she advocates for leaders to have a "moral imagination" over arrogant assumptions. It's the "I know better" approach versus a curious one. This week, I'll get into how this arrogance shows up, with a follow up next week on finding our moral imagination.
We probably don't even realize we're being arrogant in our assumptions. But they can show up in several ways that impacts our teams and our relationships with other business areas.
How often have we, without meaning to, found ourselves...
1. Assuming that our ideas or methods are the best and dismissing suggestions from colleagues without consideration.
2. Preferring to work alone and assuming you don't need help, thus avoiding collaboration and teamwork.
3. Believing your way is always right and dismissing constructive feedback from peers or supervisors.
4. Making important decisions unilaterally, assuming you know what is best without consulting those affected by the decisions.
5. Dominating conversations in meetings, assuming what you have to say is more important.
6. Assuming that tasks are simpler or less time-consuming than they are, leading to unrealistic deadlines and expectations.
7. Believing you have nothing left to learn and avoiding training or professional development opportunities.
8. Acting on incomplete information, assuming you understand all aspects of a situation or problem without seeking clarification.
9. Assuming that existing methods or practices are always the best and resisting new approaches or innovations.
10. Assuming you have priority over shared resources, such as budget, equipment, or team members' time, without considering the needs of others.
Any of those feel like something we've done. I'll be honest. There's one or two in there that I can certainly own. I felt my expertise and experience was valuable and impactful, and that got in the way of being a better leader.
It's thinking that what what works for us is more important that what works for all. This diminishes diversity, innovation, connection without realizing it.
There is something so valuable in someone bringing up an idea that we had never even thought of or considered. But displaying this kind of arrogance doesn't allow for that to happen. How psychologically safe is an environment where people feel like they're going to be steamrolled over? That any ideas they propose won't matter anyway?
It's important to understand that our intention might be misaligned with our impact. No matter how great our intention is. This is another great opportunity to really focus on our self-awareness and make adjustments so we can avoid those arrogant assumptions.
The best leaders aren't perfect, but they are learning every day in how to move in that positive direction.
In an upcoming episode, I’m going to get into the real solution to assumption. But we have a 200th episode to celebrate next week. So we’ll share on the other side of that.
See you then.
