The Kind Leadership Challenge

When going into a meeting with little to no context, it's easy to jump to the worst possible conclusion. Especially if a team member has had negative experiences with previous bosses who behaved unkindly toward them, their imagination can make things seem much more catastrophic than they are in reality!  While it’s not your responsibility as a leader to make your team members feel 100% comfor...

Hustle culture is not sustainable for anyone, no matter how dedicated and passionate they feel towards their position. After slowing down during the pandemic, many people are ditching this mindset in place of a better work-life balance. Enter this year’s new phenomenon: quiet quitting.  The term ‘quiet quitting’ implies something negative, but in fact, it means doing your job as described, not goi...

Public speaking is a point of contention for many people. There are times in our lives where public speaking is inevitable, and most don’t feel equipped to do it well. However, you don’t have to do it well, you just have to do it a lot.    Think of presenting in front of an audience like another type of conversation. If you think of it that way, many of you who receive our email newsletters will a...

What does leading a strategic plan for a library and riding a bike have in common? A ton, actually! Keeping your eyes forward, focusing on the task at hand, and trusting the process. These are all points to take into account when doing both strategic planning and riding a bike. If you start to veer off track and look around instead of the plan you have carefully decided on, there will be scrapes a...

Are you a micromanager? I know all too well what being a micromanager entails, and where it comes from: a lack of trust.  Micromanaging can have detrimental effects, like burnout, loss of connection, and living in a state of undue stress. If you are a micromanager, ask yourself this, how would it feel if you let go of control and allowed others to manage themselves? This thought may make you anxio...

It’s time for another leadership challenge!   Today, we’re looking at a real-world scenario where a leader feels they are clearly communicating their expectations, but team members just aren’t quite getting it.   We should warn you though, any possible solution to this type of problem ultimately involves having a conversation that could make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable.   On the bright side,...

Let’s just go ahead and get right down to it: your team at work is not your family, and believing otherwise will lead you down a disastrous path.   It makes sense that people often compare the two because a cohesive family and team both operate in similar ways. However, how many functional families do you actually know? The two differ quite clearly when it comes to their purpose. This makes for co...

Workplace drama is unnecessary and quite frankly, annoying! Do we really need to bring melodrama into the workplace?   Of course, where there are humans, there will be some sort of conflict, but there are usually solutions to at least diffuse the constant emotional unloading. The question is, is the person who is in the drama wanting a solution to their problem, or do they want to be comforted?   ...

You’ve heard me say it many times, “stay kind now”. This phrase sounds like a simple pleasantry, however it is so much more than that. This phrase is quite powerful, and each word on its own can be broken down to convey what we are trying to achieve with this podcast.   In today’s episode you will be hearing me break down “stay kind now”, word for word, so you can get a better understanding of its...

I’m going to warn you up front, today’s episode is one of those “podcaster, heal thyself” situations. Because despite how confident and with-it I may sound on these episodes, I’m an introvert who stinks at networking. However, to fulfill the potential of both the university I serve and this side project, it’s time to suck it up and start more intentionally making connections. Today I’m going to sh...

From July 24th to 29th, I had one of the most amazing professional experiences of my entire life at the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  And I kept a journal of sorts, in the form of livestreams and posts I shared with the Kind Leadership Challenge Facebook community . Today I’ll be revisiting those recordings to share what I learned, and h...

My fellow library and educational leaders, I come to you today with an uncomfortable truth.   It’s time to listen to your shadow. We all have things about ourselves we don't like, or try to ignore. And we leader types just tend to find a big ol’ black box, shove those shadows in, and slam the door tight. But what would you say if I told you that your dark side might just hold the secret to be...

As I mentioned back in episode 10, I am the proud owner of a Peloton. One of the big reasons I bought a Peloton was because I have to exercise first thing in the morning or it never happens, and there’s not really any better way to ensure I exercise first thing in the morning than to have a $2000 spin bike sitting 5 feet from the edge of my bed. There’s probably an episode on establishing good lea...

I have a big vision for the Kind Leadership Guild. I think I’ve mentioned it in passing here and there, but my long term goal is to create the Kind Leadership Academy, a membership community where dozens or even hundreds of educational and library leaders can safely and privately discuss their challenges. Where leaders like you can take part in live monthly training on real-world leadership topics...

How can you grow your leadership skills, regardless of your job title? My Guest Alvina Peat and I will be talking about this in the first interview episode of the Kind Leadership Challenge. It’s a little longer than our usual episodes, but filled with a lot of value for anyone who wants to be more effective, humane, and collaborative in their work building a better world. ~~~ Resources: More about...

When people join the Kind Leadership Challenge facebook community, one of the entrance questions is: What is your biggest kind leadership challenge? I was reading over some of those questions earlier today and I was struck by something I’d never noticed before. Almost all of the challenges our community members describe could be resolved, or at least start to be resolved, by having a challenging c...

Today’s challenge is a hypothetical scenario, one that I’m sure hasn't happened to anybody listening to this episode. But it will teach you the one skill that is necessary to making powerful leadership decisions that move you and your school or library closer to your full potential. ~~~ Resources: Mastering Challenging Conversations Join the Community! ~~~ To listen to more episodes , head to...

I was skimming through my emails looking for something else when I remembered it. Between the amazon receipts and updates from my favorite newsletters, I saw the three-week old order confirmation for a free tee shirt. I got the shirt for being a long-time customer of a brand that will remain nameless for reasons that will soon be obvious. I had an order confirmation, but, as I skimmed my emails ag...

Why is a Challenging Conversation challenging? Well, as we’re going to discuss today, challenging emotions make for challenging conversations. That’s probably not surprising to you. But what’s the cause of all of those challenging emotions? Well, that answer IS a little surprising. It’s closely related a kind leadership skill you can use this week to have the difficult conversations that will shif...

So here’s a tough question for you. Is it possible to conduct a mass layoff in a kind manner? If you are an educational or library leader listening to this episode, you have either already ended the employment of a team member or will do so at some point in your career. There’s no getting around that unpleasant reality. I’ve made a lot of hard decisions in my career, as we all have. One of the har...

The Free Mastering Challenging Conversations Guide is Live! Get it now at https://kindleadershipchallenge.com/conversations .  ~~~ Show notes and Transcript: https://kindleadershipchallenge.com/17 Join the Challenge Community: https://kindleadershipchallenge.com/community ~~~ To listen to more episodes , head to kindleadershipchallenge.com ! Ready to Take Today's Challenge, but not sure where...

As I record this, the 2021-22 school year is winding down at my place of work. It’s definitely been the most “normal” year we’ve had in a while, but it’s still been exhausting in ways big and small. As I know is true for many of you, our organization is tired, I am tired, and we’re all looking forward to shifting into a different phase of the year. I normally write these episodes in batches, but I...

In August of 2011, I started one of my favorite PhD classes, Organizational Theory. I learned something in my first evening of class that deeply informed the way I see leadership, and the daily ins and outs of conflict and debate we all have to navigate. And it all started with sitting on top of my desk.  ~~~ Explore the 6 Lenses of Kind Decision-Making: https://kindleadershipguild.com/how-to-be-a...

Most people will live up to your expectations--as long as you're clear on what they are, the rewards for meeting them, and the consequences for violating them. But it often feels like a struggle to hold people accountable to your expectations in moments where they’re struggling for good and understandable reasons, without becoming a uncaring, toxic boss. Every Kind leader has struggled with t...

The solution to essentially all leadership problems can be found on the other side of an uncomfortable conversation.  And believe it or not—the best way to have a successful conversation that solves your problem is… to stop looking for a solution.  ~~~ Reserve your copy of Mastering Challenging Conversations: https://www.kindleadershipchallenge.com/13 Join the Challenge Community: https://www.kind...