Equipping the Crucial Middle

Folks, I'm really nervous.

Not just for the reasons all of us are nervous and scared. But I'm deeply concerned about the social impact, nonprofit and K-12 sector specifically. It feels like folks were just getting back on their feet post-pandemic and stabilizing leadership teams-- and now leadership is navigating the current political climate. Being a person now is hard. Determining leadership strategy is beyond challenging. Doing both, while taking care of your team is almost impossible. And if you are a newly hired or promoted midlevel leader-- well, that is a uniquely challenging undertaking.

Because without the right leadership support, the responsibility of mid-level leadership is even more challenging. And C suite folks- even those who are amazing coaches- are going to have limited capacity to teach and coach. Or at least, not in the way they'll need.

The one thing that can't come off anyone's plates? The 1:1s. These are critical touch points to information share and support. But that time needs to be used wisely. To help C-level and senior leaders, I'm sharing a rough agenda to best utilize your time in 1:1s. I've used versions of this while navigating multiple crises:

• First, ask people how they are doing as people.
• Check in on progress on team and individual goals and projects- this can be quick updates.
• Check in on what has gone well, and analyze what led to that success.
• Ask explicitly "What is getting in the way of you being successful right now?" And then fix whatever is in your locus of control. We can't change politics, but we can ensure folks get reimbursed, answers to their emails, and anything else
• Create space for workshopping an idea or strategy- A meeting should not be about talking but about doing. Maybe they need help talking through strategy, role playing a difficult conversation or practicing a presentation. Build time for coaching and thought partnership in your 1:1s. Try to preserve 50-60% of your meeting time for this. And this can also be a space for you to workshop something with them! They will likely have a better pulse on the staff than you so their feedback on new initiatives or strategy can be incredibly helpful.
• Have a space for written FYIs. This is a way to keep each other informed on context without taking time up in the meeting itself.

I'd also make sure to routinely discuss their team. They also need to be thinking about developing their teammates, and you need to have a pulse on everyone's performance. Creating space to ensure you are discussing their people management every few weeks makes it clear that that is their job too (this may come up in the above workshop but I'd have an intentional step back anyway).

Also- and I say this with love- you can't do this alone. External support in equipping your leaders goes a very long way. It creates a safe space for folks to learn and get pushed, and allows you as a leader to coach on implementation and not the basic fundamentals of folks' job.

I've launched two types of leadership accelerators- one is a cohort starting March 5. The other is a 1:1 short term coaching package. But if that's not exactly what you are looking for, let me throw some shine at other folks doing the very important work of supporting leaders. I can personally attest to each of these folks and their general amazingness.

• Sarah Brock is someone I respect a great deal, and she's launched a new advisory service. Her LinkedIn also provides so much HR and leadership advice for schools and nonprofits that is actionable.
• Kevin Anderle and Tom Kaiser lead an amazing program called Authentic Leaders. I was lucky enough to participate and it's transformative. Through simulations, they focus on true, authentic people leadership-- which is very much needed right now.
• Ashley Herd runs the Manager Method. She shares so much content online but also has a manager training program that can be run in-house.
• Maia Heyck-Merlin changed my life and leadership with her approach to Togetherness and runs a number of open workshops, or you can bring her into your organization as well.

I appreciate resources are tight in many spaces but the cost of turnover, unnecessarily bumpy execution, and burnout (your own and theirs) is also very real.

Who else would you add to my list as go-tos for equipping and empowering our leaders?