[00:00:00] Janet Taggart: Leadership, as we know, has a strong influence on building and nurturing a culture where employees and management work together toward positive outcomes. The question you can ask yourself when it comes to culture is, does the way employees and management interact and work together make it more likely to cause positive outcomes on behalf of the organization?

[00:00:34] Stephanie Willmore: Welcome to the Leadership Transformations podcast. I’m your host, Stephanie Wilmore, accountability coach for Paradox Circle Consulting. In this podcast, we explore real life situations with the help of our two founders and principal consultants, Janet Tagger and Linda Linfield. Today we are joined by Janet Taggart.

[00:00:54] Janet specializes in empowering leadership transformations from the inside out coaching, aspiring to executive leaders to become known for their highest value. Thank you for joining us, Janet.

[00:01:05] Janet Taggart: Thanks for having me. I’m excited to talk about our topic today.

[00:01:09] Stephanie Willmore: Yes, and as many of our viewers are aware, businesses are always evolving and regardless of market and economic pressures, organizational leaders continue to create their vision and set their goals for the future at increasingly higher levels.

[00:01:26] And so Janet, today we will discuss how leaders can create an organizational structure that will support their current needs while preparing for the future laid out by their leadership. Janet, why is it important for leaders to structure their organization, whether it be a team, department, or a company in a way that will prepare them for the future?

[00:01:50] Janet Taggart: As you mentioned, top leaders of organizations create visions. They set strategies, and they make decisions to grow their organizations despite economic or political headwinds. Rarely are organizations satisfied with their previous achievements as they plan for future success. Instead, those previous achievements are seen as the foundation upon which to build what they envision for the future.

[00:02:15] Aiming higher, surmounting challenges, and achieving more. This means that growing organizations must continually innovate, change, and optimize their operations to meet future market demands. When you consider that every organization is perfectly designed to get the results they get, you realize that results don’t and won’t happen by chance.

[00:02:38] Results are a function of the way the organization is designed. The current design or structure of an organization has produced the current results, so it stands to reason that in order to produce a new set of results, it’s necessary to examine the structure in the context of, is the organization designed in such a way that it will produce the the results we expect or desire to achieve?

[00:03:05] Stephanie Willmore: That’s really helpful, making that connection between how it’s structured and the actual results that they see. So how should a leader structure their team to produce the results needed to support the organization’s future goals?

[00:03:18] Janet Taggart: While there are many factors related to the organization structure, we at Paradox Circle Consulting focus primarily on two areas: leadership and culture. The organization’s leadership strategy is crucial for success. The question you can ask yourself is, do we have or are we developing the leaders we need now and in the future?

[00:03:51] A leadership strategy includes identifying individuals with a high potential for leadership and putting into action a process for readying them for key roles in the future. To avoid having high potential stagnate and eventually go elsewhere for greater opportunities, taking this type of action is really key. A leadership strategy also helps current leaders successfully make the transition through each stage of their leadership journey, from their first people leadership position to manager, from manager to director, and so on. Each advancement requires the leader to make certain adjustments to how they lead and how they will interact with others.

[00:04:37] And an effective leadership strategy also provides for the support of key leaders as they surmount the ever intensifying challenges. Building an effective multi-pronged leadership strategy feeds into a culture that is prime for achieving successful business outcomes. Leadership, as we know, has a strong influence on building and nurturing a culture where employees and management work together toward positive outcomes.

[00:05:04] The question you can ask yourself when it comes to culture is, does the way employees and management interact and work together make it more likely to cause positive outcomes on behalf of the organization? Providing team building opportunities helps unite key leadership teams and provide timely tools for improving the team’s outcomes.

[00:05:31] Team workshops can be provided to tackle specific challenges and develop skills that create a shared language and approach to address pressing issues. Both team building and team workshops help create and foster shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that drive the way work is done. An organization is better poised to adapt itself to current and future needs when leaders are identified, developed and supported, and where a culture is created and matured through team training, where shared values, beliefs, and behaviors drive how work is done.

[00:06:06] Stephanie Willmore: Thanks for making that connection or at least elaborating on how both leadership and culture play a role here. And you know, leaderships have a big influence on workplace culture and with the fast pace of business, it’s easy for people to focus on current needs, and so just the pressing matters that are happening right in front of them. So what can leaders do to prepare themselves and their organization’s department or team for future needs?

[00:06:32] Janet Taggart: Thank you for asking that question. You know, it is really essential that leaders align themselves and their employees to the inspired vision and operational goals for the years ahead.

[00:06:43] Too often, as you said, with good reason, people get consumed by what is in front of them. It could be the current project, the pressing challenge, or the looming deadline. Much of the work I do as an executive coach is to help my clients navigate their current situation in the larger context of the vision and goals of the organization.

[00:07:03] Taking a longer view and elevating their work so they accomplish those things, the organization relies on them to do in terms of the results they and their team needs to produce, and in terms of the relationships of trust and respect, they need to build and nurture. Determining how their work and the work of their teams enable and support the achievement of the organization’s vision for the future is essential.

[00:07:29] In the process, the leader is creating a vision for their own team. This team vision, when communicated as an enabling and supporting element of the organization’s strategy, creates a bridge between that team and the organization. It helps the team understand the importance of the role they play in the organization.

[00:07:50] It breaks down siloed thinking, the us versus them mentality, as team members see themselves and the work they do as part of the whole with a higher purpose. It also helps elevate their work in the minds of other leaders and other teams when communicated as part of the inspired vision and operational goals of the organization.

[00:08:13] You know, it’s not enough to see and communicate the connection between one’s work and the goals of the organization. Employees must also be willing to increase their ability and their desire to increase the impact of the work they do, and their leaders need to help them understand how this is done.

[00:08:31] I. Leaders invite their employees to become multipliers, recognizing that it’s not about doing more in terms of quantity, rather it’s about doing more in terms of quality. And what I mean by this is the ability to prioritize things that have greater impact and letting go of what is of lesser value.

[00:08:51] Furthermore, understanding how an employee interacts with others is just as important as may seem incredible to think about, is just as important as the work they accomplish.

[00:09:05] Stephanie Willmore: That’s really interesting. And you know, besides working with the employees currently on their team to become multipliers and to align their efforts with the organization’s operational goals, what should a leader do in this environment when they are hiring new talent?

[00:09:21] Janet Taggart: Adding members to your team are hiring new talent because of attrition, whether it be due to return to office policies or other reasons, it allows you to think about how to upgrade the talent in the position for which you are hiring. Hiring new talent to drive the vision and change you are committed to is preferable to simply replacing lost talent to meet current needs.

[00:09:43] Rather, consider what you would need in the future for that position. What characteristics, skills, and abilities would that potential candidate need to possess if you are hiring for that position two to five years down the road. I like to call this future focused hiring. It’s really about filling the current need while focusing on the future so that those skills that you need are easily upgraded for that future that you have envisioned or that the organization has envisioned as well.

[00:10:15] Stephanie Willmore: Yeah, I like that, future-focused hiring. And it seems like that’s a great way to uplevel your team while bringing on new talent and to implement future focused hiring. If an organization wanted to do this, what are some of the things a leader would look for in some new talent?

[00:10:34] Janet Taggart: When hiring with the future in mind, I like to think in terms of the three C’s: capability, capacity, and lack of complacency.

[00:10:46] You might call it hunger. Capability, of course, is what they’re able to do and what they’re likely to be able to do in the future. Again, that future focus element. They’ve got to be able to fill the current role and be open to increasing what they can do without the leader having to push or prod them.

[00:11:03] Being proactive about gaining more capability. Capacity is, of course, how much someone can do. They’re able to take on more work with positivity and without complaint, and importantly, they can prioritize their work. They can negotiate deadlines, and they can reallocate their time as priorities evolve because they will evolve.

[00:11:30] We’ve seen that over and over. Rhe third C, the lack of complacency or hunger is really–the hunger element really drives the capability and capacity towards being proactively engaged in moving the work forward. They are not the type of employee to say, “That’s not my job,” or, “I’ve done my job. Now it’s up to someone else.”

[00:11:53] They pursue the accomplishment of their work without harming the relationships are causing others to worry. For example, we work with the leader who has this hunger. She is somewhat new to leadership, and yet she has this innate ability to see what needs to be done and push towards completion. She sees 10 steps ahead of where the team is currently working, what resources they will need, and how they can systematically make progress.

[00:12:20] She is easily recognized by her leader and her skip level leader as top talent, and fortunately, they are investing in her to develop her leadership skills even further. By hiring individuals who have the capability, the capacity, and the hunger to create the outcomes the future will require, a leader is setting their team up for success now and in the future.

[00:12:45] Stephanie Willmore: So it sounds like those three Cs can help a leader distinguish who on their team is really ready for more opportunities. And in that vein, what should someone look for when forming or restructuring their own leadership team? A team that will be a proponent of aligning the overall team to the organization’s inspired vision and aspirational goals.

[00:13:07] Janet Taggart: When forming a leadership team, it’s important to identify the characteristics your leaders need to help you build toward the future envisioned by the organization. To do this, whether you’re a leader of an organization, a department, or a team, think about your current top talent.

[00:13:31] Now, keep in mind, you may have to look outside of your group if you don’t have someone you can clearly identify as top talent. Think about how these people are different from others. Those considered to be top talent are likely able to focus on getting the right stuff done. As mentioned earlier, they can adeptly, prioritize and pivot as the situation demands.

[00:13:54] In addition, they’re able to get things done in the right way in terms of timing and relationships. They can navigate conversations across departments and job levels in a way that invites better cooperation, and collaboration. These are the characteristics we see universally among those whom we consider high potential.

[00:14:17] The ability to focus on getting the right things done and getting them done in the right way. You wanna find and predictably develop this type of leadership.

[00:14:27] Stephanie Willmore: Thank you for sharing your perspective on how to create an organizational structure, whether it be a team or department, or an organization as a whole, that can support current and future needs, and be aligned with the inspired vision and strategic goals laid out by their leadership. And so thank you for bringing that to the table and talk about all the factors that Paradox Circle Consulting really works on to help companies with their leadership culture, and hiring new talent. So thank you for joining us today, Janet.

[00:15:00] And to our listeners, we invite you to appreciate the experiences that have brought you here to this moment of your life’s journey. And we invite you to stay open to the possibilities within you. You are meant for greater things. Until next time.

At Peridot Circle, we facilitate the growth and transformation of individuals, leaders, and emerging leaders of fast-growing tech-savvy organizations. If any of our listeners are interested in learning more about our approach to leadership coaching at Peridot Circle Consulting and how to help transform how you show up at work, book a consult with us online at peridotcircleconsulting.com. We would love to help you and your organization achieve more than ever before.