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Shawn Stratton works with organizations to strengthen leadership skills that translate into powerful teams. Founder of the LiveMore Group, an organization that helps people maximize their potential and productivity, Shawn has designed presentations and retreats for both small businesses and large corporations, offering teams of all sizes the inspiration and tools to flourish in this unpredictable, exciting economic environment.
Why You Should Avoid Most Anonymous Feedback
(Free list of 11 online applications for employee feedback, appreciation, and retention) When is it OK to give anonymous feedback? I was disappointed and excited this week when I did a poll of the 1200 project managers on a webinar I was delivering and it showed that 56% said they don’t give their team members enough feedback. Clearly, I was disappointed that so many leaders felt they were not giving their team enough feedback but I was excited that they were aware of this and took the initiative to join the webinar to learn effective feedback techniques. In today’s post, I will address a question I was asked at the end of the webinar. Q. When Is It OK To Give Anonymous Feedback? It frustrates me that so many corporate evaluations, especially 360o ones, are often completed anonymously. I have always said that if you aren’t giving the feedback to a person face to face (in person or virtually), you shouldn’t give it at all. Personal feedback is just that, personal. I understand it can be a nerve-wracking experience but with the proper techniques, it can be a smooth and productive exchange. When giving personal feedback, the receiver needs to be given an opportunity to respond to the information they are receiving. Their response may be as simple as Thank You or could be as elaborate as explaining a complete misunderstanding. There has to be an opportunity for a dialogue. People naturally give unspecific feedback. If it was given anonymously, the receiver could not explore the feedback further with the person and at best the feedback opportunity would...
Do You and Your Team Really Understand?
Speak Up and Make a Difference! In the past couple weeks, as a consumer, I have had two experiences where I have been affected by an organization’s policy that I thought was completely ridiculous based on my experience. In both cases, when I approached the frontline employee looking for an explanation, they shared in my frustration and also thought the policy was unwarranted. In one case, I addressed a (middle) manager about the policy and he also felt the same way. (To avoid turning this into a rant, I won’t explain the situations here. If you want more details send me an email.) Is this the reaction you would want from your team members when speaking with customers, clients or suppliers? As a leader, I know I would want my team to clearly understand and accept all our policies and have a clear and compelling explanation for any policy that may affect a customer. If they didn’t believe in the policy for whatever reason, I would expect them to approach me or senior management seeking further clarification or (even better) offer an alternative suggestion on why the policy should be removed or altered. I don’t want to be surrounded by a team of YES people or sheep with blinders on who just follow along without ever asking WHY. Stand Up For What You Believe Perhaps I am just a shit disturber or passionate about the work I do and the people I do it for. Nevertheless, when I am working for an organization and I don’t think something is right or could be improved, I will speak up or...
Professional Development for Parents
This post is for the parents and soon to be parents out there. Sorry non-parents, I will be back to regular programming in my next post. As I mentioned in my last post, if you are parent, you are a leader. I have an important question for you. What is more important to you: your role as a parent or your role in your job? Most parents I speak with quickly say Parenting! Well, then why have you put in only 1/10th of the training you have put into to acquire your ‘day’ job? Parenting IS A Job! Parenting is a job and it is time you start treating it this way. Parents act and say irrational things all the time. Just think of some of the dumb things you have said and done while you lost your cool at your kids. Now, can you imagine acting this way in the office the next time you had a disagreement or something didn’t happen the way you wanted? I lost my cool on my kids several times in a week last fall and being a leadership and communication guy, that got me thinking…. What is really causing this blow up and there’s got to be a better way to communicate with my kids. The behaviors of my kids and myself was not acceptable to me and I wasn’t willing to carry on like this for years to come, i.e. making it “normal’ behavior in our family. I reached out for support, advice and training to be the best leader parent for my kids. I am still on this journey and...
Shawn Stratton, Leadership Motivational Speaker and Consultant
“His use of story telling, humor and photography delivered a powerful message on the importance of finding our true passion as an indicator of success. ” -Ian Shortall read more
