Conversations That Create Trust

Our purpose is to give you the necessary tools and knowledge to lead your organization with insight, charisma, and openness. These are not just abstract values or buzzwords – they are learnable skills. All it takes to acquire and develop new skills is having the curiosity to seek them out, and the commitment to practice them.

What does it take to create an organization that is FULL of friendship?

• What would it be like to enjoy going to work every day?
• Do you feel that you are making meaningful contributions to your organization?
• Are your co-workers (inc. managers & executives) your friends?
• How much of your loyalty has your organization earned from you?
• Would you happily recommend your organization to your family?

Here at The Informed Leader, we believe that questions like these, asked and answered in confidence, from the top executive to the newest frontline worker, reveal the true value of your organization. Questions revolving around profit, revenue, market share, or stock price will not tell your story in any meaningful way. In economic terms, quantitative questions cannot answer whether your organization will last; whether it will successfully adapt to inevitable changes in culture; if it will innovate and grow to stay at the forefront of your field; or if will continue to attract customers and retain key employees.

We are witnessing a steadily-progressing, modern-day shift from viewing workers as just another piece of necessary equipment, ordered to spec and easily replaceable, to viewing them as individuals. Individuals have a backstory that makes them who they are. Individuals have a long-term value that will increase with their development, and with the changes they experience both in and outside of work. The question that will, more and more, decide who wants to work for you, is this one:

Does going to work make my life better, or is it merely what I am forced to do in order to survive?

Workers today have options, and those options are only going to increase. Customers’ options are increasing as well. What distinguishes you from your competition? Are you just one among the many?

With the incredible availability of online reviews, the exponentially more diverse connections social media offers us, and the increasing ease of switching careers, it is not enough anymore simply to tell frontline workers and staff to be friendly and customer oriented. It is not enough to hire support workers and staff, give them a list of job requirements, and say “go.” Anyone with management experience knows that asking people to “just do their jobs,” does not work.

Employers today must create a company culture that knows and values its employees individually and supports them in every aspect of their lives.

The question is how to do this. The answer is that we must all learn social leadership skills. It is not enough to be an expert. You also need to be liked. Or, more correctly, you need to be genuinely liked. That means being interested, familiar, informed. Knowing your people, and sincerely wanting to help them, will result in their corresponding investment in you. It will change how they treat customers and co-workers. It will create an organizational culture of trust, open communication, innovation, loyalty, and play that is attractive in the true sense of the word. Who wouldn’t go out of their way to be close to a phenomenon of that kind?

Here are the steps we follow to elevate your organization’s communication culture:

1. Learning Self-Leadership
   1. Having a Growth Mindset
   2. Increasing Self-Efficacy
2. Improving Dyadic Relationships (pair, or one-on-one communication)
   1. Techniques for Non-Violent Communication
   2. Learning in Relationships
3. Improving Group Relationships
   1. Generative Thinking Meetings
   2. Improving Communication Patterns

Each of these steps is dependent on conversation. Every conversation matters. Every conversation is an opportunity to improve your life, and the lives of those around you. The answer to the question of how to motivate yourself and those around you is known. It is not a matter of what, but of how. Get in touch with us today to become a more informed leader!