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Welcome to my "Spontaneous Metaphor Booth!"
How do leaders deliver difficult news?
One of the most difficult rooms a leader walks into is a boardroom with a human resources officer and an employee or who needs to be terminated from their position. The energy is thick with wonder and waiting. There is anticipation with a badge in hand. They all nervously wait and listen. Sometimes they are angry, anxious, or hungry for information. The leader hasn't had to fire a physician or another executive before. This is tricky.
There is a delicate balance between directly saying what is up. Saying âyou're firedâ but saying it with compassion and listening to them as well. They might say, âWe've tried XYZ and it's simply not a good fit or alignment anymore.â Depending on the situation, there may room for explanation but, usually no explanation is required, and this should not be a surprise. Maybe there is an option for a package severance with a non-disclosure clause? Maybe another option suits everyone better â we can be flexible and listen to everyoneâs needs.
The leaders I resp...
Who is a Leader?
Leaders are needed in so many places and asked to show up in so many ways. Every room they enter is a different experience with a new lesson to be learned.
Imagine a leader walks into a conference room to give a presentation. She is hosting all 90 of the team leaders, she wants to motivate, inspire and ignite them. It is a retreat of sorts, or an âadvanceâ as my friend Kevin calls it. The aim is to pause, reflect and advance forward. She takes in the current state of the group. Some are paying attention to facts and some to a dreaminess about the future. She has a vision for something new, better, different and more impactful.
How do great leaders do this? How do they read the room? They talk to others! They get quiet! They think about their past experiences and lean into them by drawing clues and learning from their own past. They listen to younger employees to gather innovative ideas from their peers and teams. Great leaders brainstorm to highlight the goals and find a clear vision...
Burnout to Connection for Full Engagement
Are you burned out or disengaged?
Or maybe your feeling disconnected?
Letâs talk about how to shift from the experience of being burned out in relationships, at home, or at work.Â
Today, I want to explore the component of disconnection/depersonalization and help you shift to the ENGAGED experience of being connected, involved, seen and heard with a sense of belonging. Burnout is characterized by exhaustion, depersonalization, cynicism and the feeling of not be accomplished.
Depersonalization happens when we protect ourselves from the painful things that we witness in our service(s), such as lack of outcomes, recurrent difficult situations, and conflict. This is common in public service professions where we exhibit a large amount of empathy and over time, find ways to disconnect so we donât feel the pain of others. We also do this in order to not feel as deeply in order to cope and continue to do our work.Â
Depersonalization begins as protection but over time we are unable to co...
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Kristen Truman-Allen, PhD, MS, RN, PCC
Kristen Truman-Allen is on a mission to ensure that every leader and the people they serve, live a fully engaged and integrated whole life. Kristen brings her experiences as Health Care Administrator, Emergency nurse, Outward Bound expeditionary learning instructor and Organization Development professional into her coaching for executives and formal leaders in organizations. With a PhD in Human Development and a Masterâs in Human and Organization Systems, Kristen uses metaphor and intuition in her coaching of organizations and individual leaders to help them have the energy to integrate whatâs most important to them. Kristen balances her family of 6, travel adventure, business and play and is passionate about evoking inspiration and impact in our world.