To connect with your audience, share personal stories

Leaders often shy away from sharing personal stories in their talks and presentations, because they’re afraid of revealing their struggles or appearing unprofessional. But this is a missed opportunity to connect with your audience: Stories that expose our human flaws and vulnerabilities are often what inspire people. To unearth your inspiring stories, think through the nouns that are important to you — the people, places, and things that have shaped your life. Some of your experiences may be too personal to share, but you may uncover anecdotes that will become the basis of a great story. Write one-line summaries of your best anecdotes, and catalogue them; you could sort them by situation, theme, mood, or moral. When you’re planning your next talk, look through your catalogue of stories and consider who’s in your audience and what they care about. Choose a story that fits their values, goals, and interests, and that will send the message you want to convey.

(Adapted from “How to Identify and Tell Your Most Powerful Stories,” by Nancy Duarte.)

If your boss doesn’t advocate for you, find a sponsor who will

A boss who doesn’t advocate for you can stunt your growth and limit your career opportunities. But rather than getting frustrated by the situation, take matters into your own hands. Start by letting go of whatever anger or hurt you feel toward your boss. You can’t shame someone into helping you, and it’s likely that your negative feelings will only make the situation worse. Then try to find a senior leader who will advocate for you. The ideal sponsor is a powerful, high-ranking person in your organisation. Sponsors typically choose their protégés, so you’ll want to increase your visibility to help the person notice you. Raise your hand to participate in organisation-wide task forces and cross-functional teams. By contributing to important strategic projects, you’ll build your skills and interact with new people. Working for a boss who doesn’t recognise your potential isn’t necessarily a career-killer — as long as you find others who do.

(Adapted from “What to Do When Your Boss Won’t Advocate for You,” by Nicholas Pearce.)

Managers, protect your high performers from burnout

When a high performer on your team burns out, you might think it’s their problem to solve. But as a manager, it’s your job to help employees keep their stress under control. You can protect your stars from burnout by giving them some autonomy in choosing their projects. Don’t just put them on your toughest tasks; letting them choose ensures they’re working on assignments that excite them. You can also pair the person with another high performer on a hard project, which will help the two employees challenge and push each other. (You may be tempted to group high performers with low performers, but that’s likely to increase the high performers’ workloads and sap their morale.) These pairs should consist of employees at similar levels. Placing a talented entry-level employee with a high-performing leader won’t have the same effect.

(Adapted from “How Are You Protecting Your High Performers From Burnout?” by Matt Plummer.)

Working parents, survive back-to-school season

For working parents with school-age children, this time of year is especially chaotic. But it is possible to manage the (often overwhelming) demands of back-to-school activities while still delivering at work. Start by thinking about what’s realistic for you. Even with a flexible job, it’s unlikely that you can make it to every bake sale, library fundraiser, and field trip. To do your fair share, try to do it all at once. For example, you can use a personal day entirely for school volunteering: Be the “reading helper” in your daughter’s second-grade class in the morning, walk with the school’s neighbourhood safety patrol in the afternoon, and take the minutes during the PTA meeting in the evening. And don’t try to hide why you’ll be out of the office. Tell your colleagues what you’ll be doing and why it’s important to you. That will make it easier for them to understand, and to help if needed.

(Adapted from “How Working Parents Can Manage the Demands of School-Age Kids,” by Daisy Wademan Dowling.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 24th, 2018