Welcome to Leadology's
Courage-Sparking Corner 

A roundup of content and interviews dedicated to helping you awaken the leader within. 

Improve your manager-employee conversations with this hack
Team Management, New Managers Carrie Skowronski Team Management, New Managers Carrie Skowronski

Improve your manager-employee conversations with this hack

At Team Leadology, we know firsthand just how tempting it can be to cancel those touch points with your team members. We know you think canceling will give some time back to both you AND your employees… but in reality, the cost of postponing 1-on-1s is so much more than the benefit of receiving an extra 30 or so minutes it frees up on your calendar!

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Remove These 6 Corporate Pet Peeves to Improve Your Leadership Language
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

Remove These 6 Corporate Pet Peeves to Improve Your Leadership Language

While attempting to improve relationships and communication within teams, leaders often adopt industry-specific language to convey complex ideas efficiently. Unfortunately, these clichés often miss the mark, creating an even larger gap between managers and their teams. After being featured in Forbes alongside 19 other communication experts, we’ve identified our top six pieces of workplace jargon that leaders should eliminate to refine their leadership language. Read more to delve deeper into these common phrases as we offer our insights on why they hinder effective communication and how to replace them with clearer, more impactful language.

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Help Employees Find Happiness at Work
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Help Employees Find Happiness at Work

Finding happiness at work has been a struggle for many of our readers. According to recent studies, new employees are experiencing lower levels of engagement and inclusion than ever before. If you’ve been feeling a bit disconnected at work lately, you're not alone.

In this article, Team Leadology breaks down what it means to be happy at work and how you can spot the employees who need a little help finding it! Read on to learn our simple solutions and take away an actionable strategy that actually works.

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How to Be a Great Leader in 2024
Workplace Strategies, Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies, Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski

How to Be a Great Leader in 2024

With 2024 already in full swing, we are already dreaming about all the ways we can transform as leaders this year.

At the start of each new year, the widely adopted "back to the grind" mindset can easily overwhelm us. Setting goals that propel our development is crucial, but fostering habits that empower both teams and leaders has been proven to be more sustainable in the long run.

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Going Without Recognition? Why You Should Expect Gratitude in the Workplace
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Going Without Recognition? Why You Should Expect Gratitude in the Workplace

With Thanksgiving already just around the corner, one thing is cutting through all of the noise of travel plans, meal preparations, and Black Friday shopping: gratitude. 

While this time of year offers frequent reminders to express our thanks to the most important people in our lives, we recognize that the workplace is an area in which we aren’t always eager to show the same amount of love. In this article, Team Leadology weighs in on why providing recognition to your employees is so crucial, and just how to go about it!

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How to Create Better Boundaries Around the Holidays
Dare to Lead Carrie Skowronski Dare to Lead Carrie Skowronski

How to Create Better Boundaries Around the Holidays

According to a 2021 study by telehealth provider Sesame, 3 in 5 Americans feel their mental health is negatively impacted by the holidays, with 60% reporting an increase in anxiety and 52% feeling an increase in depression compared to the holiday season before.

As staggering as these statistics are, it’s always helpful to remember that things don’t have to shake out this way every single December, especially once we’re equipped with the proper tools that allow us to establish, communicate, and enforce clear boundaries in our personal and professional lives.

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How to Maximize the Last Four Months of the Year as a Manager
Workplace Strategies, Time Management Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies, Time Management Carrie Skowronski

How to Maximize the Last Four Months of the Year as a Manager

Level with us: does it feel like you blinked and it’s already September? As we begin considering Q4 and the rapid approach of the holiday season, Leadology is here with a few tips on how workplace leaders can use the remaining months to their advantage.

Though some of us are incredibly eager to get back into our routines this fall, this time of year can also instill a bit of panic and anxiety for those who may have started the year off with a lengthy list of goals that haven’t been checked off yet. No matter how you feel about 2023 coming to a close in the next four months, we’re here to remind you that it doesn’t have to be the start of the year to start fresh.

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How to Build a Team of Self-Reliant Superstars
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

How to Build a Team of Self-Reliant Superstars

You’ve probably already seen these kinds of employees in action within your own organization–– they’re efficient, proactive, and easy to work with. They’re no stranger to taking initiative and owning their part, especially due to their solution-focused mindset.

It’s important to remember that while many employees can bring these qualities to their role from the very start, they can also be encouraged and fostered among teams with the help of workplace leadership.

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Tips for Managing an Employee Who Always Makes Excuses
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Tips for Managing an Employee Who Always Makes Excuses

If you’ve engaged with our socials over the past few weeks, you know that we’ve been simmering on the topic of manager effectiveness–– namely, how it’s changed over the years and what it now looks like for workplace leaders in 2023. We even had the opportunity to hear from a greater portion of our community through a recent Instagram poll, where managers from all over shared their insight and experiences on the subject, particularly when faced with managing employees who are prone to making excuses about their work.

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Resolving Burnout in the Workplace through Strengths
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Resolving Burnout in the Workplace through Strengths

When in full effect, the challenges of burnout in the workplace may seem insurmountable. But research-backed strategies advise us to return to the basics of strengths-work to weed it out of our organizations. Managers from across the globe are putting this approach into action within our premier leadership development program Activate, which is engaging networks of workplace leaders in purposeful conversations and equipping them with the resources needed to reduce workplace burnout on a mass scale.

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Understanding the *Real* Causes and Effects of Burnout
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

Understanding the *Real* Causes and Effects of Burnout

Level with us… how often do high levels of stress at work make you feel like you’re not contributing to your team or organization in meaningful ways? Maybe you’re going through the motions, feeling like you’re perpetually stuck on a hamster wheel when it comes to your work. We may be able to easily define burnout on paper, but when we’re in the thick of its symptoms, it can be much more difficult to remedy.

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Is This the Key to Improving Mental Health in the Workplace?
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

Is This the Key to Improving Mental Health in the Workplace?

Across the globe, a growing number of companies are reporting rising levels of burnout and mental health issues in the workplace, despite taking intentional steps to provide mental health resources and support. While these offerings are incredibly important when it comes to supporting employee wellbeing, they don’t always address the root of the issue– and in some cases, the issue lies with lackluster management.

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What to Do if the Summer Slump Hinders Productivity at Work
Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski Workplace Strategies Carrie Skowronski

What to Do if the Summer Slump Hinders Productivity at Work

Let’s face it– sometimes, we all get a major case of the “f*ck its” during the summer slump, which results in reduced productivity at work. Luckily for you, we all experience this at one point or another, and as always, Leadology is here with some tactical tips that everyone can employ to stop the summer slump from plummeting their– or their team’s– productivity in the workplace.

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How to Foster a Culture of Holistic Wellbeing In Your Organization
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

How to Foster a Culture of Holistic Wellbeing In Your Organization

When our employees' wellbeing suffers, so does the organization at large. While we can imagine what this looks like in the workplace on a practical level, do we understand the true cost of poor wellbeing? Gallup states when compounded over time, burnout has led to a startling $322 billion of turnover and lost productivity costs globally. In this article, Team Leadology breaks down what a culture of wellbeing looks like in the workplace, and how to approach that in your organization.

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Managing Employees with Anxiety: Using Radical Candor to Overcome Difficult Conversations in the Workplace
Team Management Carrie Skowronski Team Management Carrie Skowronski

Managing Employees with Anxiety: Using Radical Candor to Overcome Difficult Conversations in the Workplace

If you or someone you know has anxiety, you probably already know that pursuing a straightforward answer to the question of best to manage employees who are open about their own anxiety is tricky. As workplace leaders, it’s vital that we remember that while we’re not mental health experts, we do have the ability to navigate these kinds of difficult conversations with compassion, unique insight, and– radical candor.

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Make 2023 a Game-Changing Year for Leadership by Using the 70/20/10 Rule
Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski

Make 2023 a Game-Changing Year for Leadership by Using the 70/20/10 Rule

Like many other annual landmarks– work anniversaries, birthdays, and other special dates– the new year gives us all an opportunity to pause and take a hard look at our personal and professional progress. We admit, in the midst of the year, it can be quite difficult to take stock of what’s working, what’s not, and what to do with all of that information as it relates to leadership. But as managers, it’s vital that we approach each and every year with a distinct approach to not only better ourselves, but our teams, organizations, and industries as a result. The 70/20/10 rule provides a great opportunity for workplace leaders to hone in on their employee development.

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Create Your Own, Personal Guide to Development and Success in 2023
Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski Leadership Skills Carrie Skowronski

Create Your Own, Personal Guide to Development and Success in 2023

Creating your own, personal guide to success is rooted in development. In order to be successful, it’s vital that we study success. At this point in the year, it’s pretty hard not to have our eyes set solely on what’s ahead; but at the same time, it’s incredibly important that before jumping into our intentions for 2023, we take a moment to remember and celebrate all of the lessons that this year brought us…

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