Mitch Simon’s Post

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Your greatest work friend calls you out on your bullsh*t.   Embrace it! 👉   The numbers of workers who say they have a friend at work are rapidly falling. The statistics say….   It’s starting to become a wasteland for people to come to work, in the office or remote, and have someone they can be real with, they can trust, they can celebrate with. Unfortunately, the most important element we lose when we don’t have a friend at work, is that we don’t have anyone who will call us on our bullsh*t.   And this is a huge problem.   For most of us, we have professional goals. We want a promotion.   For most of us, we have financial goals. We want to buy a house.   For most of us, we have personal goals. We want to build our courage.   Without a true friend at work, it is almost impossible to achieve these great goals, because we don’t have anyone to point out what we are doing that would move us towards our goals, or what we are doing that might have us get in our own way.   Personally, the greatest gift I was ever given was when a colleague said to me, “Mitch, your problem is you never listen!”   My heart stopped. My life, and all the mistakes I had ever made flashed before my eyes. It was in that moment that I realized that I was blind to how ineffective I was in working towards what I wanted. Now that someone called out my bullsh*t, I was forever changed. That time, I was really listening. I am forever grateful.   Go make a friend. Go find someone who has the courage to call you out. Go find someone that you can be courageous with yourself. Find the bliss in having someone call out your bullsh*t.   The workplace is one of the last institutions that provides the space for us to grow personally and professionally. Grab that BULL by the horns. Take full advantage of the people that observe you every day. Ask for the truth. Not only will you find your best friend, you will also find everything you’ve ever dreamed of.

YOUR BEST FRIEND AT WORK IS THE REASON FOR YOUR SUCCESS   56% of people with a best friend at work are engaged in their work and in their company. (NBRI Business Research)              Let’s just say that when you have a best friend at work, you are engaged in your LIFE!   When you don’t have a best friend at work, your engagement falls to 8%.    And, without a best friend at work, your homelife will dramatically suffer ☹️   Work friends are crucial to your health. They are crucial to your well-being. They make your life meaningful!   Having a work best friend at work gives you someone to vent to, to empathize with what you’re going through, to support you, to make you feel that you matter.   So how do you find and develop your new best friend?   Four ways to find your work bestie:    1.     Show Others Genuine Interest - learn something personal about them 2.     Collaborate on Projects - If it’s work you can pair up with, do it! 3.     Be Approachable and Positive - Be the type of person you’d like to be around 4.     Share tidbits of information about yourself you would like them to know. What’s your hobby or your pets name? Is this effort worth it? Will you get promoted faster? Will you get your work done faster?   Hmmm…I am not sure that today these are the right questions…   But if you insist….HARD YES!!!!   By having someone that you can trust, rely on, and be able to ask for honest feedback, you will get promoted faster, you will get done work faster, and you know what?   You will look forward to your days at work. You will be engaged in your work. You will feel more energetic.   Yes, the more intention you put into your work relationships, the more success you will find.    How do I know? Just go ask my friend!   Now, in the comments below, tell us why your best friend at work is so sensational! #coworkers #workbestie #workrelationships

We are truly honored and humbled to be recognized by the San Diego Business Journal in their prestigious Book of Lists as one of the Top Executive Training Companies in San Diego. At the Simon Leadership Alliance our mission has always been to cultivate and empower exceptional leaders within our community. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, who continuously strive to provide top-notch leadership development programs and our clients leading incredible companies in San Diego. Our journey is driven by a deep commitment to fostering growth, innovation, and excellence among San Diego’s leaders. We believe that strong leadership is the cornerstone of thriving organizations and communities. A heartfelt thank you to the San Diego Business Journal for this recognition. We are incredibly grateful for the support and trust of our clients, partners, and the entire San Diego business community. Your belief in our vision fuels our passion to continue delivering transformative leadership training. Here's to many more years of inspiring and empowering leaders in San Diego! #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveTraining #SanDiegoBusiness #Gratitude #SimonLeadershipAlliance #CommunityImpact

Empathy and compassion at work could save your life.   Work is hard. Life is hard. Stress is at the highest of levels. As I wrote yesterday, most of us lack having even one true friend at work.   And to top it all off, the The Wall Street Journal states that only 67% of workers say they know their coworkers on a personal level. Gallup figures show that only 38% of American workers believe someone cares about them. That means, odds are, you know your coworkers, but don’t feel like there is even one coworker that cares about you. Not even one coworker demonstrates empathy and compassion!   Terribly sad.   Why is empathy and compassion so important to your lifeblood and the lifeblood of your company? According to Helen Riess, M.D. author of The Empathy Effect, “the ability to connect empathically with others – to feel with them, to care about their well-being, and to act with compassion – is critical to our lives, helping us get along, work more effectively, and thrive as a society.”   How does empathy help us work more effectively?   When people display empathy towards us, this leads to trust, reduces conflict, and increases team support.   How does compassion help us work more effectively?   When people are compassionate, they help out more, help unite each other, and can help reduce stress.   Without empathy and compassion, you go about your day without the feeling that your contribution is meaningful. You deliver work product not knowing how you are really doing. You delegate less, because you don’t have full faith in other people at work to support you.   So, what should you do to save your life?    Find one person, just one, and bring on empathy and compassion!   1)        Become an incredible listener. 2)        Offer people sincere advice. 3)        Offer to support someone at work.   Many of us enter the work world expecting that empathy and compassion will be there. Unfortunately, as we see from the statistics, it is lacking.   In order to save your own life, take on bringing forward empathy and compassion for others. You may just start a trend! #empathy #friendship #workculture

WHAT’S PREVENTING YOUR SUCCESS AT WORK? IT’S YOUR LACK OF FRIENDS.   I would say the biggest pleasure I get out of coaching is to develop strong, deep, and rewarding relationships. One of my best friends through the work I have done is with Jordan Lerner, currently the VP of Operations at Host Healthcare reporting, formerly the Chief of Staff to the president.   Jordan has always had a head for strategy, but most of all he had a thirst for getting better at being a leader, facilitator, and influencer at his company. Jordan and I used to speak weekly. He would update me on what was working, but most of all he would ask for my feedback. And he really wanted to know the truth.   In exchange I would ask for his feedback. I won’t share what I said to Jordan, but I will share that Jordan would let me know when my approach was confusing, when I was too harsh, and when I lost the attention of the team.   I was committed to Jordan becoming an incredible leader. Jordan was committed to me becoming a better coach.   And you know what…that’s what friendship is. Friendship is the raw unfiltered commitment to making another human being extraordinary. Jordan was amazing at offering up his unbridled feedback and I got pretty good at telling him like it is. The problem…statistics now show that there are very few among us who have a true friend at work. - The share of U.S. workers who say they know their coworkers on a personal level has fallen from around 80% in 2019 to around 67% today, The Wall Street Journal reports. - In Jan. 2020, 47% of American workers believed someone at work cared about them, per Gallup polling. That’s fallen to 38%. Making a friend at work isn’t a luxury. It’s crucial for you development, your success, and well-being.   Join me Thursday (6/13) at 11 AM PST and let's discuss benefits of work friendships and strategies to increase work friendships. If you're a leader looking for ideas to cultivate genuine connections at work, and even perhaps friendships in your companies and on your teams, join my meeting. I look forward to seeing you. #culture #friendships #connection https://lnkd.in/gn3YgMQd

Over four years ago, I reached out to my colleague Steven Wolff regarding his HBR article on Emotionally Intelligent teams. It was clear to me our focus in business was mutual, and we both were clear on several things. People are struggling with levels of loneliness at heights so extreme, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness an epidemic. Our levels of Team Emotional Intelligence (different from individual emotional intelligence) are directly correlated with our success at work. In order for team members to challenge each other, stay accountable, motivated and connected, they must learn to have the right conversations. So we reached out to connect and I asked him, “Steve, what if we took “Emotionally Intelligent Teams,” and taught team members to take responsibility for their teams and not put the onus of accountability on the leader, especially when companies are remote or hybrid?” Now, we’ve been delivering our program Inspired Teams to hundreds of team members across dozens of companies and industries and here is what they’ve had to say about their experience through our Inspired Teams Program. https://lnkd.in/gT2JiWCR #emotionalintelligence #communicationskills #hybridwork

“Leadership is a team sport” Hear me out... The sense of loneliness and isolation that our society is experiencing in the workplace is because many workplaces have focused too much on developing the individual versus developing the team. In the words of Debbie Lovich: “What many large organizations need instead is solid, steady leadership—with CEOs and other senior executives focused on assembling, empowering, and enabling rock-solid teams, team leaders and talent to sense, respond and adapt. That’s what achieving success in a VUCA environment requires.” Creating successful companies in 2024 will happen only when leaders focus on developing successful teams. #leadership #teamwork #hybridwork https://lnkd.in/gb_4J_ug

How do you know you have ARRIVED as a true team leader? You have team members who take ownership for the results of your team, so that you can focus on your "real" job.  What would be possible for YOU if everyone on your team: Knew where to look to identify problems? Had high self-awareness of their inner voice? Had the mindset of team responsibility? Knew what to say? Knew how to say It? Took ownership of their results and their entire team's results? #softskills #teamwork #highperformanceteams

Great leaders have developed the mindset of "Connection before Business."   They think, "I'm going to spend the first part of the meeting creating connections, and then I'm going to move onto business."   If this is the case, you have to ask yourself, what is “business?”   Business is the creation and delivery of promises to achieve goals.   How do “promises” get delivered?   They get delivered based on connection and trust that individuals have created over time with each other.   Connection and trust are the pathways to creating and delivering on promises.   As a leader, your focus must be on connection as much as your focus is on business.   Because in today’s hybrid world, it’s not connection before business, Connection IS business.   #connection #business #leadership #mindset ➕ Follow Mitch Simon 🔄 Repost to your network to help others