Things Leaders Do

New Year, New Leader: Building a People-First Leadership System, One Tool at a Time

• Colby Morris • Episode 65

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"New Year, New Leader: Building a People-First Leadership System, One Tool at a Time"

Episode Description:
Start your year as a people-first leader with a step-by-step approach! In this episode of Things Leaders Do, host Colby Morris outlines a bi-monthly plan to enhance your leadership skills by introducing one practical tool at a time.

Key Takeaways:

  • January & February: Implement the One-on-One Blueprint to build trust through intentional conversations.
  • March & April: Establish the Feedback Flywheel to foster a culture of regular, meaningful feedback.
  • May & June: Introduce Team Connection Rituals, including managing by walking around, to strengthen team cohesion.

Resources Mentioned:

Call to Action:
Subscribe to Things Leaders Do, leave a review, and share this episode with fellow leaders ready to make this year their best leadership year yet!


Speaker 1:

Welcome to Things Leaders Do, the podcast that uncovers the secrets of becoming an extraordinary leader. If you're a leader who's constantly seeking growth, inspiration and tangible ways to level up your leadership, then you've come to the right place. Remember, the world needs exceptional leaders, and that leader is you Now. Here's your host, colby Morris. Is you Now? Here's your host, colby.

Speaker 2:

Morris, hello leaders, and welcome back to the TLD podcast. I'm Colby Morris, your host, and I'm an experienced leader who's led from every position Frontline, new manager, middle manager and yes, executive. I've been there with you. I've been where you are. My goal for this podcast is pretty simple it's to give you actionable tools and processes that you can start using today to become a better leader faster. I'm basically trying to keep you from making the same mistakes I made.

Speaker 2:

Well, today is not just a new episode, it's New Year, and if you're listening to this on January 1st 2025, hats off to you for starting your year with intentionality. If you're listening a few days later, no worries, you're still ahead of most people who are, you know, three days into their New Year, new me gym membership Googling if Oreos count as protein. Today, I want to talk to you about systems. Specifically, we're going to build a simple bi-monthly rollout system to help you become a more people-first leader by the time summer rolls around. If you've ever thought I want to lead better, but I have no idea where to start, well, this episode is for you. Look, trying to change everything all at once is a recipe for burnout. I don't know if you've ever tried to meal prep, hit the gym, meditate, journal, drink a gallon of water every day starting on January 1st, but look, by day three, you're eating chips in your car and wondering if hydration is just really overrated. The same thing happens in leadership. You can't overhaul your entire approach overnight, but you can build a rhythm, a system that allows you to grow step by step. So today I'm giving you three tools to become a people first leader this year. You'll start with one in January, add the second in March and roll out the third in May. By mid-year you should have built a simple but effective people-first leadership system. Sound good, good, let's dive in All right.

Speaker 2:

Tool number oneon-one meetings. Now, before you roll your eyes and think, great, another meeting. Hear me out. One-on-ones aren't just meetings, they're investments, and if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know how strongly I believe in this. I believe the one-on-one is the single greatest leadership tool there is. Here's the principle People don't leave jobs, they leave managers, they leave bosses, and most of the time it's because they don't feel seen, heard or valued. So here's how you can start.

Speaker 2:

Step one I want you to schedule monthly or bi-weekly one-on-ones. The rule of thumb here. If you have fewer than 10 direct reports, biweekly is ideal. If you have more, monthly will work. Step two I want you to follow a simple agenda. Okay, you're going to do your check-in, the personal check-ins. You know how are you doing, what's your energy like this week? You're going to talk about progress. You're going to talk about obstacles. Okay, what's going well, what's what's getting in your way? And then look forward. Okay, what support do you need from me moving forward? And then step three I want you to make sure you take notes and follow up. As someone mentions, you take notes and follow up. As someone mentions, they're just feeling like overwhelmed or they're hoping for more training. Make sure you act on it.

Speaker 2:

The beauty of this tool is that it's scalable. Okay, you don't need fancy software or hours of prep, just intentional time with your people. And if you're thinking, what if my team isn't use of this? Well, don't overthink it. Okay, start small, be consistent and remember showing up matters more than showing up perfectly. Okay, it may be awkward at first, but you know what You're a leader. You're going to have to get over that. Okay, even if it's awkward, just keep doing it. It'll. It'll catch on. You'll get that rhythm. Send me a message on LinkedIn or shoot me an email, colby, at Next Step Advisors and that's NXT, not any XT. Okay, colby, at nextstepadvisorscom, I'll make sure you get a template you can start using today. All right, that's tool number one. Start your one-on-ones this month. Get into a rhythm and by March you'll already see trust and connection growing with your team. All right, so now you're looking at March. You've got your one-on-ones going and your team is starting to open up. Now it's time for tool number two, the feedback flywheel, or you can just call it the feedback wheel. All right, feedback is like flossing. Stay with me. We all know we should do it regularly, but most of us wait until something's bleeding before we act. So here's the mindset shift Feedback isn't an event, it's, more again, a rhythm. Okay, here's how you can implement the feedback flywheel.

Speaker 2:

Step one make feedback normal. Okay, positive or corrective, whether it's big, whether it's small, give it regularly. Don't save it all for the annual reviews. That's not fair to the person. And also watch how you give it. Listen to your tone, deliver it well. Step two follow the three-to-one rule For every piece of corrective feedback, aim to give like three positive acknowledgements. And then step three ask for feedback yourself. Okay, in your one-on-ones with hey, what's one thing I could do to be better as your leader, or what's something I could do better as your leader, okay, this is where most leaders mess up. They think feedback has to be groundbreaking. It doesn't Okay. Sometimes feedback is just hey, that was great. Keep doing that. And remember timing matters. Okay, feedback given in the moment carries a lot more weight than feedback given weeks later, when feedback becomes habitual. It does two powerful things it normalizes growth conversations, which is big right, and it builds resilience in your team.

Speaker 2:

All right, now you're looking at May. The sun's out, half your team is dreaming about summer vacations and it's time for our final tool Team connection rituals. These aren't, you know, just fluffy team building exercises. They're intentional rhythms that remind your people. There are intentional rhythms that remind your people hey, we're in this together.

Speaker 2:

Here's a few examples of what you can start with. The first do your weekly kickoff meetings or staff kickoff meetings. Okay, a quick 15-minute meeting every Monday. You can align priorities, you can kick off with energy. You know something that's really important they need to know of, just real quick. And you know, upbeat gets things going. And, conversely, at the end of the week you can have shout out Fridays. You want to end the week by recognizing wins, both big wins and small wins, but recognize wins.

Speaker 2:

And then you also want team check-ins. You want to use tools like the battery check, which, if you haven't listened to that, you're basically asking them where their battery's at, kind of like on your cell phone. You know if I walked up and said, hey, tom, you know how? How's your battery today? I'm looking for a feedback of where he's at. Is he at 50%, is he at 96%? And I need to adjust my conversation with him based on that. But I'm looking for realness, I'm looking for honest feedback. I don't want a hundred percent boss. If he's sitting at 45%, okay, and if you've been doing all these other things, they'll be honest with you, okay.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to add one more here Manage by walking around this one. Y'all I don't know how many managers I have to tell this Get out of your office, get out of your workspace and be visible. Okay, stop by desk, join casual conversations, make sure your team sees you out front. Okay, listen to this. Presence builds trust. If you're not seen, you're not leading. If you're not seen, you're not leading, you're hiding. Okay, those connection points don't just boost morale, they build cohesion.

Speaker 2:

Leaders, here's the truth. Systems beat intentions. Every time. This year I want you to build your people first leadership system step by step. So let's review, starting January. So for January and February, you're really going to start your one-on-ones. That doesn't mean you stop in February, you keep going, but that's your focus for January and February. Come March, you're going to start adding the feedback flywheel. So March and April, you're really focusing on that, while you're also doing your one-on-ones. And then May and June, you're starting your team connection rituals.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so you have the first six months of your leadership year already planned out. Okay, look, don't rush it, don't overcomplicate it, just start. Okay, just start. The first thing that has to happen is that first step forward. If you want help with these tools, hey, reach out. Okay, connect with me on LinkedIn that you know that link is in the show notes. Or, again, you can shoot me an email at the email that I gave you earlier. And if this episode gave you value, hey, please subscribe. Leave me a review, share it with a leader who might need it. Okay, make that something new this year. Share great information with other leaders. Okay, remember, leadership isn't about these grand gestures, okay, it's about consistent small actions. Start today. You know why? Because those are the things that leaders do.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Things Leaders Do. If you're looking for more tips on how to be a better leader, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and listen to next week's episode. Until next time, keep working on being a better leader by doing the things that leaders do