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Management Update from your Library: a collection of interesting articles focusing on leadership and management.
How Working Parents Can Let Go of Perfectionism
When you’re juggling work and parenting, it’s inevitable that you’ll drop a ball periodically. You’ll chase someone down for information they already gave you. You’ll lose your child’s sun hat at the playground (or forget to bring it at all). Your child will ask you to make banana cupcakes for three months before you finally get around to it. Or you’ll read an email you need to reply to but promptly forget — and only remember when you’re awake at 3 am.
While these slip-ups happen for everyone, for perfectionists, these instances feel like an emotional bee sting. Mistakes provoke anxiety for perfectionists and shake their sense of identity. Memories of past mistakes can pop back into mind long after the fact, and this can leave the person feeling like they’re doing a terrible job in all their roles — at home and at work.
There are legitimate reasons working parents strive for perfection. When it comes to raising kids, the stakes feel very high, and perfection is culturally expected of parents. In the workplace, parents often feel pressure to demonstrate that they’re just as career driven as they were before they had kids. Those who’ve used perfectionism as a strategy for high performance and to feel in control can start to feel like their standards are impossible to maintain once they become parents, and this can cause tremendous anxiety.
While it’s commendable to want to excel to the highest extent possible (and show your boss and coworkers that you can), obsessing over mistakes can do more harm than good.
Social Distancing Doesn’t Have to Disrupt Mentorship
The current pandemic has many more people teleworking and adapting business to the virtual environment. While continuing to lead direct reports and collaborate with customers remain business imperatives in the new “workplace,” don’t forget your mentees. Great mentors show up and engage with mentees in crises and uncertain times, even when that requires creativity and adaptation. There are several reasons not to let your commitments slide.
First, mentors play a pivotal role in safeguarding retention and building organizational commitment, particularly in times of crisis. Research shows that when mentors are actively engaged with mentees, those mentees form stronger emotional bonds to the organization, report higher job satisfaction, and perceive greater support from the organization broadly. To retain high-potential junior talent and ensure strong post-pandemic succession planning, consistent and committed mentoring relationships are vital.
Second, at their best mentorships are life-altering relationships that inspire mutual learning and development. Every growth-fostering interaction in a strong mentorship bolsters a mentee’s professional and personal growth, identity, self-worth, and self-efficacy. Facing an uncertain future, mentees — now more than ever — will leverage connections with mentors to lower anxiety, overcome imposter syndrome, and grasp hold of their mentor’s hopeful vision of how they can not only weather the storm but continue to thrive in their careers.
Finally, moments of adversity offer golden opportunities to create indelible mental maps of what excellent mentoring looks like. In his book Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek reminds us that leaders don’t always appreciate the impact of their examples on those they lead. Mentors must own the power of modeling loyalty and commitment. Just as good leaders care for their people first, so too should mentors demonstrate commitment to their mentees through ongoing communication and expressions of care.
Millions around the globe have made a sudden transition to remote work amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly, this has some employers concerned about maintaining employee productivity. But what they really should be concerned about in this unprecedented situation is a longer-term risk: employee burnout.
The risk is substantial. The lines between work and non-work are blurring in new and unusual ways, and many employees who are working remotely for the first time are likely to struggle to preserve healthy boundaries between their professional and personal lives. To signal their loyalty, devotion, and productivity, they may feel they have to work all the time. Afternoons will blend with evenings; weekdays will blend with weekends; and little sense of time off will remain. It’s possible that some employees may be asked to continue working remotely for several months.
So how can employees continue to compartmentalize their work and non-work lives, given the extraordinary situation that so many of us are in today? How can we “leave our work at the door” if we are no longer going out the door? What can employers, managers, and coworkers do to help one another cope?
Based on our research and the wider academic literature, here are some recommendations…
Boost Your Team’s Morale and Creativity With These Virtual Ice Breakers!
Whether you’re getting into the swing of working remotely, or struggling to keep team bonds strong, it’s worth exploring new ways to keep creativity and rapport flowing.
Discover how to encourage your team to break down communication barriers with our article, Virtual Ice Breakers!
How to Stay Informed and Avoid Fake News
In times of crisis, how can you be sure that you’re getting the facts? In this article, discover six ways to spot and avoid fake news.
How to Prepare and Cope in Times of Crisis
A calm head, rational thinking, and good preparation are essential for surviving a crisis. Explore strategies for managing both the situation and your own responses to it in our article, How to Keep Calm in a Crisis.
Health and Hygiene at Work: Encouraging Good Habits for a Cleaner Workspace
Whether it’s a dirty kitchen, overflowing trash, or germ-ridden shared equipment, poor workplace hygiene is an everyday health risk for you and your team.
And, if you don’t tackle the problem straight away, chances are it will only get worse.
But personal hygiene at work is a delicate subject, and encouraging people to change their behavior can be tricky.
This article explains how to do it with the minimum of fuss, and without causing offense!
Control Your Emotions, Before They Control You!
Life in the workplace is not always a bed of roses! Chances are, you’ve felt angry, frustrated, disappointed, or anxious at one time or another.
During these periods of heightened emotions, it’s crucial for you and your team that you control your reactions. Find out how in our article, Managing Your Emotions at Work.
Seeing Red? Try These 12 Steps for Controlling Your Anger
Angry outbursts can do immense damage to your reputation. Use these techniques to control your aggression.
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