1. Leading is About the Environment You Create
Julie Kovalaske
Learning and Talent Development
Office of Human Resources
11/08/2016
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

2. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
Case Studies
Read the case studies
Find a person near you to discuss
Discuss: What stands out to you about these environments?
7 minutes to do activity as a pair
8 minutes to discuss as a whole
Follow-up questions:
How do you think the employees in these environments feel?
How might that impact the overall work environment?
11/08/2016
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

3. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
What words would you use to describe your work environment?
What words would you use to describe your ideal work environment?
Follow-up questions:
What is the impact of this on how you feel at work and how your employees feel at work?
How might that impact the work that is getting done?
Transition:
The ideal work environment has all positive traits.
We are going to watch a TedTalk that describes why these are so important, how it can look in different environments, and the role of the leader.
11/08/2016
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

4. Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe
Simon Sinek
What are your initial reactions?
Leader sets the tone
Leadership is a choice not a rank
Why do you do it? They would do it for me
Transition: Some of the examples are how the highest levels in the organization set the tone. What about you? Although some things may be forced on you from top-down, you still have a lot of ability to create a positive environment for those who directly report to you. He said when we feel safe the natural reaction is trust and cooperation. Let’s look at some ways about how you can create that environment.
11/08/2016
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

5. Creating Trust and Cooperation
Personal Connection
Transparency and Honesty
Encouragement
Avoid favoritism
Competence
Integrity
Follow-through
Accessibility
Feedback
Admit mistakes
Acknowledge and address concerns
Personal Connection
Get to know your employees
Share about yourself
Chatting, lunches, helping out with work once in a while (take customer service calls)
Transparency and Honesty
Share as much as you can
Be honest, even if the news isn’t good
Employees will fill in any void of information, usually with worst case scenario
Encouragement
Empower employees
Grant autonomy
Delegate tasks
Clear expectations and how performance will be measured
Trust them and they’ll trust you
Avoid favoritism
Treat all employees equitably
Share information and assignments equitably
Avoid badmouthing
Competence
Update own skills
Avoid being an expert in all areas
Ask questions
Show eagerness to learn
Integrity
Create and follow fair process
Treat employees equitably
Be consistent
Follow-Through
Be accountable for your actions
Do what you say you will do
Make sure you get back to employees if you don’t know the answer to their question right away
Follow-through on little things will build credibility
Accessibility
Be available for your employees
Feedback
Regular meetings/conversations
Catch issues early
Provide feedback to employees
Ask for feedback from employees
Admit mistakes
Open and honest about mistakes
Learn from them
Let others make mistakes and not be fearful that they need to hide
Apologize
Acknowledge and address concerns
Listen to concerns
Create opportunities for dialogue
Let others influence process to rectify concerns
11/08/2016
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

6. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
Reflection
What does your work environment look like with regard to trust?
What should you continue to do?
What should you start doing?
What should you stop doing?
Reflect on your relationship with your direct reports – you can control that
Reflect on your own – 5 minutes
Share with partner – 5 minutes
Whole group share out – 10 minutes
If time remaining
Consulting about current issue of trust and how to work through it
Discussion – what do you do when it is the people above you who are not creating a trusting environment?
2/17/2019
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

7. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
Questions?
2/17/2019
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN