Episode 103
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to the show. If you've been following my content for a while, you might've noticed I call myself the team whisperer. And today I want to talk about what that is and how that kind of mindset can add so much [00:01:00] value to your team. So when we talk about team whisperer, well, this is that translator between you, that business owner or team leader.
And your team members. And I will tell you a lot of times I would, I'm going to say all the time, maybe when something isn't getting done in the way that we wanted, when work's slowing down, when we feel like we're just not connecting their teams, it's a communication gap, right? I mean, what else would it be?
And it can be really, really helpful to have an objective kind of third party there to say, Hey, you know, taking a step back, I'm seeing that this is what you're saying and this is what people are hearing. So let's bring the two things together. And that's really what I do as Team Whisperer. I have a deep understanding of the context that the business owner or the executive has, right?
I've had many, many roles in the corporate world working as chief of staff and working really hand-in-hand with executive leadership to understand organizational change and strategies and prioritization at that top level. And I've also had deep experience on the ground. So [00:02:00] in the trenches with product teams, planning how work's going to get done, really understanding, well, what's getting people stuck?
Where are they confused? Because a lot of times when work isn't getting done, again, it's not that the people aren't smart enough. It's not that they're not motivated enough. They're not dedicated enough. It's that they don't quite understand the expectations of them. Or they don't quite understand what success looks like.
Or they didn't quite understand what was a priority over another. And that's where it can really help, again, to have someone connecting those dots. Now, you know, when we think about this, I think there's a couple areas that I wanted to say that can really, really help. Where communication can break down.
So first it's, I think when we feel as that business owner, team leader, that gosh, I'm in too deep. I'm solving every single problem. Okay. I am, they're coming to me for everything. People, maybe a layer of hierarchy or two beneath you are coming to you. So you're sort of managing everyone and, And that means you're really a key problem solver in the weeds, in the details. And when you're running a business, this is not the best place to be because you really need to have [00:03:00] a lot of your bandwidth left over to work on growing the business, to reaching out to clients, to doing whatever it is that you need to do to scale and grow.
And so one of the things that's really, really helpful is to have a person that can work through these things with your team. Maybe you have a managers. And you've trained them to be able to really problem solve with team members, wrestle through the issues so that only things become escalated to you when it's really critical.
And that's one of the things that I do with teams that don't quite have managers yet, right? Is, Hey, let me sit down with folks that are running a certain project in the area or feeling stuck. Let's figure out how to move forward and then let's come back to you only when we really need that decision or approval or when it's something that really, really needs you.
So it's a really great way to get space from. in the details. I think it's also when you feel like you've had a little bit too of a casualness with your team you know, this is something that, shows up a lot, I think with smaller businesses or maybe in a team where you were managing former friends that the [00:04:00] Interactions between you and your team members, it's our, kind of more casual and friends.
It becomes really hard to deliver feedback and, team members think yeah, yeah, I'm just going to do it this way. And that's something, if that's going on in your team, you're not alone. This is something I hear about a lot. And as team whisperer, I can start to kind of become that bridge that says, Hey, we're going to kind of wrestle through this this way.
And let's come back, kind of create some space between you and your teams so that you can reestablish that authority and recenter around that, you know, respect that you need to have as a business owner. Now, I did an episode, you know, a few weeks back on earning respect of your team. So this doesn't mean telling them you must respect me, go through this intermediary.
No, it's about as we're figuring out how to really situate you as that leader. And as that person that's really setting the direction, creating some space for you and resetting on communication norms. So that's something that it's really helpful to have, again, some support on because it can feel like, well, I'm in too deep.
this is the way we communicate and my team members kind of push me around and I don't know how to get out of it. So [00:05:00] that's another thing that it can really help to sort of create some space. another thing that can kind of break down on teams when we feel like we're so clear on the vision as that business owner, as that team leader, we feel like we've been thinking about it forever.
We know the values, live and breathe them. the priorities are so clear to us or some change we're implementing is so clear because we've thought about it for months. And then we communicate that to our team and they're like, I don't get it or they're not on board with it or they're disagreeing or they're actually [00:06:00] working against it.
These are all things that I've seen with teams. For example, I have a team that I work with that changed some of their pricing on one of their most popular services and they raised the pricing so that they could create a new model that actually better supports their clients. So it was really, really thought through.
The CEO did a ton of competitive research and analysis and really found, Oh wow. This price change actually allows us to deliver a better service, more comprehensive. But when she shared that with her team members, they flipped out. They said, how can you do this? We're the ones that have to speak with the clients.
Like I don't agree. And it was a really frustrating situation for her. And what we did was we went back and said, okay, what is all the context that would be really helpful to set for the team? And then where do we not have to over communicate? And this is a really nuanced area any of us that feel like, well, I've been telling my team members everything and I'm so transparent.
Actually, sometimes it's that we've said too much. We maybe are getting defensive or we're kind of apologizing for making a change that was aligned with the business strategy. So, what I love to do with, business owners and team leaders is [00:07:00] think, what is the right level of detail of communication for each of your different team members?
Or, you know, maybe for the managers and the individual contributors or whoever, and then figure out, okay, what do they need to know to feel like they can effectively implement this change or get on board? So it's not always one message. It's not always given everything under the hood, but it's being thoughtful about how am I going to communicate this so that it lands.
Now, with the team members that in this case that we're dealing with customers, the message really would have been more effective. It was like, Hey, we made this change. I know you are right here working with customers. So let's talk about how you are going to feel confident explaining it to them. with other leaders.
It's like, Hey, we're all focused on revenue growth. So here's why we're doing this. And here's how it better serves our clients. You see? So it's very different. And I think when we are implementing a change, it can feel exhausting. It can feel too time consuming to set these different levels of messaging.
But when your team members are on board and they're fighting against it, There is nothing that costs you more time than having to keep [00:08:00] having the same conversation over and over and over. And so that's something that has been really, really powerful to work through is what is our messaging strategy?
How are we going to get people on board? And then I jump in and talk directly with the team members and say, Hey, like, let's, let's talk about this. Where are you getting stuck? Where are you getting frustrated? Because you as a business owner don't always have time to have those kinds of micro coaching conversations that surface issues that maybe we didn't think about.
And that's something that is really, really powerful is going under the surface is figuring out what are your team members not saying? You know, maybe I'm afraid to be in a sales conversation. I don't like talking about money. I don't know how to do this. There's things when people have a resistance that they're often not telling you.
It's usually about something else, right? In life in general, it's usually about something else. And so the part of this team whisper is getting under the surface and saying, okay, what's really going on here? Let's figure out why you're feeling stuck and how to get you the support on that so that you're not actively working against the goals of the business.
Because if you're actually working against the goals of the business, [00:09:00] you're probably not a fit longterm, but that's probably not what this is about. It's probably about some fear that you have. So I help uncover that and then people feel like, oh, okay, we actually are way more aligned than we thought.
Now, years ago I was working in a design team in a big tech company and we had a designer that was whenever she would get work assigned, she was worrying about it and she was like, how do you get this done? It was like always a big thing. And folks started to become afraid to ask her to do stuff because it was always going to be a big situation.
And I went and I sat down with her and I said, Hey, like, you know, you're, a powerhouse of this work. You're always delivering everything you do. Turns out great. Like, but when we asked you to do something, there's so much resistance. I'd love to know, like what's going on? How can I better support you?
And she shared, you know, she was really worried that you know, she had something going on in the evening so she wouldn't be able to stay late. And she shared that she, you know, didn't always feel confident presenting a means there was all this other stuff that had nothing to do with getting the work assigned.
And when I talked to her about it, we were able to really prioritize, well, what had to get done? You [00:10:00] know, we didn't really need to introduce evening work. There was plenty of time during the day. We started practicing, you know, how is she going to present the information and meetings when she feels confident in front of executives.
And one of the other producers a couple of weeks later came to me and said, Hey, you know, how did you get through to her? Like she used to be every freaking out every time we had new work assigned. And now she's like, yeah, let's bring it on. And I said to him, well, I went and I talked to her. I asked her what was going on.
I didn't just throw stuff over the fence and then say, Oh, I hope she doesn't complain this time. And I think if there's one lesson that you can take away from this, a huge part of team whispering is listening to people is really being in tune and taking those few minutes to understand what is actually going on.
Why is there resistance? What is this fear about? What is the disconnect about? Have I made assumptions? And again, as a business owner, as a leader, you are moving so fast. The vision is like tattooed to your brain, but it's not always the case for our team members. And so again, that's why sort of figuring out, well, what is the right level of communication?[00:11:00]
How do I bring in that support where I need it so that I don't have to be managing all this communication because it can be a lot. And that's why this is one of my favorite ways to support clients is because you literally have someone. Okay. With my Team Whisperer monthly consulting, you have a Swiss army knife of all team management, ops, all that stuff, coaching, whatever in your back pocket where I can be deployed to help wherever you need.
So I do one on one coaching with team members. I do strategy sessions with business owners. I create SOPs and status reports and whatever, you know, I just say, okay, what is the exact thing this team needs at this moment? and then we work on that right away. So if you're feeling like, gosh, I really could use some support bridging this gap between myself and my team members.
Let me know. I mean, this is, something that can be game changing create results right away because the shifts are often so simple. I know I always say it's managing made simple, the things that are getting in the way they are often, you know, they're not that complicated. They might not be easy to solve.
They might take time, but they're simple shifts that need [00:12:00] to be made. That we need to do over and over again and, really getting a better rhythm around. But it's not like you have to rebuild your whole business or get a whole nother team or change your strategy. There's simple shifts and I really want to help you identify those to bring ease back into your business.
All right. See you next time.
