Best of Women Amplified | Juggling Team Engagement & Balance | T.A.G.Q.

This episode originally aired in June of 2023. We’re closing out the year by highlighting the best episodes of 2023. We hope you’re enjoying some much-needed down time!

The Women Amplified listener featured in this episode of “That’s a Good Question” is leading a remote business unit with ambitious goals, a steep climb ahead, and limited resources.

She’s struggling with the tricky juggling act of keeping her team engaged — while avoiding the balance and burnout conundrum — and without compromising her hands-off leadership style.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, our host Celeste Headlee and guest expert Brooke Bass of Liberty Mutual team up to help. Our listener will gain actionable tips and strategies to identify the right priorities to focus on, work “smarter” but not “harder,” and ultimately create a balance that allows her team to shine with autonomy and freedom.

Are you struggling with an issue at work — or at home? Submit your question here and we’ll try our best to help on an upcoming episode of “That’s A Good Question!”

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How to Be Taken Seriously | That’s a Good Question

PROBLEM: How do I manage being a young woman in a director level role? I find that it can be challenging in getting folks to take me seriously. I run a department of three offices with multiple full-time staff and oversee a critical area of compliance. While I don’t want to completely change how I engage with others, or how I present myself, I’d like to know if there are things I can do differently to minimize this issue.

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Age bias impacts employees at all stages in their career — and research shows that it’s hitting young workers just as much as their older counterparts. Many younger employees find it challenging to get others to take them seriously.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will explore strategies to boost your presence, increase your influence, and communicate with confidence. Learn how to garner the respect you deserve while remaining your authentic self.

Susan Poser

Susan Poser

Susan Poser brings more than 25 years of experience in a variety of roles from marketing, finance, value selling, operations and program management. As VP of Culture & Engagement for Oracle’s North America Infrastructure Sales, Susan is responsible for developing and executing employee lifecycle programs including hiring and onboarding, to career growth and employee experiences, with the end result being attraction, retention and loyalty for the 5,000 person organization. Susan is an executive sponsor for Oracle Women Leaders in San Diego and Oracle Professional Asian Leaders, globally. In addition, Susan serves as the Board Chair for Athena, a non-profit business league focused on advancing one million women leading in STEM by 2030.

Celeste Headlee

Celeste Headlee

Celeste Headlee is a communication and human nature expert, and an award-winning journalist. She is a professional speaker, and also the author of Speaking of Race: Why Everybody Needs to Talk About Racism—and How to Do It, Do Nothing, Heard Mentality, and We Need to Talk. In her twenty-year career in public radio, she has been the executive producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Radio, and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as cohost of the national morning news show The Takeaway from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Headlee’s TEDx talk sharing ten ways to have a better conversation has over twenty million total views to date. @CelesteHeadlee

Additional Resources

Photo credit: iStock/ Ponomariova_Maria

Navigating a Job Search and Career Transition | That’s a Good Question

Over the last several years, professionals have reprioritized what’s important and taken a different approach to their careers. But the process to figure out what’s right and how to make a strategic move can be daunting.

In this episode of That’s a Good Question, we help our listener navigate the transition from entrepreneur into a corporate career. Joining us to help is guest expert Leena Shah, global program leader of global drug development at Bristol Myers Squibb. Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will explore strategies to best approach a job search, identify the right role and ways to best communicate your value.

Walk away with clarity and be empowered to regain control so you can take a strategic approach for making your next move.

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Workplace Dynamics & the Generational Divide | That’s a Good Question

THE PROBLEM:

“I am the director of a non-profit where a significant portion of staff represents a younger generation. Workplace dynamics have been challenging for me as a leader, trying to manage employees who are not well-equipped with coping and resiliency skills. Additionally, there is a gap in their ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously and the stress that comes with busy times.

“This generation is great at setting boundaries and prioritizing their emotional well-being — which, to some extent, limits their reaching existing goals or setting stretch goals to grow the organization. While I come from a generation where hard work and long hours are par for the course, I do NOT place the same expectations on my staff and I am very cognizant of their needs and bandwidth. Over the last several years I have implemented improved compensation, benefits, and PTO. I am also very in tune to their commitment to social justice.

“Yet I basically live in constant fear that they are going to quit — because they are burned out, or offended by something said or done — and I will be back at square one. It is hard to reconcile the needs of the staff with the needs of the business and our big visions for growth. How do I manage these dynamics?”

THE SOLUTION:

Tune in to hear from our guest expert Rebecca Stone, senior vice president of customer solutions marketing and chief marketing officer of Cisco Meraki.

Together with Celeste, she’ll help our listener unpack some of what’s really going on, and find practical solutions — and perspective — that can help bridge the intergenerational management gap she’s facing.

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Juggling Team Engagement & Balance | That’s A Good Question

The Women Amplified listener featured in this episode of “That’s a Good Question” is leading a remote business unit with ambitious goals, a steep climb ahead, and limited resources.

She’s struggling with the tricky juggling act of keeping her team engaged — while avoiding the balance and burnout conundrum — and without compromising her hands-off leadership style.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, our host Celeste Headlee and guest expert Brooke Bass of Liberty Mutual team up to help. Our listener will gain actionable tips and strategies to identify the right priorities to focus on, work “smarter” but not “harder,” and ultimately create a balance that allows her team to shine with autonomy and freedom.

Are you struggling with an issue at work — or at home? Submit your question here and we’ll try our best to help on an upcoming episode of “That’s A Good Question!”

(more…)

Best of Women Amplified | How to Manage Your Boss | That’s a Good Question

We’re catching up on some rest this month, and we hope you are, too! We’ll be resurfacing some of our favorite recent episodes all month to provide an inspiring soundtrack to your R&R. We’ll be back with new speakers and new ideas in January!

People don’t leave companies, they leave managers. This means that your ability to develop a highly effective and respectful working relationship with your boss is key to your job satisfaction.

But what happens when your boss is a roadblock making it feel impossible to function and succeed as a team? In this episode of “That’s a Good Question,” our listener finally reached a tipping point after four years with a boss who struggles daily to manage the team, projects, emails, and meetings.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will offer tips and tricks for managing up, addressing personality differences that impact manager/staff relationships, and effective strategies for better working with your boss.

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Defeated and the Center of Workplace Gossip | That’s a Good Question

It is hard not to disconnect or hide your frustration when your co-worker lands the promotion you’ve been working towards — especially when you receive rave performance reviews and have gone above and beyond for years.

As if that isn’t hard enough, what happens when the team notices and all of a sudden you are the center of gossip?

Our listener featured in this episode of That’s a Good Question is managing emotions of defeat and disappointment, along with feeling unsupported as the team outcast. Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will offer communication and advocacy strategies to help our listener repair workplace relationships and better navigate the complexities of team dynamics and a toxic culture.

 

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Workload Overload | That’s a Good Question

Boundaries have been blurred as we navigate work in a hybrid world. Many of us feel a lack of control over our workload which spirals, throwing off the equilibrium in all aspects of life.

In this episode of That’s a Good Question, our listener is overextended at work, dealing with the new realities of a hybrid world, is the only person in the organization with the skill set needed to get the job done, and lacking compensation for her efforts.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will offer tips and tricks to manage workload overload and regain control. We will explore how to set better boundaries and ways to make adjustments to the emotional habits contributing to the situation.

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Making the Leap from Tactical Contributor to Strategic Leader | That’s a Good Question

Making the transition from being a tactical contributor to a strategic leader can be daunting, especially if you have limited experience managing others. So what do you do when you’ve proven yourself and want to take your career to the next level but others making the decisions don’t see it that way?

In this episode of That’s a Good Question, our listener finds herself in this very position. Between workload overload and feeling under-valued, unsupported, and frustrated she ultimately resigned to prioritize her self-preservation.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, Celeste and special guest Ellen Lee offer tips and tricks to help our listener navigate a job search and make the leap into leadership — or determine if her next leap is a career change all around.

 

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How to Manage Your Boss | That’s a Good Question

People don’t leave companies, they leave managers. This means that your ability to develop a highly effective and respectful working relationship with your boss is key to your job satisfaction.

But what happens when your boss is a roadblock making it feel impossible to function and succeed as a team? In this episode of “That’s a Good Question,” our listener finally reached a tipping point after four years with a boss who struggles daily to manage the team, projects, emails, and meetings.

Through active problem solving, practical advice and shared experiences, we will offer tips and tricks for managing up, addressing personality differences that impact manager/staff relationships, and effective strategies for better working with your boss.

 

 

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