Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Six Ways to Help a Fearful Boss

Q. Our manager is struggling and lacks the courage needed for making better and faster decisions. What can we do?

A. The uncertain times that many leaders and business owners face now, create more fear. Whether it’s a Board of Directors or team leaders, more people are avoiding discussions they need to have and tough decisions they need to make. If management sidesteps being accountable, employees see the lack of courage. The workplace becomes full of fear, and it erodes trust and stalls progress. 

If your manager or the business owner seems stuck or paralyzed and incapable of making forward thinking decisions, there are ways the employees can help. Consider several options. 

First, be the natural leader that your manager can’t be at this moment. Demonstrate the courage you want to see. Just step up delicately and respectfully. Take the initiative and talk about the tough issues and what you can all do to handle them. Courage can be contagious. Have positive, forward thinking conversations where you consider pro’s and con’s and various ways you can address them together. 

Second, when an issue or customer problem needs to be addressed, ask thoughtful, non-threatening questions. Use “we” language. “What’s the risk “we” need to consider? How can “we” address this together and move toward success?” United, anyone in the meeting is less threatened with moving forward. 

Third, when your leader is lacking confidence as everyone does at various times, privately talk to them. Sometimes a simple comment like, “These are challenging times, but I want you to know I’m here (Or we, the team) to support you, brainstorm ideas, or back you up.” It’s amazing how quickly their fear can rapidly dissipate when they feel support from others. 

Fourth, in an environment where people generally are collaborative, address the elephant in the room by saying, “It seems like we’re stuck” or “It seems like we’re not addressing our customers’ issues or our business issues with our usual commitment.” Then begin to break down the behaviors. Identify the fears that exist. There may 20 or 40 or 60 (fear of losing the business, fear of change, fear of the unknown, etc.). By naming them, you also diffuse them. The more you communicate, the more you can plan how to address them. Regular discussions about fear can then help you pivot to build more trust. Anticipate what you can do to address various scenarios. Make your tentative plans. When you adopt one plan, you can then modify it together as you learn. 

Fifth, create space and time for people to have hard conversations. Encourage open communication without criticism and judgment. It’s a powerful and healthy habit to experience and institute in any organization.

Sixth, acknowledge that during uncertain times, especially those outside of your control, that you will make decisions. Some will work; some won’t. But you’ll learn from all of them. Share widely what you are learning. Pivot from being stuck in your thinking and actions to being strategic. Help everyone to keep adapting toward the future. 

United the management and the employees can go through tough, uncertain times that are out of their control. But through deliberate conversation together, more creative options can be considered and chosen.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: What’s the Agenda You Need?

Q. In recent meetings, I noticed both our Board members and executives aren’t discussing the impending challenges that could impact our business. Why not?

A. Executives must identify and have the tough conversations about what can abruptly impact their business. Some may be aware of impending issues, and sometimes they are blind-sided. Or their organization is impacted with the unknown. Boards and teams have discussed plans and how to respond rapidly to crises. Others don’t anticipate and must scramble when faced off-guard. Others deny the catastrophe, and fear paralyzes them; they do little or nothing. There’s a full range of responses. Some executives have courage while others support each other and stay in denial. 

It is the Board’s job with the executive team to continually be aware of and discuss the priority issues the organization faces. Identifying all the major issues is essential; maybe there are ten to twenty issues. Then focus on a few that could be a threat to the survival of the business. Others will impact the company to a lesser degree. Key is also to see how the priorities are inter-related. 

Mindset. There are epic issues and some that seem out of your control. But whatever the issues, it’s necessary to discuss how to address them. 

Issues. Consider if your Board and leadership team have addressed cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitics, supply chain disruption, climate mitigation, employee engagement and retention, and many more. Have your teams created the policies, strategies, operational plans, and communication channels to address any or all of these in case of a crisis? 

Assessment. A continual assessment of impending threats (and opportunities) for your organization is crucial. Whether you’re a Board member or executive for a $100 million or multi-billion-dollar global operation, you are accountable for the system you guide and the results it delivers. 

Agenda and Decisions. Have you identified together the topics that must be on your agenda and the decisions that you must consider? Have you discussed the near and long-term viability of your organization and how any of the issues above impact the business?

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Which Way Do Leaders Lead?

Q. Our teams are floundering with anxiety. How can we help?

A. Leaders and their teams are facing some uncertain times. There are methods and conversations to have to ease the uncertainty and coalesce toward your goals. 

Part of the method to deal with any stress and uncertainty is to name it and discuss it together. Whether you spend 15 minutes, three hours, or a day, having substantial conversations is a deterrent to the unknown. Together, remember you know a lot, articulate your goals, creatively decide together how to achieve them, and make your plan. 

Discuss what fears and challenges you face. By talking about them, you may be surprised how you can calm them because you address obstacles together. 

A relevant exercise is also to brainstorm about the leadership skills you have and what you aspire to. What do you need? How can you develop it together? Support how you can build your knowledge together. Perhaps it’s reading and sharing an article that is relevant to your organization or industry. Perhaps it’s taking a class or attending a conference. The more knowledge you build, the easier it is to tackle tough problems. 

The key is not to shirk the responsibilities you share or to hide from reality. The faster you put issues out on the table, the faster you can decide what your solutions will be. 

It’s helpful to also remember that tough times don’t linger. There are ups and downs in life and work. The key is to remember your goals, listen and support each other, communicate often and effectively. Find joy everyday in your life and work.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: How to Achieve Your Goals

Q. Our company and our teams are struggling to achieve our goals and the results we need to be consistently profitable. What can we do?

A. When either individually, as a team or department, or as an organization you’re not achieving the goals you need to, it’s time to stop doing what you’ve been doing. It sounds like you’re mired in complexity and waste. Take a day or week to assess several key points. 

First, what is your aim? What are you trying to accomplish? Are you clear and does everyone understand it? How will everyone contribute to it? 

Second, identify who the customer is and what they need and want. How do you know? Have you talked to them? Have you observed them using your product and service? Have you been a customer for a day, to experience your customer service and technical support, and their access to you? 

Third, gather the people and ask, “How will we accomplish this goal?” Listen to the ideas. Try some of them (not all of them at once.) Make a plan. Continue to implement and continue to improve everything you’re doing. 

Fourth, measure your progress with a few key data points. When you’ve all done the work, measure your success. Discuss how to improve it. 

If you’re not accomplishing your goal, it’s also essential to discover what the barriers, waste, fears, and complexity is getting in the way of your success. Remove it. Focus and prioritize.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Is Your Leadership Relevant?

Q. What will our organization’s competitive edge be as we face this year’s challenges?

A. Every year leaders and their teams face ongoing as well as new issues that need to be identified and considered. There are external challenges such as economical, political, regulatory, financial, new trends, societal, new competitors, innovation and disruption, and technological. Internally companies face their ability to be creative and innovative and to engage and retain their employees in a healthy, productive workplace. They invest in their employees so that they serve their customers with almost unprecedented satisfaction. 

Where’s the competitive edge? Initially and repeatedly, the competitive edge lies with your products and services. But over time, the greatest competitive edge is human. It’s how you interact with your customers about your products and services. 

People can be resilient, strategic, tenacious, and quick! Those traits are fundamental to achieving a competitive edge. Being not only able to improve, but to innovate, transform, and create different products and services will find that new markets emerge. 

Surviving and thriving into the future means envisioning what’s possible and how new ideas can make a difference in the future. Innovators let go of the status quo and believe there are boundless unknown opportunities. 

Organizations that achieve a competitive edge maintain an obsessive connection with their customers. They also generate and implement ideas continually. Frequent, deep conversations about how the customer is using the products or services open doors to achieving unique differentiation and potentially new markets.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Plan, Don’t Panic!

Q. Despite the nation being in havoc with unknowns in politics, the economy, the stock market, AI and digital transformation, and more, we need to lead! What do we need to address and have on our radar?

A. Leaders serve two close “markets.” They serve their employees who serve their customers (and beyond, the community, industry and nation) the sustainable health of these two groups are your foundation for survival. 

Great leaders are investing in their employees, especially in challenging times. They develop the natural leadership in all staff, invest in training and professional development so the teams can upscale their contributions to improve the business. Communicating the values in words and actions also guide an organization if they face ethical dilemmas. 

Frequent interactive, two-way communication is imperative to tap in on the ideas for problem-solving, improving, and innovating. The more engaged and appreciated the employees feel, the higher the work satisfaction is and the lower the turnover rate is. 

Deepening customer experiences and exploring to know what customers want and need (starting with quality and the right speed) is the lifeblood of any organization. Do it well, do it bold, do it with respect. These are all fundamental traits for superior customer relationships. Success begins with the trust and relationships that are built. 

The ability of the company and staff to pivot, adapt, build sustainable processes and products, all become a business priority. Adapting to disruption in the economy and marketplace is why leaders need to navigate and be nimble.

Discovering, experimenting, and adopting cutting edge technology and becoming proficient with AI, data analysis (not paralysis), work models are tools that help organizations achieve a competitive edge.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Women Who Help Women

Q. There are more and more women’s conferences, support groups, and women aspiring into more executive and Board roles. The progress seems slow. Why?

A. For the women who have succeeded moving into the C-suite or onto Boards, how did they progress? Certainly, they worked hard. And has anyone helped them? 

As women of influence are periodically honored by the media and colleagues across the nation, we see women are recognized. But are they achieving more success in obtaining Board seats, moving into the C-suite, or making a difference? 

The relevant question to address today is, how are women helping women? Groups come together and network. But are they achieving progress and success in helping catapult other women and sometimes their friends into impactful, influential positions? 

There are two reflective questions. One is, “How often are you referring women you know to others for a position, a Board seat, a speaking engagement, or any place she could add value? How often are you being supportive? The second question is, “How committed are you to mentoring or influencing other women without expectation of anything in return?” 

Many men refer, sponsor, and guide women into new fulfilling career paths. While they still have more of the executive positions, many are committed to supporting women’s career growth.

The question is, how are women supporting other women’s career growth? Do they fight to pay them what they’re worth? Do they open new doors and invite them to important events or conferences to share their wisdom on panels? A question of reflection, how are you doing in actions?

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Stop Waste to Achieve More!

Q. Planning is underway for this year. How can we accelerate our decision-making and our results?

A. Management often plans what to do. But there are two parts that can be further optimized. One, a significant part of planning that many teams overlook is to determine what not to do. If there’s too much to accomplish, the results are minimal and don’t serve the customers sufficiently. Focusing on achieving a few issues well is more effective than diluting the problem-solving and achieving less. 

    Second, assess what the barriers to success are and remove them. Organizations are full of waste and complexity. When those are identified and reduced, success emerges, and revenues and profits can increase. 

    Focusing on the future accomplishments that matter and are tied to the customers make a difference. The results are not only financial, but also help create a workplace where the work, communication, ideas, and information flows smoothly, and the customers benefit. When customers are happy with the quality of products and services, they become your ambassadors for success.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: An Unbelievable Culture—It’s All About Leadership! (Copy) (Copy)

Q. Why is it that some organizations are so healthy and engaging while others are toxic and dysfunctional?

A. In the past few months (and many decades, too), I’ve observed and experienced a variety of organizational workplaces. Across all sectors from private companies to global corporations, education, healthcare, government, and non-profits, there are environments that are full of ideas, sharing and caring, high productivity, innovation, and unprecedented results. The other extreme is built on a foundation of chaos, busyness, stress, fear, arrogance, bullying, and a drive to succeed that can negatively impact success. Yet there are some dysfunctional workplaces that are also successful because people are driven to perform, and they do so to make a living.

There are the extreme work environments, but why do the differences occur? Recently my colleague and I visited a division of a very large media corporation, but this visit was like no other! From the warm hello when we walked in the door to the introduction with every staff member over several hours, we not only received a friendly greeting, but a warm, welcoming, engaging interaction! In more than 25 years of touring, assessing, and consulting, this was a rare experience.

Throughout the tour, I started pondering, what’s different here? How is this culture so incredibly warm? It’s not just a few people. It’s everyone. This high-stress and high energy work environment lived its common values.

At the core is leadership! Leaders who create a system where people not only identify their values together, but create the systems and processes to interview, hire and train for them have a foundation where people are one family. The team experiences support and collaboration under their high stress work (media reporting and breaking news.) Through the strain, they know they’re not alone. They can trust that everyone has each other’s back.

Leaders develop more leaders. No one needs to be arrogant or competitive because they are helping each other be the best they can be. Creating more teams and organizations across all sectors like this media corporation is a magical win-win in society. Let’s create it and help make a bigger difference and impact for the future.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: The Easy Competitive Edge Most Leaders Miss!

Q. What will our organization’s competitive edge be as we face this year’s challenges?

A. Every year leaders and their teams face ongoing as well as new issues that need to be identified and considered. There are external challenges such as economical, political, regulatory, financial, new trends, societal, new competitors, innovation and disruption, and technological. Internally companies face their ability to be creative and innovative and to engage and retain their employees in a healthy, productive workplace. They invest in their employees so that they serve their customers with almost unprecedented satisfaction. 

Where’s the competitive edge? Initially and repeatedly, the competitive edge lies with your products and services. But over time, the greatest competitive edge is human. It’s how you interact with your customers about your products and services. 

People can be resilient, strategic, tenacious, and quick! Those traits are fundamental to achieving a competitive edge. Being not only able to improve, but to innovate, transform, and create different products and services will find that new markets emerge. 

Surviving and thriving into the future means envisioning what’s possible and how new ideas can make a difference in the future. Innovators let go of the status quo and believe there are boundless unknown opportunities. 

Organizations that achieve a competitive edge maintain an obsessive connection with their customers. They also generate and implement ideas continually. Frequent, deep conversations about how the customer is using the products or services open doors to achieving unique differentiation and potentially new markets.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: How to Deal with Fear

Q. From our management to our front-line workers, we are fearful as post-election decisions unfold, and our business is struggling. How can we be resilient?

A. Fear erodes people, productivity, and profits. Both positional leaders and natural leaders (that’s you) need to address it. It’s essential that people come together. 

First, acknowledge that people are experiencing fear. Name together all the fears people have. Often the assumption is that there are six or seven fears. Once you being labeling them, you’ll discover that there may be 50 or 100. Being aware of them and naming them helps deal with them. 

Common fears are fear of change, the unknown, failure, making mistakes, speaking up, rejection or not being included, Loss (losing the job or business), and many more. Discuss what fears exist and how people are impacted. 

Anticipate the fears. If you don’t they can paralyze you and fester inside of you. Denial is not a healthy response to fear. Together you can acknowledge the fears that exist and make a plan to address them. Often having a discussion about fear will help it dissipate. 

Fear is an emotion. Some people have some fears while others don’t. People who are not fearful can help bring perspective to others. For example, some people fear change while others embrace it. Together people can alleviate some of the fear. 

Communication is a key component to reducing fear and building trust. Contemplate how to move forward and how to make a difference. Fear always exists (different kinds and to different degrees), but identify what you can control, and work together to problem solve and create a healthy environment around you.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Why Businesses Decline

Q. Our company is declining in sales and profits after being successful for decades. What’s happening?

A. Your competitive edge is waning, and there are probably multiple reasons why you’re experiencing those results. Basic causes for decline are that a business loses its innovative leadership thinking and its direction; customers don’t want to buy your products and services; and, the team isn’t providing an engaging customer experience.

To turn your decline around, leaders need to create a compelling vision and communicate it. A healthy, productive culture emerges when management invests in its team and develops individuals who can contribute and find joy in working together to serve customers. Eventually self-organizing teams are directly engaged with customers and anticipate and deliver the customers’ needs.

Continually improving and innovating means being in touch with customers and deeply understanding what’s most important to them. Does it mean delivering higher quality, faster service, responsiveness? That is the role of management. Understand the customers and what they want and need.

Organizations that struggle are generally first, out-of-touch with their customers. Secondly, they don’t have the systems, processes, or teamwork in place to deliver the customers’ needs. Third, leaders are focused on arbitrary numerical goals and bottom-line numbers rather than delivering quality products and services which produce better goals. That thinking needs to pivot, or the decline will continue

In addition, leaders need to rapidly decrease the complexity, waste, fear, and toxic behaviors in the organization to allow productivity and progress to flourish. A rapid transition can occur and save the organization, but it requires a quick assessment and rapid action to achieve success.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Leaders Develop Leaders

Q. Our company has promoted many people into supervisory or management positions in the past year because they excelled in their jobs. Some are excellent natural leaders, and some have become bossy, critical, judgmental and tyrants with their teams. How do we develop their leadership?

A. Everyone has natural leadership within them, but many people have never been taught to be a leader. They’ve seen or experienced poor management from parents, former managers, teachers or coaches, or television shows, etc. Great leaders are not judges or bullies. Executives and managers continually need to improve their own leadership. They do this with a coach, classes, conferences, books, etc. Learning never ends.

I recall a time when a Division Manager that I was consulting with asked me, “Marcia, how do I become a better leader?” He led an organization with 6000 people, and I led no one. Luckily, we had a three-hour exploratory conversation with numerous questions and reflections, and I was grateful I’d been intensely studying and reading about leadership with my mentor for several months. 

The role of a leader is to develop the people. That does not mean a leader tries to motivate or micromanage them! (common management beliefs or fads!) A leader’s role is to create the environment where people are self-motivated and can contribute! That’s where the power is! 

Great leaders question everything! They question beliefs and assumptions, the systems people work in, what resources are needed, what communication is needed, the way people work. Leaders are authentic and get people together often to engage, to ask for their feedback on what do we need to improve, everyday? 

Great leaders are great communicators. They communicate the aim and direction of the organization, and they give the teams the freedom to implement their ideas about how to achieve the aim. Leaders create a workplace where people get to know each other so they trust each other, collaborate, and problem solve together. They continually improve and create innovative products and services. Leaders appreciate employees, not through individual recognition ("Employee of the month", or making winners and losers), but by saying "Thank you," creating group/Town Hall meetings where people can share their successes. 

With a foundation of respect and transparency leaders show compassion, flexibility, and inclusion. They regularly ask, “How can I help you? What do you need to do your job better or faster?”

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Create Deep Connections for Productivity

Q. Our team is remote across multiple time zones. How can we get to know each other so we can be more productive?

A. Team leaders strategize with their team to develop a solid foundation for team

development and optimal communication. People need to get to know each other

and build trust to effectively and plan for efficient customer deliveries. The work

together means asking probing questions to continually improve and innovate.

Ideally team members gather in person regularly to experientially learn together,

problem solve, discuss issues, and brainstorm the future opportunities and

markets. Investing in time to get to know each other allows people to support

each other and be open to hear new ideas.

When people talk, they explore what they have in common. Whether it’s hobbies,

where they went to school, or favorite activities, they are eager to find

commonalities. Their interdependence develops.

Once a team meets in person, they can more easily bond and are open to

communicate via Zoom or other Platforms. A day of internal planning can

expedite the work they need to accomplish. Regular in-person meetings are self-

sustaining, and self-organizing teams emerge to accomplish customer challenges.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: How to stop bad behaviors at work

Q. We have a team environment where people criticize, blame and judge others. How can we improve this?

A. Dysfunctional behaviors where people (management and employees) criticize, blame and judge others is not healthy for the staff or for the business. 

Why and how do these workplace behaviors begin or persist?

When the organization or a team isn’t achieving the results it wants or what the customers need, there are fundamental root causes. It will take new knowledge that leaders and teams apply to improve this situation. 

If not, the team and organization will continue to struggle and decline (either slowly or fast) over time. 

A quick intervention is necessary. An organization or “team” full of poor behavior will only infiltrate more bad behaviors.

Clear communication and direction from leadership is necessary. Answer, “what are we trying to accomplish together?” Systems, processes, and healthy, respectful two-way communication are your foundation. People need to work in a healthy work environment. They are also responsible for communicating with respect, with asking good questions, and contributing ideas for accomplishing good work. 

Focus on learning and working well together, not judging, criticizing, or blaming others. 

If you’re not getting the results you want, look at your work process, your resources and training, and your communication. 

What do you need to improve together?

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Leader or bully? Some common poor leadership traits

Q. Our company has a diversity of managers, some great mentors and leaders and others who are dysfunctional and toxic. Why the difference, and what can we do?

A. People have beliefs and assumptions about how to manage and lead. Some have learned bad behaviors from previous managers. Others learned good behaviors. Some studied leadership fads and “best practices” that create a toxic work environment. Some are arrogant. Others continually study leadership and seek to improve their leadership. Some ask questions and don’t think they know it all.

There’s positional “leadership.” Some people with titles and positions assume they know how to lead. Few do. Others are great leaders!

What’s the difference? Some leaders create a beautiful, productive culture where people are self-motivated, can contribute ideas and problem solve together, feel valued and appreciated, and achieve great results. This culture has a foundation of trust, respect, and creates joy in work.

Poor positional leaders have these traits. They judge, criticize, and blame people for the system results that they don’t like (and they are accountable for creating the sub-optimal system;) they micromanage (example: they insist on being copied on all emails;) they don’t include people in decisions, but rather dictate and tell; they lead with fear. A bullying, toxic workplace emerges, and it becomes contagious. People stop communicating and collaborating; they withdraw. Eventually they resign.

Sometimes dysfunctional managers don’t realize they are really bullies. They have internal fears, low self-esteem, are inauthentic, and have no self-awareness. Their arrogance (and title) continues to evolve, and the gossip about them increases. But no one wants to work with them.

Leaders have a choice, to become better leaders or to stay stuck as poor managers. Great leaders continually assess themselves and seek outside feedback, focusing and asking, “How can I be a better leader?” Chances are, if you’re not asking that question, your dysfunctional behaviors are pretty robust, and your authentic leadership is low!

Choose your legacy. Will you be a bully, or micromanager, or a great leader?

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Are you developing leaders?

Q. How do we develop our new hires into our workplace?

A. Developing the natural leadership in your workplace is the fundamental task of the positional leaders. That starts with senior management being committed to their own continual learning. This includes self-awareness, self-development, skill development, improving communication and listening skills, asking pertinent questions, creating a culture where everyone can contribute to the aim of the organization.

Creating a learning culture will help a company achieve its competitive edge in the workplace and a collaborative team environment internally. With a mindset to serve each other inside the company and to serve customers in partnership with vendors, organizations can thrive and contribute toward a healthier society and economy.

That’s the foundation that only leaders can foster. To develop new hires (and all employees) means first, commit to continual education and training. Everyone is a natural leader, whether that leadership is deep inside an individual or it’s just below the surface. Positional leaders and managers develop others and teams. Create goals and bring people together to contribute how the work will be done. Make sure resources and training are provided. Does everyone understand the process and how to improve it to serve customers?

Developing people means developing their communication ability, process improvement knowledge, technical skills, team-building, tools and data collection and analysis, and much more. Develop an education plan. Make leadership development a significant part of it, and then add to it as the team flourishes. In time, you’ll develop self-organizing teams, and their contributions can be profound.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: “Crazy Busy” is Waste

Q. Work is busy, busy, busy – always! How do we get better control?

A. Most organizations experience between 50 to 80% waste and complexity. But people become accustomed to the “way we do things” and the “status quo,” so they accept the waste because they don’t even see it. Busyness is not productivity. Yet people will stay busy rather than make the changes and improvements that can significantly streamline their work. Busyness becomes a bad habit. What needs to happen to reduce the busyness?

When teams work well together, they focus on a few essential elements. The team defines what they need to accomplish. They define their customer and what their customer wants, but more importantly what the customer needs! It’s simple, really: define the work and do the work! Easy, right?

To reduce the busyness, draw a direct line from the work to the client. Remove all the steps that don’t add value. Remove the barriers to delivering a high-quality product or service. Look at the flow of communication, information, and the work. How can you accelerate the flow by removing steps that add no value to the customer?

Focus on what the customer wants! When they call, do they want to be on hold to make a reservation or get technical support? Remove the complexity. The teams that streamline their processes and the management that have effective systems that deliver, can survive and thrive. Others will struggle and fail.

If your teams are busy improving, innovating and creating a spectacular customer experience, the waste and complexity will decrease. It’s a never-ending and relevant goal.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: How can business owners make a difference to their customers?

Q. What is one thing that business owners can do to make a difference with customers?

A. Every business owner, CEO, president and executive should take 30 to 60 minutes a week and call their own company.

Experience if someone answers the phone; experience how long you’re on hold; experience if you get your questions answered; experience if your problem is solved — ever.

Many executives have no clue that they are leading a business that is so complex and full of waste, the customer cannot get their phone or email answered. Once the customer connects, executives should listen; then act.

Marcia's Leadership Q and As: Is it appropriate to discuss politics at work?

Q. As election day draws closer, my team members are sharing their opinions more about the issues as well as the candidates. Is it appropriate to discuss politics at work?

A. It depends on the culture and the work demands.

Some workplaces are very open to lively and robust discussions about almost any topic. For some, it is part of their work in a media, news or a political organization. Other workplaces discourage conversations on topics such as politics, religion, or other controversial issues.

Part of the question addresses:

• Are the people debating different points of view to explore others’ thinking to learn and share?

• Are people debating and trying to convince or strong-arm their co-workers to change their point of view?

Some cultures have a group of similar thinkers who welcome commiserating and build support among colleagues.

When there are opposite perspectives and people are not open to a respectful discussion about issues, but slide into disrespectful dialogue, it’s not appropriate to have those conversations at work (or anywhere). Employers want the work to get done and for employees to work well together. If there is tension or disrespect, that breaks down collaboration.

If people want to discuss politics, they can consider meeting after work or virtually on a Zoom meeting after the work day.

More people are engaging in discussions prior to this election than we’ve probably seen before. In the work environment, it’s probably best to keep healthy boundaries and take political discussions off-line. But do have them!