April Little

One way to respect your leader's time is to maximize your time together. This means creating a comprehensive 1:1 to include what they need to be made aware of, status updates, approvals etc. To take it a step further, start observing what they 'move on' from quickly and where they have questions. You can use this information to continuously improve the quality of your interactions by knowing when to be concise and when to add additional context.

Diligence + Initiative + Consistency=Excellence. While I don't believe you always need to bring a solution to your boss especially if you're not interested in moving up. However, if you do want to grow your career, I do believe you should always strive to bring 2-3 potential solutions for every problem, including what happens if 'you do nothing' to better help your leader help you calibrate the best option. This also means triple-checking your work to ensure you're delivering a high-quality product.

I recently presented at Ameri Health to 300+ Women. Before I created my presentation I conducted an audience analysis by reaching out to the leadership team to better understand the audience: who, what, when, where, and why. By understanding their needs, I was able to create tailored content they were able to resonate with - it was both timely and actionable. By taking this approach the talk was a major success because I was able to connect with everyone on a deeper level.

You don't need to agree with someone to understand and listen without judgment. During a non-advisement coaching session, I listen to my clients 80% of the discussion. During the 20% that I speak, I spend time mirroring what they've said in my own words to show that I was listening and to ensure they feel seen. As a result, I can prepare to ask them better questions to 'row the boat' forward.

When I managed a team of 14 recruiters they all had very different work styles. I met with each team member during our 1:1 and asked how they preferred to receive feedback. Surprisingly, they all said they were ok with direct feedback. As a leader, I decided to do two things. 1st: Reassess their needs periodically as ebbs and flows of the business brought more pressure = the need for more feedback. 2nd: I used my discernment; whether someone wanted DIRECT feedback or not, it can be harsh for anyone, "leading in" to the feedback was the approach I used depending on how critical the feedback was. This approach really created a lot of trust and respect in our team.

In addition to storytelling, audience analysis is key especially during a long presentation. Bring people in - have them to raise their hands if they resonate with something or poll them before you introduce a new concept depending on the poll you may spend more or less time depending on how much pre-existing knowledge they have on the subject matter.