Mylena Sutton, MPA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, Leadership Fanatic

This advice is NOT for people who do interviews live and on air. My podcast is almost two years old, and I'm (finally) getting better at reeling in conversations and avoiding long tangents. So, my first piece of advice would be to look within to see if the issue is you. My second piece of advice is to prep the guest ahead of time, but in two ways. On one hand, make sure you let them know why you want to interview them. This helps them focus and stay on track. Second, on the day of, plan at least 10 - 15 minutes of time for casual conversation before the interview to help them relax. Third, break the interview into segments and talk to your audience between the pieces. Share stories and info to help them use the content.

The more diverse your team is on every level, the more you should EXPECT conflict. Thus, the question should not be "if" they experience conflict, but "when". If you put a visual artist, an engineer, a sociologist, & an athlete on the same team, you would expect that they'd have different ways of approaching a problem. But before they get to approaching the problem, they'll have to learn to communicate effectively & believe each person on the team is capable of meaningfully contributing to the work. Then, add personal identities & cultural backgrounds. Of course, conflict will be afoot. As the leader of a diverse team, your skillset should include facilitation, communication, conflict management, emotional intelligence & coaching.

While neither crying nor spewing profanity is acceptable, you should deal with your emotions. Take the afternoon off, go for a walk, write in a journal, but feel the pain and get past your initial emotional reaction so that you can think clearly. It's important to own your part in the situation, identify other contributing factors, and determine the impact of your failure on the business, team, project, and your reputation. Then, determine if it's possible to repair the breach and communicate solutions to the parties that matter. For example, my solution to a professional failure was to acknowledge the situation and advise the client that I would not be sending an invoice. Then, forgive yourself. Next, and just as importantly, move on.

The only thing you can do is learn and adapt. On one hand, you should do your own assessment of what went wrong. On the other hand, if an entire HR strategy has failed, multiple individuals and teams participated in that failure and they must be part of the fix. Together, the assessment of the situation should take into consideration the failure, the fiscal and operational impact of the failure as well as its internal political consequences. Then, the work of creating a new strategy begins. As you begin this work anew, use the principles of change management to keep you from repeating the same errors, to get broader and continuous feedback, and communicate your progress.

First, be honest with yourself about whether you think there's been a triggering incident. If necessary, discuss the situation with a trusted confidante who knows the culture and your boss to make sure you're not allowing the power dynamic to cloud your perception. If you conclude that you've done something to trigger the behavior, address it using the Smart Trust approach whereby you own your behavior and its consequences as you discuss how it is affecting the present moment and, possibly, the future. Conversely, if you're uncertain about the cause of the situation, address it by explaining how you are interpreting the behavior. Be empathetic and offer to assist as you give them an opportunity to share/explain.

When people endure chronic stress, their ability to clearly see themselves and their situation suffers; therefore, I'd begin by working with the client on the following: 1. Whether the imbalance is a function of fear/imposter syndrome; 2. Whether they are effectively delegating and whether there are trust gaps with their team; 3. Identifying the places where they can lean into their support system, on and off the clock. 4. Determining the message that their behavior is sending to the people who report to them; and 5. Identifying the impact of prolonged stress on performance, mental acuity, and overall demeanor. If the issue was a short term one, I’d focus on helping them with coping mechanisms and setting critical boundaries.