Through conference keynotes, team workshops, and virtual content, Galen transforms how teams and leaders approach and establish culture, and the way people communicate and treat each other at work. His portfolio of clients includes Microsoft, Safeway/Albertsons, and NASA.
His topics range from how to establish intentional team culture of high-level engagement & performance, skyrocket leadership ability, skillfully give & receive feedback, and apply the improv concept of “Yes, And” to improve communication & EQ, etc. He's a team culture and business skills junky.
Galen has more than 20 years in sales, marketing, and business leadership. He is also a world-class improviser, having performed and taught improv for many years, including touring with the cast from Whose Line Is It Anyway?
The majority of his content is for #CultureDrop, weekly 5 minute videos building skill sets and showing teams how to drive exceptional culture and how leaders and employees can be better to each other.
My boss refuses to fire an underperforming employee. She talks about him and complains how horrible he is but has said she will never fire him. I ended quitting.
How do you navigate the dual responsibility of ensuring that your team meets their goals (that have been placed on you) while also having a servant leader mentality?
Exactly as you described/asked:) I think you have to make it clear that you are there to do everything in your power to support them and be in their corner and give them everything they need, and also that the responsibilities that fall in their bucket are theirs to own and that they need to be highly accountable and reliable to do what they need to do. And be crystal clear about your expectations and what exceptional looks like from them 🤘
I recently started building my own business and I have a group of ‘peeps’ that are my unofficial executive members aka board of directors. I bounce ideas off these 5 mentors and mentally prepare myself for constructive criticism. It’s magical!
This is great in times of negative emotions, but if you are experiencing positive and loving emotions, then I say please show the emotion, don't hold back. Passion is awesome and showing passion breeds passion. Who wants a dull or matter of fact way of hearing "I love you" or "I want you"; it doesn't feel genuine without the emotion.
My company has been hiring new people and they are bringing in their buddies. I applied for a position and was rejected although I have the experience required and top performance ratings for the past few years. They hired one of their former colleague. Shocker.
Concise and ideal! I've gone through this like 3 times. All ended with termination. I'm in the middle of one now (just delivered the message you described) and we're about to find out if it's going to work. I told the leadership team, "we want to sleep at night, so we're going to give this our full support." It's feeling close to the expiration date, so our timeframe is 1 week. Do you have any advice for if/when the person shapes up for a month and then goes back to the same bad behavior? I've been asked, "so if I slip up ONCE are you going to fire me?" I recognize this as a bit of a manipulation, but it raises a good question. At what point then can I say it didn't work?
It's a really great question, and also I know that there are specifics and nuance about this situation that I can't possibly know so I'll do my best to answer taking that in mind. My short answer is actually yes. After the conversation has been had two or three times very specifically that if it doesn't stop they'll lose their job, then yes, they need to understand that if this happens again whether it's this week or a month from now that's the consequence. I think adding the clarity that this is a final warning about that specific thing, which means that we will not have two or three more conversations about this, and they need to understand that this specific thing cannot happen and if it does that is the result. I realize that the severity or context of that is different if it's I showed up five minutes late to work vs I was spreading gossip about people. My belief is that they need to understand that they have to take full responsibility that it's the last time this conversation is going to happen.
I agree. A manager came down kind of hard on me for my mistakes, and it really affected me. Some of us--especially with ASD--really need patience and delicacy
Love this advice, thank you. If someone is miserable at work yet not really breaking any "rules" how do you document that? Fyi I tried bringing to their attention that their negativity was impacting those around them, and I got a super defensive answer with no responsibility acknowledged or change made.
An excellent question and tough to answer in a quick comment but I'll do my best:) #1) The more specific you are in the feedback and documenting the better. Name the exact, specific behavior with crystal clarity. Can be tough because often it's very nuanced and because often problematic behavior/people can be subtle. It's helpful if you can tie back to company values or any wording that exists around culture. #2) This situation is precisely why it's important to have a clearly defined culture of behaviors that articulates exactly the ground rules of what is acceptable or not in terms of how people show up, treat other people, and approach their work. All the way down to how you receive and respond to feedback. Most organizations do not have this in place which is why these situations are so massively difficult to address. A sentence inside a document that says "We take responsibility for our words, behavior, attitudes, and how we impact others in order to create a positive, cohesive, healthy team environment." Makes situations like yours much easier to discuss and document when people act out of alignment with it. Clearly defined behaviors are the key to culture. It's the heart of my work.
YESSSSSSSSSSS Galen! Thank you for this super clear outline. Nailed it! Yes, this is a difficult situation, but being open, honest and communicating clearly is key.
Thank you for sharing this. I have been involved with the specific scenario of someone being let go and the org breathing a sigh of relief. While it was hard to see the person go, it was a benefit to the team.
Great thoughts about the number one most difficult conversation. I don't know why so many leaders avoid the truth. It really does not make it easier for anyone. Be truthful, be clear, be kind, be done. Thank you Galen.
This is a great video but I can't use it with my team due to the use of the word sh*t. Even with it bleeped out. The content is great but I need a clean version! Ugh.
I believe there's a difference between having these arguments in your head like all people do at times, and having intrusive arguments in your head. Mine are intrusive and debilitating. When you get one thought out, in a few seconds, it will happen again. The intrusive kind, you cannot stop and think I'm going wait till I see the person, or any other planned tactic to deal with this. The intrusive kind are totally different.
This does not work if the workplace allows the gossip monger carte blanche to violate company policies and engage in making debasing remarks about another coworker out of jealousy and insecurity. This is especially so if this person is a female who has won a Sexual Harassment Case with the company and is allowed to get away with these things and works the system to her advantage.
My chain of command is very micromanage-y. We have to obtain approval for EVERY. SINGLE. LITTLE. THING. AND then you have the customers who operate the same way.
The universe aligned on this one for me! I just had two strong willed team members come to me TODAY to voice frustrations regarding the other. I gave them both an opportunity to ‘vent’ to me and then said I would respond to both of them tomorrow. (A little cooling off period). Tomorrow I will utilize this skill set and work with them to create an approachable concept for them to attempt to resolve this grievance with each other first… the empowerment of self resolution!! I love it!! Thanks, Galen!
Absolutely love this! I have learned that I can only control my responses to a situation, not how the other person acts. I chose to treat people the way I like to be treated. Honesty and respect go a long way and providing feedback when needed is important.
I wish I could say I had never "punished" others at work. The phrase "Don't treat people based on who they are, treat other people based on who you are." is powerful. It just might be my new mantra! Thanks Galen!
