90 Seconds to Be Inspired

You have to be inspired to be inspiring. I reminded myself of this concept last week as I prepared for three offsites to take place over eight days. Each offsite had a different location, audience, and purpose, and I was feeling like my OG content was a little stale.

So, I went on a Youtube search for “energizing icebreakers” and stumbled upon Chad Littlefield’s channel. 30 minutes later, I had brand new team building content for each upcoming event, and an excitement to try out these new strategies!

If you have a team retreat, offsite, or even just a standard meeting you’re trying to inject some energy into, check out Chad’s channel. 

As day one of an offsite concluded yesterday, the CEO led the group through a powerful team building exercise to walk a day in the life of your colleague’s shoes. To do this, he divided the cross-functional group of leaders into small groups, each representing a department (i.e. R&D, Sales, Finance). If any leader ended up in the group that represented their actual department, they had to switch groups. Each group had a mission:

• Write down 3 things (as a department) you need to do for other teams

• Write 3 things other teams need to do for you (to help you be successful)

They had 30 minutes to complete the mission then come back together as a full group and share. What do you think happened?

They struggled!!! And through the struggle, empathy grew. Here are some quotes I jotted down from the discussion: 

“We could only get tactical and guess because we truly have no idea what’s on your plate.”

“We’ve worked together for 5 years and I’m ashamed at how little I know about your reality.”

Taking people out of their day to day context with an exercise like this is a powerful way to bring vulnerability and connection into your company

So, thanks to my new teacher Chad, I will now do one thing forever, in all of my opportunities to facilitate. Connection before Content. What a simple and powerful reminder.

90 Seconds to Learn a Little

Welcome to my lab! I’m writing this newsletter live as I try these experiments in the real world. Here are two I’ve tested and some early learnings…

1. Two Truths and a Lie Dream: Instead of over indexing on who is the best liar, we focus on deepening an understanding of what each individual is striving for. A powerful way to start a meeting, and one that can be done with a full group or in smaller breakout groups. Ask each person to write out two statements that are true and one that is a dream. All need to be written in the same tense. Give people some time to think & write, then take turns sharing. It’s incredible what you’ll learn about each other! (Also, a fun one to play with your families & friends during the holidays!)

2. Pick a Quote: ChatGPT is a tremendous help here. I asked it to “help me generate a list of 30 leadership quotes focused on collaboration and execution (two objectives for one offsite). Print out the list, cut out these babies, and spread them out on the table for participants to choose from when they arrive [virtual meeting - share a link to the document in the chat, ask people to cut from the doc and paste one into the chat to “claim” it] The screen can share the prompt, something like: 

As you arrive, choose a quote from the table that provides interesting framing on this gathering. 

Discuss your quotes with people you encounter. Why did you choose that particular quote? How does it relate?

As I ruffled through the quotes, this one caught my attention:

Learning is indispensable.

So, admit to yourself when you’re a little rusty, then see if ChatGPT can help you out. I got the chance to demonstrate vulnerability right away as I led a group through this exercise… A brave and amazing participant pointed out that “Joy - of the 30 quotes you gave us… only 3 of them came from women.” 

Shame on me. 

So, I went back to ChatGPT, smarter, and gave it a better prompt: “Give me a list of 30 quotes about leadership, collaboration, and execution that come from a balance of male and female perspectives”. 

The result? Not perfect. But a much, much better list. 

Another antidote to feeling rusty? Call a friend. Seek inspiration, find the learning, apply it. Then learn from each application and refine. I love this Masters of Scale bonus podcast episode where Reid Hoffman interviews Sir Richard Branson where they talk about applying this entrepreneurial mindset to everything we do. 

Connection takes a bit more intention these days, yes. But wow, is it worth it!

90 Seconds to Connect

Speaking of Connection... This week’s Time for Joy is all about connecting people + jobs. Let’s go!

Hiring for your People/HR team? It’s your lucky day. Two members of my inner circle are on the market. I have worked with these humans and can attest to their skillset and that they are all around gems. Here is a bit about them. Let me know if you want a direct introduction to one or both of these exceptionally talented individuals!

Job Seeker Friend A: [Name is being kept anonymous as this individual is quietly looking]

I’m currently a Senior Manager of Talent Programs for a tech company focused on developing and empowering our managers to drive impact and grow teams and individuals. My career has spanned Recruiting and People Operations, with the last several years being primarily dedicated to global program management across HR disciplines (Manager Development, Career Frameworks, People Analytics, Remote and Distributed Work, Employee Engagement). I am an expert in designing and delivering programmatic solutions aimed at both high performance and the employee experience, and believe both people and performance together drive company success. I am recognized for my authenticity, ability to make order from chaos, and speed with which I can learn about and develop a robust understanding of new content areas, challenges and opportunities, a skill that is key to my happiness at work. I work fully remote, but am open to hybrid depending on proximity to the office location. I would love to be a thought partner with you in exploring any new or particularly challenging bodies of work within my areas of expertise.

Job Seeker Friend B: Jen Purdom!

I’m Jen Purdom, a strategic and innovative HR executive with experience leading and building HRBP and Talent Management teams in large and small orgs. If I had to sum up my super power (and favorite part of working!), it would be building strong, trusted relationships cross-functionally to drive meaningful impact. I have experience and passion in building and scaling things in HR; including a shared service Employee Relations group for a 17k org, strategic talent dashboards and roadmaps for a 20k org, key pieces of HR infrastructure in a high-growth 600 person start-up, and leading talent review in every role I’ve had. I also have significant global and M&A experience as well as having served as a key part of three different Workday implementations and have led two full return-to-office efforts. 

My current role has been restructured and I am just beginning my search looking for the right opportunity. I’d love to be in a fast moving and transformative HR organization where HR has a strong seat at the table where I can roll up my sleeves and partner to enable business success. I’d love to connect with like-minded professionals, so feel free to reach out on Linked In. Also, isn’t Joy’s newsletter great?! Ps- ChatGPT did not write this, I did. :)

Help expand my inner circle!

My company, ScaleJOY, has delivered quality experiences to hundreds of clients and has grown solely by word of mouth referrals. Spread the joy by sharing this newsletter, or connect them directly to me for leadership development, coaching, or offsite facilitation. Thank you for your continued support!