Are you burned out by today’s work realities? Are you looking for strategies and tactics to reduce burnout and enhance wellbeing? Are you ready to lead and live differently in order to have a more productive work life and a more fulfilled personal life?

Our special guest Becky Jacobs answers these and other questions about leadership, wellbeing and empowering high performing teams.

Becky Jacobs is the founder and Chief Engagement Officer of Simple Change, an organization dedicated to improving engagement and productivity by building healthy, high-performing teams. She has dedicated her career to the study and practice of personal and workplace productivity, successfully leading teams to greater efficiency, wellbeing and overall impact.

Becky spent more than twenty years in senior leadership roles at various multinational companies, including Bank of America, Red Hat and Rise Against Hunger. She graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in Business Management and completed her MBA at UNC Chapel Hill. 

Leadership Junkies Podcast is brought to you by Cardivera.com.


Show Notes

Episode highlights…

  • What is well being in the workplace and why it matters so much today
  • The concept of the juggling balls of life
  • The reality that we bring our whole selves to work and organizations must support the whole self
  • Wellness and cultures are not marketing bumper stickers in organizations
  • What do your organizational and leadership behaviors saying about your culture and values?
  • Are your behaviors expecting your people to choose between work and their family / relationships?
  • It’s essential to provide clarity for your people on distinguishing urgency
  • Don’t assess your culture unless you’re committed to making changes
  • The exhausting and burnout impact of remote working (and the truth that work more hours doesn’t make you more innovative or impactful)
  • Redefining and focusing on productivity versus hours worked
  • Beware leading people today (and having work expectations) based upon the way you were lead (and the work expectations on you) decades in the past
  • Are you paying your people for their time or for what they produce / create?
  • Leaders don’t have to solve everything (you only have to listen and empower your team in solving it)
  • The more you engage your employees in coming up with solutions and ideas, the more you’re going to empower them, retain them and enhance their performance
  • Ask your people what’s working, what’s not working and what they’d like to see different
  • Psychological safety at work is essential to get high quality feedback from your team
  • Strategies for measuring well being
  • Beware the cultural messages that work sucks (e.g. Thank God it’s Friday)
  • Millennials are generally more willing to speak up, provide feedback and ask for what they want (but will you listen and change?)
  • The impact of COVID on our teams and the different leadership it requires
  • Leadership requires balancing productivity and compassion
  • What messages are you giving your children about work and life?
  • Why pivoting emotionally and vulnerability are essential in leadership
  • Leaders must model wellbeing for their team
  • You can’t pour from an empty cup
  • Pick one simple change, make that normal and then pick another simple change

Resources:

Special Guest

Becky Jacobs

Founder and Chief Engagement Officer of Simple Change

Your Hosts

Jeff Nischwitz

Author, speaker, coach, consultant, and
Chief SHIFT Officer of Cardivera

Craig Mathews

Strategist, innovator, consultant, and
CEO of Cardivera