The Meta-Skilled Organization: Building the Capability to Evolve
Skills allow us to execute. Meta-skills like empathy, resilience, creativity, and self-awareness allow us to evolve.
As organizations and industries face increasingly rapid change and disruption, in which job descriptions are fluid and agility is essential, these meta-skills are increasingly at the heart of sustained success.
The ability to adapt is what makes us future-proof, and what separates individuals and teams that
endure from those who are replaced.
In this webinar, Third Factor CEO and author of The Power of Pressure,
Dane Jensen, will illustrate how the capability to evolve can be broken down into six core meta-skills and outline practical skills and strategies you can use to cultivate your own ability to adapt.
You’ll gain new insights into what’s really required for future-proofing yourself and your organization, and discover six core meta-skills across three categories that foster personal evolution.
You should attend if:
- You want to build your team or organization’s resilience to rapid change
- You’re responsible for change management at a project or organizational level
- You’re charged with building competencies of adaptability, flexibility, innovation, or problem solving
- You want to build your own capability to adapt to an uncertain future
The Meta-Skilled Organization
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This event has passed, but it won’t be the last. Be the first to know about future webinars from Third Factor by entering your information below.
About the presenter:
Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, the author of
The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn’t The Problem, It’s The Solution, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
How do you make a leadership development program stick at a time when there are so many competing priorities?
This is the problem Renee Landry, Bayer’s U.S. Learning Lead, and Rachel Lamb, Bayer’s Senior Leadership Expert, set out to solve. The solution was Rise & Thrive, an innovative microlearning experience developed in partnership with SweetRush and Third Factor.
Approximately half of Bayer’s US leaders voluntarily participated in the program, which has received outstanding quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants as well as attention from the broader learning industry. The program has also been recognized with four Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards.
Click here to read the case study.
We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded four Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards alongside our partners, Bayer and SweetRush.
The awards are a result of our participation in Bayer’s innovative Rise and Thrive program, a microlearning experience based on the idea that if you have two minutes, you have enough time to become a stronger, more empathetic, more inclusive leader. The experience comprises bite-sized content including short videos, curated articles, and 2-minute “dares.”
Rise and Thrive was pioneered by Bayer’s U.S. Learning Lead, Renee Landry, and Senior Leadership Expert, Rachel Lamb. The interactive experience was developed by e-learning development company SweetRush and supported with video and learning content by Third Factor.
Approximately half of Bayer’s 4,000 US leaders voluntarily participated in the program, which has received outstanding quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants as well as attention from the broader learning industry.
The awards include:
- Gold: Best Advance in Custom Content
- Gold: Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program
- Gold: Best Use of Video for Learning
- Silver: Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Program
Brandon Hall Group is a research and analyst firm with a mission to empower excellence in organizations around the world. The Excellence Awards recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have achieved measurable results. All of this year’s winners can be found on the Brandon Hall Group website. If you’ve read Dane Jensen’s book, The Power of Pressure, you may have enjoyed the title of Chapter 9: Sleep and Other Inconvenient Necessities.
Like it or not, downtime is essential for performance under pressure over the long haul. High performers prioritize sleep, nutrition, and breaks to stay fresh and energized. That’s why we’re always excited to share our summer reading list: there’s no better break than some time off over the summer with a good book.
Whether you want to learn something new or veg out with an easy read, you’ll find your perfect summer book on this list. Here’s what our team recommends for 2022.
Peggy Baumgartner, Chief Learning Officer
The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink
When people ask me what about my regrets in life, I always say I have none. Yet Daniel Pink's research points to regret bringing clarity, meaning and focus to all that is important to a person. My flip answer of ‘no regrets’ reflects my optimistic personality, and this summer I will get a little more curious about the value of digging a little deeper to see what I can learn. I would love to hear from others who explore this ‘new to me’ emotion.
Easily my most gifted book of the past year, Why We Sleep is a tour de force exploration of the nature, benefits, and challenges of sleep. The research Walker cites is profound and varied, and the way he presents it is engaging, accessible and actionable. Whether you are looking for the motivation to commit to more sleep or strategies to sleep longer or better, you’ll find it in here. Plus, as a bonus, it’s the only book I’ve read where the author actually encourages you to fall asleep while reading.
While it appears to be a book about finance, this book uses stories about people and money as a way of illustrating the real world dynamics of human behaviour. The content is entertaining, the writing clear and the insights well worth pondering.
While this book has Alzheimer’s prevention at its heart, it’s a powerful read for anyone who wants to “do good” for their brain to improve memory, prevent cognitive decline, and eliminate brain fog. Packed with tons of practical information backed by research, this is an easy-to-read perspective on how we help our most vulnerable organ (the brain) by digging deep into the fat, protein, carbs, sugars, vitamins, and minerals it needs to function optimally.
I borrowed this book from a friend around a decade ago and never gave it back, with good reason. Dr. Posen breaks down stress using simple stories, relevant information, and a few hard truths. The book is divided into 52 (mercifully short) chapters, each ending with a highly actionable "prescription" to help you convert the concepts into action and make small changes that add up to a much healthier relationship with life's demands.
Where the Crawdads Sing (Recommended by Reese’s Book Club and my Hockey Moms Book Club) is about Kya Clark, an isolated, abandoned “Marsh Girl” who is educated in the swamps of North Carolina living deep with nature. A coming-of-age novel that covers prejudice, friendship, solitude, desertion, and education, the narrative is as rich as the setting Owens describes. Make sure to read it before the motion picture comes out this summer.
My pick provides a fascinating look at how you can apply design thinking to your own life to create options, possibilities, and a mindset that allows you to craft a life well-lived. Haven’t been to design school? Don’t see yourself as a creative person? No problem. Get this book, grab a notepad, and be ready to think outside the box, because Bill and Dave will take you step by step through a series of exercises that will get you thinking like a designer to solve problems and mental blocks, brainstorm the “many lives” you could live productively and happily, then choose the one that speaks to you most. Happy summer reading!
This is a fun history book about film, music, sports, politics, culture, global events, and the momentum of the internet. If you are interested in reliving the nineties in an unconventional manner, this is a terrific read. Chuck Klosterman writes with engaging insight and humor that will evoke both memories and questions and explains things I wasn't able to explain for myself.
For those who love historical novels with a twist, this is a fabulous read. It is the story of a young, bright woman with a restless spirit who rebels against the mores of her time. Sue Monk is a daring woman herself as she introduces Jesus who meets up with this young woman when they are both older teenagers and marries her. It is a marriage of convenience that serves both well. The writing is grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’ life that focuses on his humanity. And it is an inspiring and unforgettable account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize her own potential in a dangerous time for women to speak up. More than that, it is just great story telling and good writing. I love learning about historical periods in this way. Enjoy.
Alexis Ullerick, Program Logistics Lead
The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey
My pick synthesizes the findings of the author’s year long project to become as productive as possible. Grounded in the concept that productivity comes from managing your time, attention, and energy, Bailey shares his year long journey of productivity experiments like getting up at 5:30 every morning, cutting out caffeine, becoming more intentional and deliberate in his work, and so many more. Each chapter includes a challenge to implement his insights into your own life. Chris Bailey’s writing is fun and witty! When I finished the book I felt like I’d gained a year’s worth of knowledge in just a few days, which already had me feeling pretty productive!
Many websites use affiliate links to make money when you buy something from Amazon – we don’t. Feel free to follow the links provided or pick up the book you want from your favourite local bookseller. Prior to now, hybrid working environments have never existed on a wide-scale basis. With few proven best practices to rely on, you need to work together with your team to create a new playbook for how to get the best out of the team and its individual members.
By necessity, this involves a lot of experimentation. To capture the lessons from these experiments, it will be essential that your people are willing to ask questions to gain clarity, share ideas on how to do things differently, and voice concerns when things aren’t on track. And this can only happen if your team members believe they are safe to do so.
Unfortunately, biology is not on your side. By default, people want to avoid looking ineffective or incapable to their leader. To foster psychological safety on your team, it’s not enough to encourage your people to speak up. You need to consistently demonstrate that it’s expected, appreciated, and rewarded.
Level the playing field
Like it or not, your people are hard-wired to view you as a threat. The amygdala, sometimes referred to as our “lizard brain,” is constantly scanning the environment for threats – and, according to Your Brain at Work author, Dr. David Rock, social threats like an imbalance of power are no exception. As much as you tell your people they can be honest with you, the amygdala will override the logical part of the brain until it has witnessed a pattern of behaviour consistently enough to convince it you’re not a threat.
“Telling people to speak their mind won’t yield any results if they haven’t seen a predictable pattern of behaviour from you that it’s safe to do so.”
In other words, telling people to speak their mind won’t yield any results if they haven’t seen a predictable pattern of behaviour from you that it’s safe to do so. You have to show them, over and over again, that the only thing that will result is a better work environment.
To sow the seeds of psychological safety, you need to set clear expectations with your team, ask for specific input on a regular basis, and practice responding positively – even when you don’t like what you hear, the timing is bad or the input is delivered in a way that triggers you.
Change the frame
People are unlikely to speak their mind when given a vague invitation for feedback. Consider the response you get when you ask someone “How are you?” Most of the time the reply is some version of “Busy but good.” or “Could be worse.”
Change the frame by explicitly stating that as the team adapts to a hybrid model, there will be much to learn and it is critical that everyone shares what is going on from their point of view. Emphasize that for the team to be successful, people need to speak up. Be clear that the expectation is that people will share ideas, ask questions, voice concerns, and admit mistakes.
“Be clear that the expectation is that people will share ideas, ask questions, challenge consensus, and admit mistakes.”
Walk the talk
After framing the expectation, reinforce it by consistently asking people for input. Instead of asking “any questions?”, which tends to garner nodding heads and silence, ask a variety of specific questions to surface where people are at.
- “Vikram, what do you see as the most challenging part of this?”
- “Alexis, you’ve been quiet, what are your thoughts on this approach?”
- “Jordan, how might this group support you in completing your task?”
Recognize the effort and impact
When people do voice their opinion, reinforce that behaviour by specifically describing what they’ve done right, illustrating the behaviour’s positive impact, and expressing appreciation for the effort. When it’s warranted, be sure to acknowledge the emotional component as well.
- “Natasha, asking for help kept the project on track and saved Peggy’s team from having to work late. Keep it up.”
- “Soheli, your idea led to a great discussion that got the whole team engaged. Keep them coming.”
- “Darren, it took a lot of courage to bring this to my attention and I really appreciate it. What can I do to help you move forward?”
Manage your outside voice
In some cases, encouraging this behaviour might be difficult. Suppose that you are just wrapping up a planning meeting at one of your in-person days in the office when Janelle excitedly suggests a new approach. Aside from the terrible timing, the idea itself raises huge red flags for you.
Internally you might be thinking “going that route would be a complete disaster!” But if your inside voice becomes your outside voice, you’ve just made the environment a little less safe for people to provide input.
To help you convey that input is welcome, even in moments when you’ve been triggered, a simple 3 step process can help.
- Pause: take a moment to breathe and ask yourself what the moment needs from you.
- Acknowledge: a simple thanks is often enough.
- Respond: in most cases you will need to get more clarity, provid clarity, or delay the matter and revisit later.
They’ll believe it when they see it
When people feel safe to share ideas, voice concerns, admit mistakes and ask questions, you have better access to the information you need to keep your team on a path to high performance. Foster psychological safety on your team by framing input as essential to success, asking for the input you need, and recognizing your people for doing the right thing.
Learn skills for leading in a hybrid world
Leaders who are able to leverage the advantages and mitigate the challenges of hybrid work will build high-performing teams at a time when engagement and commitment are at risk.
Learn practical skills for leading hybrid teams in our program, Leading in a Hybrid World.
How Leaders Enable High-Performing Hybrid Teams
The transition to a hybrid work model is replete with hazard and risk: Can our people adapt to yet another major change in the way we do business?
It also presents a unique opportunity to create new systems that work for companies and people – a culture of high performance in which people are truly committed. To capitalize on this opportunity, organizations need leaders who are motivated by a compelling vision of what’s possible and can adapt their skills to shape their environment.
In this webinar, Third Factor Principal Trainer,
Garry Watanabe, will uncover the opportunity present in the transition to hybrid work and showcase how leaders can get the most from it. The session will explore the challenges and advantages of hybrid work from a leader’s perspective, present an approach for building consensus and commitment in the face of novel problems, and introduce strategies to overcome some of hybrid work’s biggest challenges.
You’ll leave with an exciting vision for a high-performing hybrid culture, a clear understanding of your people leaders’ assets and challenges in a hybrid environment, and insight to how leadership competencies can be adapted for hybrid teams.
You should attend if:
- You’re responsible for maintaining employee engagement in the transition to a hybrid work environment
- You’re responsible for developing leadership competency for a hybrid model of work
- You’re a senior leader concerned about hybrid work’s impact on performance
- You want new ideas and practical tools for leading your own hybrid team
How Leaders Enable High-Performing Hybrid Teams
Sorry we missed you
This event has passed, but it won’t be the last. Be the first to know about future webinars from Third Factor by entering your information below.
About the presenter:
Garry Watanabe is a lawyer, an instructor at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, an inspirational speaker, and holds a Masters Degree in Sport Psychology. Whether he’s on the pool deck, in the classroom, or at the lectern, Garry is the consummate coach.
As in many sports, when navigating uncertainty it helps to “look where you want to go.” In his latest article for HBR, Third Factor CEO, Dane Jensen, outlines a process for imagining a plausible, positive version of the future and taking steps to actually get there.
Read the article at HBR.org.
3×4 Coaching
As supply chain issues and staffing challenges continue to hammer organizations, there are two critical moments that determine whether people will stay committed and rise to the challenge: The crisis of engagement, when people realize their path forward is harder than they thought it would be; and the crisis of meaning, the emotional low that makes them question whether to continue.
To stay committed and see the journey through, people need three things from their leader: clarity on what they’re supposed to be doing and why it matters; the skills and abilities to be confident in their job; and a sense that they’re seen and appreciated.
In this webinar, Third Factor Principal Trainer,
Garry Watanabe, will synthesize our 30 years of experience working with world-class coaches and reveal a simple framework to give leaders the mindset, skills and tools to keep people committed – and ultimately drive results.
You’ll leave inspired with fresh ideas for addressing problems caused by the “great resignation” and other pandemic-related disruption, and a clear image of how you can use coaching at all levels of your organization to fight burnout and keep people engaged.
You should attend if:
- You’re responsible for maintaining employee engagement and retention despite serious disruption
- You’re an L&D practitioner frustrated by other coaching programs that deliver poor results
- You’re a senior leader looking to drive performance without sacrificing a positive culture
- You want a new approach for getting commitment and results from the people you lead
Coaching in Critical Moments
Sorry we missed you
This event has passed, but it won’t be the last. Be the first to know about future webinars from Third Factor by entering your information below.
About the presenter:
Garry Watanabe is a lawyer, an instructor at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, an inspirational speaker, and holds a Masters Degree in Sport Psychology. Whether he’s on the pool deck, in the classroom, or at the lectern, Garry is the consummate coach.
