Hi there

Today marks the last episode of the From Gossip to Growth podcast.

I've made the difficult decision to discontinue the podcast as of 1 August 2024, to focus on my other podcast, Women of Faith in Leadership. I share more in the podcast episode itself.

• Come and listen to the Women of Faith in Leadership Podcast: https://www.womenoffaithinleadership.com
• Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rikawhelan
• Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@rikawhelan

Thanks for listening! Cheers!

In this episode, I discuss the 6 C's of workplace culture.

1. Communication
2. Collaboration
3. Clarity
4. Consistency
5. Camaraderie
6. Caring

Listen, as I give practical examples and tips on how you can manage and implement each of these 6 C's

Take our free Organisational Gap Analysis today and identify the gaps in your organisation and leadership when it comes to healthy work environments.

Click here to join the group: Leaders Breaking the Cycle of Workplace Gossip

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Creating a feedback culture is important because we want to create teams that fail forward, learn from their mistakes and then improve their performance due to feedback.

If your team gets defensive when you provide feedback, then you know you have a feedback problem. Let's get to work!

Here are 5 ways that you can create a feedback culture (listen to the episode for full details):

1. Foster Open Communication
2. Lead by Example
3. Provide Timely Feedback
4. Make it Constructive and Specific
5. Implement Feedback Tools

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“I never thought that the teachers would gossip more than the teenage students”

Meet Mike McQuillan:

Mike McQuillan moved from New York, USA to Lima, Peru to teach English as a foreign language.

Mike describes the last institute where he taught as a golden palace built on top of a toxic swamp. The systems worked, and the people were great, but the undercurrent of academic elitism and water cooler gossip undermined the teaching experience. He resigned in protest and now works full-time as a freelance public speaking coach.

We discuss:

➡ When he started noticing that gossip was such an issue in the education sector. ➡ Why the education sector is the worst in terms of gossip. ➡ Whether there are enough expectations to guide teachers’ behaviour? What can schools do about it? ➡ Whether Mike has ever worked in an environment that has been gossip-free? ➡ What can leaders do if they constantly have people coming to gossip about their teammates to the leader? ➡ The difference between ratting someone out and reporting misconduct. ➡ The biggest source of gossip these days... ➡ And so much more.

Listen now!

Connect with Mike

https://fit-presenter.com/about/

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What should you do when one of your employees are not actually the problem at work, but rather a fellow leader or even your line manager or 2-up?

In this episode, I'll discuss my first-hand experience of dealing with a situation like this with you and suggest some ways that you can go about solving this problem.

Being in a leadership role can be tough. We have multiple different challenges every single day and problems that we have to solve. We're also pushed out of our comfort zone often!

One of those uncomfortable situations, could be having a crucial or tough conversation with someone.

We often avoid having tough conversations because we don't know how the other person is going to react.

But their reaction is on them... it's not your responsibility. What you can control and what is your responsibility is your actions, your words and controlling your emotions.

1. Make an appointment to speak with this person

2. Prepare well, write down some key words or phrases that you can take with you (in case you freeze up)

3. Approach the person calmly, instead of going in guns blazing ready to defend and attack.

4. Address the issue as a collective issue, saying that you are concerned for the gossip culture and that other employees are worried as well.

5. If they get defensive, state the facts. Stick to the facts and do not take it personal. It's personal to them, not to you.

6. Follow up after the meeting

7. Get other leaders, line managers involved and committed to a gossip-free environment.

Mentioned in the Episode

John Maxwell - 360° Leadership (from Amazon)

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Download the show notes here

In this episode, I’ll be running you through Bruce Tuckman's 5 Stages of Team Development. Let’s see if you can identify which your team is in…

Why is it that some teams in your organisation get along so well and constantly meet their goals but others don’t?

A couple of years ago, it all clicked when I learnt about Bruce Tuckman’s 5 stages of team development model.

His theory is that every team go through 5 stages. The 5 phases are:

• Phase 1 - The Forming Phase
• Phase 2 - The Storming phase
• Phase 3 - The Norming phase
• Phase 4 - The Performing phase
• Phase 5 - The Adjourning phase

Listen as I discuss when each phase commences, the traits of teams in every phase and the leader's role in every phase

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Podcast announcement! Listen to the end for a special announcement!

Today, we have our first guest on the show - Brandon Gano!

Brandon is a visionary entrepreneur who turned frustration into a successful business, which he built, franchised, and later sold for a significant profit. Now, with his business partner and friend Sean Delaney, he's pioneering an unprecedented approach to educate and empower small business owners to achieve business growth like never before.

Listen as we discuss:

• Ways in which gossip can be detrimental to an organisation, a business or to a team
• What processes are or are not in place that allows gossip to fester
• His reason for not tackling gossip sooner
• The process of tackling gossip
• The frustration that gossip causes leaders
• Battling the perceptions of gossip
• The importance of leadership

Podcast: Harmonious at Lunch

• On Apple
• On Spotify

Website

Free Assessment to get Clarity into your business and Confidence in what you need to do next to grow.

CLICK HERE to access the website

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Welcome to Part 2 of our series 10 ways to build gossip-resilient teams. If you haven't, listen to episode 14, where we covered ways 1-5.

In this episode, we'll be covering ways 6-10.

6. Training and Education: Provide regular training to your team about growth mindset, the importance of a positive workplace culture, how to create a positive workplace culture and environment, team building opportunities

7. Conflict Resolution Skills: Implement strategies for resolving conflicts constructively, which can reduce the spread of gossip that often stems from misunderstandings or disputes. Things like having a key phrase to prompt the person that you’ll be speaking to them about a conflict now or asking to speak to them privately. Understanding why the conflict occurred (difference of opinion, goal or upbringing/culture/personality). Seeking support from a line manager, for example the line manager can coach the person prior to speaking to the other person about the conflict.

8. Encouraging Personal Responsibility/Accountability: Encouraging team members to take personal responsibility for their part in gossip and to actively work towards a more positive communication style. Encourage team not to get defensive, put their walls up, but rather to be truthful with themselves and their teammates.

9. Creating Support Systems: Create support systems within the team, like mentorship programs, peer support groups, or coaching, to help team members feel more connected and less inclined to engage in gossip, engage in conflict resolution. This will also reduce the fear of conflict and give employees more confidence.

10. Monitoring and Feedback: Monitor the workplace environment for signs of gossip and provide feedback or take corrective actions when necessary. Complete surveys, speak to team members, seek feedback from new and old employees, have regular check-ins.

Click here to join the group: Leaders Breaking the Cycle of Workplace Gossip

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