Hello, everyone. Ross here from This Is Not What I Signed Up For, a survival guide podcast for the new or first time manager, having been promoted from a technical specialist or a solo contributor to leading people, which is a very different skill set. So we're here to teach you how to swim so that you don't sink after you've been thrown into this role. And today I am joined by Robin O 'Grady. Robin, it's great to have you with us. Welcome. Thank you, thank you. I am so excited to be Great, that's what I like to hear. Robin is an international speaker and wellness expert, and she's dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to achieve attainable wellness goals, leading to a sustainable workplace culture. Outside of her professional pursuits, Robin finds joy in dancing, group fitness, aerial arts, which we bonded on a bit, and just for fun doing handstands. I'm not quite there yet, I'm on the shoulder stand side. She's based in Calgary with her husband and two boys. So Robin, welcome. I like to jump straight into a bit of an icebreaker here. And I want to find out what is possibly the worst piece of advice you've received or the worst mistake you've made in terms of management. Yeah, that's an easy one for me to answer actually. Although, unfortunately, there are probably multitudes that I could talk about, but I'll give you one. My very first, I worked in hospitality for many, many years and I had a restaurant. So was the very first restaurant that was mine. They gave it to me, I was the manager and I was so excited. I was very young, I think I was 23 years old. And the mentor that I had at the time, said as soon as you go in make sure that you make a lot of changes so that you can assert your authority right from the get -go. Oof. Yeah, and so probably the worst piece of advice that I've ever been given and one that I would never reciprocate upon anybody else. Yeah, that's a challenging one. Cool. Well, I wonder if that brought in any conflict because today we're going to be talking about conflict and culture, both internally within the business and teams and things like that, but also externally in terms of customers and folks you're engaging with. So Robin, diving in, how does conflict manifest? within team members, within customers and things like that. What do you see happening? Yeah, I think that a large percentage of the time conflict manifests from a lack of communication or poor communication. I think that when we are unclear about what is expected of us or if there is no communication whatsoever about those things, it causes unsureity. causes sort this situation where people feel unsafe. And so I believe that the more communication that you can provide for your team members, clearly and directly, the better that they can go ahead and accomplish the job that you're asking of them. And I think the same thing happens with your customers. And so if we are not clear on our communication to and with our customers, again, it creates this sort awkward situations for them, it creates this space where they do not feel cared for or they do not feel safe in that environment. If someone feels safe in your presence, then conflict can't live Yeah, that's a very good point. you know, speaking from my own personal experience and things like how my brain can work sometimes, particularly if I'm stressed or something like that, if I'm not getting communication, I start spiraling into why am I not getting communication? What is it that I've done or what is wrong? Why is there no comes here? I'll spiral into situations that don't actually exist, but can be seen as a bit of a result that lack of communication. So very interesting that you say that. I think with customers as well, if you're not managing expectations, things like that, it can definitely kick in there. You know, with that in mind and the communication side, what are some of the things that people can do to address this? How do you dive into this and address it? Because it's a complex space and there's so many triggers that could be Yeah, and I think speaking to new managers, especially because that's sort of the topics that we're covering here, I believe that there is this idea sometimes from a manager perspective that the client or the customer or the staff person doesn't need to have all the information. And that's maybe true in some ways. There are certain things that are high level things that that person or that level of person within the company doesn't need to be aware but everything that they do have to manage, they should have the most information about those things that you can provide. The more direct that we can be and truthfully, the more honest that we can be, the better off that we are. And I think a lot of times we are not intentionally not giving them the information or even intentionally holding back. We just think it's not their business. And so, you know, instead of saying, These are all the things that you need to know to successfully complete your job. We sort of have this give and take that becomes much more take than give. And so we end up in a situation where stuff is, like you said, human beings are very imaginative. And so they're creating stories that don't exist all because they just don't have all the information. So the more that you can be direct and honest, with your members, team members or clients, the better off you're going to be. And I've never ever had a situation where directness hasn't served me really well in a management capacity. And I think sometimes we try to talk around or we go in circles and we're trying to sort of like figure out how to communicate. And so if you can just make sure that you're just being as direct as possible, this is what I need from you. This is why I need that from you. Thank you very much and let them go and do their job. That's the best case. And I think you've hit on such an important component there just in that last sentence that you said, is communicating that why you're doing something. It makes such a huge difference in that kind of explanation instead of just like do as I say kind of thing in the extreme. The why gets a bit of explanation. It gets a bit of engagement. It brings understanding. And that's really, really important there. Perhaps that's a good lead in to kind of the next space I wanted to ask you with. I with these kinds of conversations, with this communication, definitely comes culture. So how does culture come into this? How do you grow a culture to kind of do that? How do you manage And that's what I was going to say that why is what ties your team into having engagement in the business. They feel more connected to what is happening within the business because they understand that why. Dictatorships don't work. I've seen many, many companies get in a lot of trouble. because of that sort of a situation. And I was thinking about it because I also teach, you know, in the fitness realm, I teach classes. And so I have students in front of me all the time. Or when I'm presenting as a professional speaker, you have these people in front of you all the time. If you can give them the why in that situation as well, it creates a bond between you and them and the needs of the company. And so there's so much value there. So much value. I mean, I think what you're talking about there, Henson as well, know, there's culture within the team, within the company. There's also cultures individually and engagement individually. So how do you kind of, what's a good way of approaching that balancing act there or not even a balancing act, how do you facilitate that culture on these different levels that are in Yeah, I really take a lot of time to try to get to know the people that work for me. And so I think that one of the things that I've sort of been known for is in a director level, if you are, I don't know, the cleaner of the facility, I know your name and I know about you. I know who you are and you know me. I share about myself as well. So it's not a one way street, but in spaces where I am not the direct report, but maybe I'm the direct reports report, I still know you. And so I think that one -on -one connection is very valuable. Of course, there is a line between, you know, professionalism and personal relationships. And so finding that line is something that takes practice and time. And so you do figure that out. But you still have a good sense of who I am and I have a good sense of who you And one thing that I recommend to my mid -level management team members is that they do a SWOT analysis of every team member that they have and that they do that about every six months and sit down and just measure the strengths, the weaknesses, the opportunities of the team members that they have so that they can sort of get a little deeper into whether or not the positions and the roles that their team members are in. really do align with the strengths that those team members have. And that allows you to make shifts and changes that really create a space where everybody is doing the thing that they should be doing. Yeah, I think that that's something I bring up in my book as well, is that you've got to set those KPIs that make sense. starting to know the people and how it fits is a really, really good way of doing that. Robin, we're going to, I think, wrap up a little bit here and get our quick nuggets out there. What other, do you have any other advice or any tidbits that you want to leave our listeners with after today's chat? You know, if you want to know what's happening with your team, ask them. That would be the one thing that I would say. So just in that same realm of communication. If you want to know, ask them and then, and excuse a little bit of a vulgar language, but then shut up and listen to what they have to say. You don't need to solve a problem immediately. You can listen, take it in. That's so vital. And it's so hard to learn that sometimes because you just want to, you're listening to solve the problem instead of actually listening to what someone has to say. That's vital. And I think meeting with folks and getting to know them is great. I generally have a rule that I meet frequently with any teams that I'm with because I want to have that engagement and not be three months down the line where I have my next conversation with you, you did something wrong three months ago and no one told you or we could have improved this or that was really great because you forget in three months. I forget sometimes what I had for breakfast. Yeah. Great, Robin, thank you so much. Do you want to give a little shout out about what you're working on at the moment? What's exciting in your world Yeah, sure. I'm working as a consultant and as a professional speaker, and I'm really just out there helping managers and helping companies to solve these problems. That's what I would love to do. I love working with small to mid -level companies, and those that work with customer service are really sort of right in line with my specialty. Fantastic. And Robin's details will be in the bio of the podcast where you can find out some more information there. Robin, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been great. Love the conversation, love the approach on communications being that vital point around conflict. This has been great. Thank you so much for joining Thank you for having me. Wonderful. Have a good day further, and thank you very much to our listeners. Cheerio!