Manager’s Tea Break

What comes to mind when someone mentions personal branding?Do you immediately think about your LinkedIn feed, consultants and other annoying people pitching you their services?For many, the term “personal branding” is starting to morph into more of a negative connotation. As if conscientiously working to build your brand puts too much emphasis on the sales aspect.An insight from a recent leadership peer group discussion I was in last month, really started to change my mindset on this topic with the question:How would it be if instead of calling it personal branding, we called it your leadership shadow?Full blog available on Medium.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by Martino Pietropoli on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

A story about a bad example of feedback and how that taught me what not to do.Read the full blog.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by Jon Tyson on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

Having a good level of self-awareness can benefit you both personally, and in your career, in many ways such as: better communication, better decision-making skills, better leadership skills, higher levels of happiness, more confidence and better job satisfaction.Sounds great in principle, but how can you actually develop this feeling/ understanding?Full blog available here.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Self Awareness Vectors by VecteezyMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re slightly anxious about giving performance reviews as a new manager, the first thing to know is that it’s completely normal.Evaluating team members, delivering constructive feedback, and addressing areas for improvement can be daunting. The potential impact of your feedback can further elevate the pressure you put on yourself.Read the full blog article.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by Bethany Legg on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

I thoroughly believe that managers who work on honing their coaching skills earn one of the best tools to empower their teams.Read the full blog article.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

Why should we even bother to look into the motivational theories? My view — there’s food for thought in each one. There’s no perfectly correct theory to choose from. (I wish there was, that would make our lives as managers much easier!)So, in my view it’s worth taking a look at both some of the classic, and more recent, motivational theories to improve our base understanding of motivation. It’s interesting to see how different theories have evolved over time, and, for many of us, by the end of our careers there will likely be better research around to draw from.Full blog available here.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by Magnet.me on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

There are a lot of misconceptions about coaching. What is it? Why should organizations and managers care? And, what’s the first step to even start?Read the full blog article.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe

Asking open-ended questions is an aspect of active listening that builds on the skills of paraphrasing and allows the listener to gather more information. This skill can be really helpful in supporting team members.Full blog article available here.Credits:Read aloud by the author.Image credits:Photo by airfocus on UnsplashMusic credits:Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Music promoted by Copyright Free Music - Background Music For Videos. Get full access to Manager's Tea Break at nikkiparsons.substack.com/subscribe