Michael Janko MBCP, MBCI, ARM, CBCLA’s Post

🎡My lifelong journey includes visits to 50 states, 27 countries and 15 islands experiencing many languages and cultures. 📋Throughout the past four decades I’ve led or helped to successfully manage over 3,300 incidents, events, and crises, many quite significant in scope and impact. 👇These techniques have proven to be quite effective in influencing teams to through very extreme challenges: 🗝Take every opportunity to build relationships, gaining trust and confidence during every interaction. Practice the right competencies when engaging your teams (situational awareness, agility, collaboration, energize your teams, deliver results). Deliberately seek other viewpoints, show you will implement them and share credit for success. 🗝Know your organization well enough so that you can reach out to real decision makers who have operational authority. This allows you to avoid delays which can stall response and recovery and minimize business interruption. 🗝Know your audience so that you partner with the right workstreams and can put the right team members in the position to succeed. 🗝Have a plan to manage your top operational risks and novel risks. This allows you to address most high probability and high impact risks. 🗝Be ready to improvise, since not everything is executed per your plan. You can be all in on decisions and recognize they may need to be modified as the crisis evolves. 🗝Communicate quickly, effectively, internally, externally, in alternate ways and often. 🗝Take the lead when needed, evaluate other’s suggestion and feedback, then continue to guide the team to success (Lead, Follow & Guide the Way). 🏆The most important result from your influencing strategy is an effective outcome! 📚More effective operational resilience guidance here: https://lnkd.in/gEcWsFw3 #inluenceothers #teamsuccess #buildrelationships #practiceresilience

What happens when your organisation grows too quickly? This may be a nice problem to have but leading in such an environment can be very challenging. You can loose sight of your purpose, your quality of connection with colleagues can decline as more and more new members join, you forget what makes us (your organisation) special and you forget how you wanted to feel and how you wanted people to behave with one another. In short your organisation looses its identity. At the micro level rapid growth can result in the break down of trust, weak commitments and promises to each other, repeating and reworking of tasks, delayed decision making, unproductive meetings, a sense of distance and exclusion for some, unproductive meetings, over bearing oversight and self-serving silo working. If you feel you are heading down this path way or indeed you might be there already, the question is…. what can you do to counter this fortunate but destructive problem?

Is your organisation in turnaround mode? We’ve recently supported a client going through this process - where a new exec team came in and uncovered a load of performance and regulatory issues. We believe the critical element of driving successful culture change—or any transformational change—is to clearly break the transformation required into phases at the outset…. ….AND to articulate this vision and journey in a way that everyone else in the organisation can understand and engage with. Here’s what that looked like for our client: Phase 1: Investigation The immediate task was to understand the full scope of the challenges—performance issues, regulatory concerns and more. The focus was on digging deep, investigating thoroughly and uncovering all the issues plaguing the business. Communicating this phase clearly was crucial, as it explained why the organisation was in "investigation mode" and colleagues understood that this intense scrutiny was necessary to address the urgent problems. Phase 2: Curiosity and Collaboration Once the issues were identified, the next phase was about being curious and collaborative. Leaders began working more closely with colleagues to explore solutions. This phase was still hands-on but started to shift towards empowering teams to take ownership of the identified problems and develop solutions. It was about transitioning from crisis management to problem-solving and capacity-building. Phase 3: High-Performance In the final phase, the focus was on achieving high performance. With the major issues addressed, leaders supported colleagues to own the changes and lead the way forward. This phase involved stepping back and providing the necessary support for the business to thrive independently. Our phased approach not only drove effective internal communications but also supported the exec team to adapt their leadership style as the business’ needs change. It prevented the trap of remaining in crisis mode and built trust and understanding throughout the business. ------------------- Ready to transform your organisation’s culture? Drop me a DM #culturechange #employeeexperience

7 things nobody tells you about running an MSP: (1) 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀 Sometimes, the most crucial feedback is what you least want to hear. (2) 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 Comfort zones are the biggest threats to progress. (3) 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 True accountability can be uncomfortable, but it's essential for scaling your business. (4) 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲; 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. (5) 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 The right connections often mean the difference between stagnation and a breakthrough. (6) 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 A vibrant culture makes for a resilient strategy. (7) 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 The best leaders spend more time listening than speaking. Honest feedback can be a bitter pill to swallow but often, it's just what the doctor ordered. PS - One of the things my clients tell me they appreciate the most is that I help them see the hard truth. If you need a thought partner to help you see what you cannot see, DM me ‘coach’.

This is an important one: Are 1:1s Worth The Time? Long story short: They are, if they really help advancing the participants and don't erode into gossip. To me, one of the most important factors is, how to make the person, who the 1:1 is aimed for, better. Understand long term goals and how to achieve them. Track those and measure against. Hold management accountable if directions change constantly so goals cannot be reached, hold people accountable why goals cannot be reached. I really dislike status reports disguised as 1:1.

🎯 Mastering Strategic Thinking Under Pressure as an Executive 💼 Navigating high-pressure situations while maintaining strategic focus is crucial for executives. How can you enhance your decision-making in the heat of the moment? ❗Clarity is your best ally. Prioritize maintaining a clear head by taking a moment to step back and assess the situation objectively. This might mean taking a deep breath, stepping outside for a quick walk, or simply pausing to gather your thoughts. It's all about preventing reactive decisions and ensuring each choice aligns with your long-term strategic goals. 👥 Next, leverage your team’s insights. In urgent scenarios, two (or more) heads are better than one. Engage with your team quickly, gathering input from diverse perspectives. 🧠 High-pressure situations often require swift pivots and adaptability. Having a flexible mindset allows you to revise strategies as new information emerges, ensuring that your approach remains relevant and effective even as circumstances change. In summary, strategic thinking in high-pressure situations hinges on maintaining clarity, leveraging collective intelligence, and embracing adaptability. These steps can transform challenges into strategic opportunities. What strategies have you found effective in high-stress scenarios? Drop your thoughts and experiences below! Let’s discuss! 🗨️ #CareerTips #CareerGrowth #DecisionMaking #StrategicThinking #professionaldevelopment

🎯 Mastering Strategic Thinking Under Pressure as an Executive 💼 Navigating high-pressure situations while maintaining strategic focus is crucial for executives. How can you enhance your decision-making in the heat of the moment? ❗Clarity is your best ally. Prioritize maintaining a clear head by taking a moment to step back and assess the situation objectively. This might mean taking a deep breath, stepping outside for a quick walk, or simply pausing to gather your thoughts. It's all about preventing reactive decisions and ensuring each choice aligns with your long-term strategic goals. 👥 Next, leverage your team’s insights. In urgent scenarios, two (or more) heads are better than one. Engage with your team quickly, gathering input from diverse perspectives. 🧠 High-pressure situations often require swift pivots and adaptability. Having a flexible mindset allows you to revise strategies as new information emerges, ensuring that your approach remains relevant and effective even as circumstances change. In summary, strategic thinking in high-pressure situations hinges on maintaining clarity, leveraging collective intelligence, and embracing adaptability. These steps can transform challenges into strategic opportunities. What strategies have you found effective in high-stress scenarios? Drop your thoughts and experiences below! Let’s discuss! 🗨️ #CareerTips #CareerGrowth #DecisionMaking #StrategicThinking #professionaldevelopment

Achieving Success through Balance 🎯Essential Principles for Effective Operations. The key to successfully completing any task, whether in business or everyday life, lies in balance. This universal principle is crucial, as without it, any activity can become ineffective or even counterproductive. In the corporate world, numerous business processes are at play, each with varying levels of productivity. To stay on top of current processes without being overbearing, I adhere to the following core principles: 🧠Trust your experts! Regardless of your position, whether you oversee a directorate with hundreds of employees or a department with just a few dozen, never assume you know everything and avoid micromanaging; ⏳Keep meetings to 30 minutes! Even the most complex issues can and should be discussed within 30 minutes. If a meeting drags on for an hour or longer, it becomes extremely inefficient; ⛔Less daily planners or stand-ups! Usually, these are a waste of time. If you don't trust your experts and want to constantly monitor them, it's time to reassess your approach or team. Agree? #operations #projectmanagement #leading #balance #businessoperations #efficiency

Do you feel stuck in a situation of a disagreement or a conflict? In the dynamic landscape of corporate environments, conflicts and disagreements are common, particularly when collaborating with diverse stakeholders who harbor distinct goals and perspectives.   But when disagreements escalate into a full-blown conflict, it can hinder progress and impact business goals. So, how do we navigate these roadblocks while creating win-win situations?   Conflict resolution is an art that requires finesse and a commitment to finding mutually beneficial solutions. The process involves some strategic approaches to navigate conflicts adeptly.   So, here are my four-step roadmap:   1. Identify Interests: Before diving into solutions, identify the underlying interests of everyone involved. What truly motivates them? For instance, your team may seek additional resources for project scalability, accuracy, and business growth, while management aims to minimize costs and maximize efficiency in a challenging market.   2. Generate Options: Next, initiate a collaborative brainstorming session to generate viable solutions. Consider your team's proposal for a new resource and management's automation suggestion. Propose a compromise, such as dedicating a new resource to focus on automating processes, aligning with both short-term scaling needs and long-term process improvement goals.   3. Evaluate Options: Not all options are created equal. Carefully assess each one based on its feasibility, effectiveness, and alignment with everyone's interests. Suppose you compare the ROI of a new resource against the limitations of current automation and resource bandwidth for scaling with existing resources. This critical analysis ensures you choose the solution with the greatest impact.   4. Negotiate and Implement: Finally, engage in negotiations with stakeholders through effective communication, presenting a comprehensive deck and business case that addresses concerns. Gain approval for the selected solution—adding a new resource with a strategic focus on automating processes. Ensure a seamless implementation to achieve the desired outcomes.   Remember, a little strategic thinking goes a long way in creating a harmonious and productive work environment. #ConflictResolution #StrategicLeadership

🎯 Mastering Strategic Thinking Under Pressure as an Executive 💼 Navigating high-pressure situations while maintaining strategic focus is crucial for executives. How can you enhance your decision-making in the heat of the moment? ❗Clarity is your best ally. Prioritize maintaining a clear head by taking a moment to step back and assess the situation objectively. This might mean taking a deep breath, stepping outside for a quick walk, or simply pausing to gather your thoughts. It's all about preventing reactive decisions and ensuring each choice aligns with your long-term strategic goals. 👥 Next, leverage your team’s insights. In urgent scenarios, two (or more) heads are better than one. Engage with your team quickly, gathering input from diverse perspectives. 🧠 High-pressure situations often require swift pivots and adaptability. Having a flexible mindset allows you to revise strategies as new information emerges, ensuring that your approach remains relevant and effective even as circumstances change. In summary, strategic thinking in high-pressure situations hinges on maintaining clarity, leveraging collective intelligence, and embracing adaptability. These steps can transform challenges into strategic opportunities. What strategies have you found effective in high-stress scenarios? Drop your thoughts and experiences below! Let’s discuss! 🗨️ #CareerTips #CareerGrowth #DecisionMaking #StrategicThinking #professionaldevelopment