On this episode of Rhodes to Success, I interview Dr. Joanie Connell, an author, organizational consultant, and leadership coach who helps people achieve their highest potential. Joanie works with companies to develop and retain top talent and improve their success and happiness in their careers. She is also the author of Flying Without a Helicopter: How to Prepare Young People for Work and Life. During the show, Jessica and Joanie discuss helicopter parenting, generational differences in the workplace, what makes a great leader, how to help employees be resilient, and how to find a career that excites you.
Main Questions Asked:
- What are the pros and cons of helicopter parenting?
- Talk about millennial and generational challenges in the work place.
- Comment on how different generations figure out how to be happy in their career.
- Do you think the transition from employee to contractor jobs help people find a work/life balance?
- What does it take to be a successful leader?
- How do you teach employees to take on leadership roles?
- What can we do to help our employees be more resilient?
- How can people find a career that excites them?
Key Lessons Learned:
Helicopter Parents
- The choices you make as a parent are both good and bad, and it’s a matter of weighing up the pros and cons of different methods.
- Helicopter parenting is ‘hovering’ over the kids, watching everything they do, and doing things for them.
- The Lawnmower approach is paving the path ahead of the kids so they don’t make mistakes or fall down.
- The consequence of helicopter parenting is that the kids never learn how to do things on their own and make their own mistakes.
Generational Differences in the Work Place
- Millennials have different expectations and have been brought up where they have been protected and their self-esteem has been boosted.
- Baby boomers have a harder time working a flexible schedule and have the 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, 40 hour workweek ingrained in their belief system.
What Makes a Great Leader
- Being a good leader is all about being flexible and thinking about the individual needs of each worker.
- Leadership comes down to having a vision and bringing followers along.
- If you don’t have followers, then you’re not a leader.
- A great leader has people skills to interact, motivate, and inspire.
Helping Employees be Resilient
- When things go wrong, are you able to stay strong, positive, and bounce back?
- As managers, in order to help people build resilience, you have to let them fail. This is essentially the opposite of being a helicopter parent.
Finding a Career that Excites You
- Figuring out what makes you happy takes a lot of self-awareness.
- Ask yourself if it’s the content of the job, the environment, the company, having challenges, or helping people that makes you happy.
- Figure out what energizes you and lifts you up.
- What makes you happy doesn’t necessarily have to be in a different job; it can be in your current job.
- The question shouldn’t be, ‘what should I be doing?’ but rather, ‘what makes me happy?’
Subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio!
The music in today's episode was written by The Danger Os and produced by Nick Palmer. Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/thedangerosmakemusic
Links to Resources Mentioned
Slack
Flexible Work Solutions
