res·ig·na·tion

/ˌrezəɡˈnāSH(ə)n/

noun

1. an act of retiring or giving up a position.
   “he announced his resignation”
2. the acceptance of something undesirable but inevitable.
   “a shrug of resignation”

Join Jim and Jan in a unique episode as they share their latest thoughts about talent – acquisition, retention and meaning. We are seeing a huge reshuffle taking place, and Jim and Jan explore the reasons behind this seismic shift, and what it may mean for each generation of leaders. Listen in on what you can do today that will have an effect for years to come.

Key Takeaways

[5:30] Jan shares some of the biggest problems leaders are facing today.

[6:00] Leaders are just losing people. There’s a great resignation happening.

[9:45] Leaders are currently reacting instead of taking a step back and going through the framework of motivation and what really drives people.

[10:45] Leaders often blame themselves when things go wrong. It’s a very me-centric stance. Leaders need to remember it’s a two-way street.

[11:35] Jim uses the three-legged stool analogy on how leaders can best find balance.

[16:15] Everything you want in life, you’re faced with choice points. If you want one thing, it means taking time away from another equally important area of life (like spending time with family).

[21:00] Don’t paint yourself into a corner by lack of foresight. Think strategically. Think several moves ahead. You need to play a bit of chess when it comes to your longevity.

[22:15] With that being said, you don’t want to keep too many of your options open because it makes you lose focus and stops you from making a vital decision point.

[26:55] Gallup did a great study on what makes employees engaged. Six of the strategies presented cost nothing!

[30:00] People will move from company to company just to be with you. That’s the metric of good leadership.

[32:10] Be open to bad news. If you thought you were a great boss but “the pandemic made them leave,” think again. It might have just been the excuse your employees needed to leave.

[33:05] No one wants to feel like another cog in the machine. Jan offers ways to show how to care, really care, for your people.

[35:35] Some of Jan’s best bosses could call him up today and he’d do anything for them.

[38:40] Now is a perfect time for leaders to assess how they did during the crisis and how they’re doing now.

[38:50] Make sure that 40% of your workers are not looking for better opportunities.

[41:05] Listener challenge: Keep trying to keep things in balance and find those subtle cracks. Also, get better at building your self-awareness.

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Quotable Quotes

“What’s interesting about the great resignation is it’s an edge-case scenario. An edge-case scenario exposes cracks and flaws. We’re pressure-testing the system.” Share on X “The pandemic raised the level of anxiety and stress for a lot of people. Sometimes it’s not what you did as a leader, it’s the problems people are having in their life.” Share on X ‘Am I easy to follow?’ Share on X People want to feel like they are cared for as humans first – workers second. Share on X

Resources Mentioned

• Sponsored by: Darley.com.
• Gallup’s Q¹² Employee Engagement Survey
• Robert Cialdini
• Dale Carnegie