Welcome to the New Manager Podcast. I'm your host, Kim Nickel. Hello and welcome. I'm glad you're here and I hope you're doing well. If you listen on Spotify then you might have noticed this short episode that I released a few days ago because it was video and if you're listening on Spotify then you can also see the video. If you listen to Apple Podcasts, and I believe that most of you do, then you will not have been
able to see the video. And the reason I'm sharing this is because I'm experimenting a bit more with how I produce the podcast, how I share my perspective and thoughts with you, and so I am interested in your feedback. If you watched the video, did that work for you? I know for some of you, you probably listen when you're driving or commuting and don't want to be looking at your screen. So I am curious and I am open to hearing what your experience was like.
You can either message me through the Spotify app or, you know, find me on LinkedIn, message me there or go to my website, kimnickel.com and let me know what you think, because things are going to continue to evolve and change. And that brings me to the topic I wanted to speak with you about today, which is thinking about your career in the context of ecosystem. And I'm thinking about this for
a few reasons. One is that when you are a manager, when you're in any kind of leadership role, I find it very useful to take the perspective of, you know, your work is to nurture the health and well-being of the ecosystem in which you're operating. So that includes both the people on your team that includes you as part of this ecosystem, right? Like it will be healthier and function better when you're also healthy and functioning and
being cared for. And also when you think about what is the ultimate goal of a healthy operating organization, whether you work in the public sector or the private sector, whether you do client facing work or whether you're focused more towards internal clients and supporting other departments. I find that when we look through the lens of how do these different forces relate to one another? What does it even mean to be
doing a good job? What is the indicator that we are doing good work and having good outcomes? I find that looking at that question through the lens of ecosystem and relationships is very helpful, both because it puts things into context both in terms of what are we measuring as a performance or success metric, but it also puts things into context when you're facing challenges or when things are
hard. Because sometimes what happens is you will face a very specific problem in your day that is actually the symptom of something bigger that can be harder to put your finger on. It's kind of like you know the the problem or the challenge that you might have with a specific person or with your team. It might be coming as a result of the processes that you're being, you know, required to use, or the limitations of the tools or the resources that you have to work with.
Or it might be indicative of some other professional, cultural something. You know, like I'm thinking, because I have a bit of a background in the legal profession, you know, sometimes we'd see different burnout situations happening or people in that profession making
mistakes. Not because they're not smart or not or or not well-intentioned, but because the way that the business is set up and the way that the professional culture is within the legal profession with billable hours and needing to be perfect. And, you know, it creates this very siloed kind of situation where people can mask the challenges that they're having in their mental, emotional and
physical health. And then what happens is, you know, you would get really good at masking until things reach a point now where you're seeing these errors or you're seeing like a like a bigger problem. And the problem is actually not just about this one person, but it actually points to something bigger and environmental. You know that that the the person is working within. And so when we're thinking about how am I trying to solve a problem, what is the problem I'm
trying to solve, right. We can look at the personal individual level. We can look at the environmental level. We can look at the processes, tools and resources available. And so for you as the manager and as the leader, I really see you in the role of how you know from where I'm sitting, how do I nurture the well-being and continued thriving of, you know of this organization. And it looks different when we look at it as just our team. Like is my team thriving? Are we hitting our goals?
Are we working well together? Are people getting burned out? Will I have to replace people because they get burned out and leave or because the environment is not conducive to people working well together. And what else becomes interesting is that we can also then consider, given the scope of the particular challenge that you're facing, sometimes it really helps to be able to name it as such. So we sometimes will face challenges that are more complex than an individual person can solve.
But there is relief in being able to name that because it allows people to then be in a different relationship with it. And instead of feeling, for example, like, oh, I must not be good enough, I'm not trying hard enough, you can actually say, oh, no, that's actually not what's happening here. What's happening is that we're currently understaffed. And so you're going to be overwhelmed and overworked.
And if you're not able to hit those targets, it's not because there's something wrong with you. It's because we're working now in an environment that has changed. And you know, and so here's how we want to try to address that, right. It just helps us to locate ourselves in relationship to the challenge in ways that can be more sustaining and less
draining. And I think this is also something that really comes into play when you think about your career like your career is bigger than the specific organization that you're in. And when we, you know you hear conversations about networking, oh, it's important to network. And what I want to say about that is I think it changes when you think in terms of you are part of an ecosystem.
And so you want to grow and have a very active and dynamic ecosystem of people that you know who know you whether you're job searching or not. Even within your organization, if you are so happy where you are, you love what you're doing, You don't have any plans to leave. It is still of great value to you and your organization for you to have an active, dynamic, connected network of people that you know both within the organization and also outside.
Whether that's other peers in that same industry who are working in different, you know, different organizations or whether they are people who work in adjacent industries or in different industries but are also in the world, right. And so have different and various perspectives.
You never know when it will be helpful to hear what someone else is working on, what they are seeing in the world, how they are thinking about their industry, about their work, being able to access that kind of diversity in your network by knowing different people. In my mind, that creates such a robust ecosystem, which can be very helpful for you in your work now, as well as if there comes a day when you decide that
you want to change. Whether you're thinking about going to another organization and already having conversations and ideas about, you know, what direction that might be. Or if you're in a position where you need to hire. Maybe your team is growing or something is changing in your organization. And they say, Oh my gosh, we really need someone who kind of understands this, but also this. And we're not really sure where to start.
And you might be the person who says, oh, within the ecosystem of people that I am a part of and that I am connected to, I actually know someone who meets both of those requirements. And I can reach out to them and ask for their advice or see if there's someone in their network who might be interested in this kind of role. Like, there are so many benefits that come from having an active, robust, A diverse ecosystem of networks and people that you know.
And again, like, even inside the organization that you're in, especially if you work in a really big, highly complex organization, it's helpful to know people in different parts of that organization, to understand what they do, what makes their job easier, what makes their job harder, what are the things that they care about. It is just helpful to understand more about how things work and to have that personal
relationship. It's a thing that I think we sometimes don't make time for, either because we feel awkward or uncomfortable reaching out for a conversation or we sometimes think, oh, that's what you do early in your career when you are first starting out, or oh, that's something that you're supposed to do only when you are job searching.
But no, I want to suggest this is something that can really support you in your career and be valuable even if you are happy and not planning to go anywhere. Simply building relationships, having conversations, learning about how other people are thinking about the industry or about their work or about, you know, what they're observing in in, you know, in the workspace. So do that right.
Like think about your network and if networking feels kind of transactional and not that warm like it kind of does for me, think about it as, you know, you're part of this ecosystem of people that work and you know, hopefully work well in what they're doing. And it's it's really helpful to have conversations and get to know what people are about. You'll want to do this in a way that makes it easy, that makes a light lift, both for you and for the person.
I'm a really big fan of virtual coffees. If it's somebody that maybe you don't know very well and I'll just reach out and say, hey, I would love to know more about what you're doing and what your work is and who you are. If you want to find time on my calendar, here's a link you can, you know, book a virtual coffee with me. It's 20 minutes, 25 minutes. And just invite people.
Depending on your organization, your industry, where you are in the world, you might make it not a virtual coffee, but you might say, hey, do you want to go grab a coffee and just make an easy invitation for someone to say yes? Because, you know, we also like being able to talk about what we're doing, what we're experiencing, our perspective. So it adds value to that person to bring that curiosity and that listening and then also to share your perspective.
Because now they also are starting to enhance and nurture their network. Like it happens at the exact same time, which I, which I really love. I love when things become easier and a little bit more sort of gently efficient. We live in a dynamic world. You work in a dynamic industry. Things are changing all the time. Sometimes we are in charge of that change, and sometimes we're simply doing our best to respond to changes that we did not choose.
But either way, if the idea is that you will be a healthy, happy person, that you will enjoy your work maybe a little bit better than you did yesterday, then tending to this ecosystem of your career and of the organization and the environment that you work in will become a part of that. So that is what I wanted to share with you today. I really do hope you have a better day at work because of listening to this show. That's why I show up here for
you. If you have questions, comments, you can either leave a note in the Spotify app or find me on LinkedIn, message me through my website kimnickel.com and if you want to work with me one-on-one, then book some time on my calendar and let's talk about it. You'll find the link in my show notes or go to my website kimnickel.com. And last note is that in a couple of weeks I'm hosting another career conversation with my friend Wendy. She's an amazing career coach
with a lot of expertise in tech. We will be talking about career pivots and side hustles, so if that's something you want to learn more about, I hope you're going to be able to join us. It's going to be great. All right, that's it for me today. Have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you next time. When you're more effective at work, you're happier in your life. And when you're happier in your life, you're more effective at work.
I can help. Go to my website, kimnickel.com and sign up for a coaching consult. It can get better.