Lead with Lois Lois Jeffers

In today’s interlude episode, I’m sharing some key questions leaders should be asking themselves as employees return to the office after over a year of remote work. Especially in emerging hybrid models where employees can work in the office some days and work from home on others, there are important considerations that leaders must be cognizant of as they begin to design new policies and working arrangements.

Some key challenges to consider as employees return to the office are:


Visibility and advancement can be hampered by the “flexibility stigma.” Remember that employees who choose to come to the office to work are not necessarily more “engaged” or “committed” than employees who choose to work from home. What processes will you put in place during employee evaluations to ensure that remote workers aren’t overlooked for advancement opportunities?
What is the company culture you’re creating for both in-office and remote employees? Be intentional about creating opportunities for remote employees and employees who utilize hybrid-work arrangements to build connection and community
Make sure you’re designing inclusive meetings so they’re accessible to all. For example, deaf and hard of hearing employees might rely on lip reading to stay engaged in meetings, which is impossible to do if in-office employees are wearing masks. How can these meetings be more accessible?


Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and embrace leadership. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

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Today I’m continuing my interlude series on leading during times of crisis, especially a social justice crisis. I’m diving into something many leaders struggle with: how to talk to their team members during or after a racially motivated incident. This can be an extremely sensitive topic for team members, so I am walking you through steps you can take to connect authentically and openly with your team.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:


Set an extremely supportive tone at the beginning of any communication. Make it known that you are there to listen and remember to decenter yourself.
Don’t make assumptions about a person’s racial identity and don’t assume that all members of a group are processing the event or crisis in the same way.
When having a 1:1 conversation with a team member, remember to practice empathy. Don’t try to explain away or normalize their experience, just listen and hold space for them.


Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and how to improve your leadership skills. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

Connect with Lois!


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In today’s interlude episode, I am sharing my thoughts on how leaders can support their team members in underrepresented communities after external crises occur within these communities.

Leaders should acknowledge tragedies and events impacting these communities and have crucial conversations about how their teams and organizations can show allyship, but it's critical that leaders engage in reflection and inner work first, starting with these questions:


What is my motivation?
What is uncomfortable about this for me?
What do I need to learn and unlearn?

I break down what to consider when reflecting on these three questions and why it’s so important to do so before you start a conversation with your team.

Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and embrace leadership. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

Connect with Lois!


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If you follow me over on Instagram @leadwithlois, this audio might sound familiar! This past weekend I sat down outside and recorded my thoughts on how I’m making time to care for myself in the midst of tragic violence against Black and brown people and Asian Americans.

In your leadership journey, I encourage you to reflect on:


What do you do to process and navigate the violent tragedies in this country?
How might you help to stamp out systemic harm caused to marginalized communities?


Books mentioned:


All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols
Inward by Yung Pueblo


Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and embrace leadership. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

Connect with Lois!


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Book a Call

Today’s episode is a continuation of our Career Transition series! In this episode, I sat down with my good friend Yvonne Davenport-Perkins to dive into her career journey and explore how self-efficacy played a role in her transition from education to business administration to life coaching. This episode is full of incredible advice and insight from Yvonne on how she’s been motivated to drive change in her work, life, parenting, and everything in between.

Yvonne Davenport-Perkins is a life coach, consultant, New York City native, wife, homeschooler and mother of 3 young men. Her mission in life is to help others create a life they've always dreamed of while simultaneously establishing spaces where those lives are viable, regardless of background. With LifeCode, she works with clients to define success on their own terms and create a vision with actionable steps to that success. With LENS Diversity, she seeks to establish common ground for the difficult conversations across differences - in and out of the workplace. She has over 20 years’ experience in Business Administration and Project Management across the D&I, education, service and health & wellness industries.

Some of the key takeaways from this episode are:


Ask yourself: What are you waiting for? What would you do if you didn’t feel fear? If you’re wondering whether you should pursue your passion, be honest with yourself about what’s holding you back.
Embrace progress over perfection when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Don’t let perfection hold you back from starting.
When you hit a roadblock in a period of change or transition, feel your feelings. Resist the urge to shove your feelings down while you’re working towards the next level.
Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself!

Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and embrace leadership. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

Connect with Lois!


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This interview is kicking off a new series on the Lead with Lois Podcast all about career transitions. In this first interview, I sat down with my dear friend Kelli Doss, the Chief Talent & Equity Officer at iMentor, a non-profit that pairs high school students with professional mentors to increase their likelihood of enrolling in and graduating from college. Kelli shares how self-awareness and self-reflection helped her to transition from a legal career into the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion space. If you’ve ever had a feeling that the career you’re in right now just isn’t “it” for you, and need motivation to pivot, you don’t want to miss this episode.

Some of the key quotes and takeaways Kelli shares are:


“There’s passion, and there’s your job. And if you’re lucky, they intersect.” - Kelli Doss
Having a strong mission with no passion will keep you from being fulfilled in your job.
Being a strong leader means knowing when to lead and when to follow.


Lois Jeffers, Host of the Lead with Lois podcast, is a lawyer turned Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practitioner, and an Executive Leadership Coach. She knows what it’s like to make a major pivot in your career and embrace leadership. In the Lead with Lois podcast, Lois teaches you how to lead from within and take a multi-dimensional approach to leadership. If you are interested in revamping your career or developing inclusive leadership skills, Lois offers laser-focused executive coaching to get you there. Read more about her programs at https://www.loisjeffers.com and book a free Discovery Call with her today.

Connect with Lois!


Website
Instagram
LinkedIn
Book a Call