The (Dis)Comfort Quotient: Building Elite Teams, Attracting Top Talent, and Handling The Uncomfortable At Work

Workplaces are full of interpersonal tension. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, every office or team features people who simply aren’t meant to get along. Organizations are composed of stringent hierarchies, they often rely upon and incentivize competition, and, let’s face it, working requires a level of forced decorum. So, it’s time that we stop ignoring the uncomfortable interpersonal challenges, conversations, and expectations these systems deliver, and instead face them head on.

Roberta Matuson’s prolific career started in one of the least comfortable ways imaginable–being thrown into executive leadership at the age of 24. Through a nearly 40-year career since being put “suddenly in charge,” Roberta has written 7 books, spanning the topics of leadership, attracting and keeping talent, and feedback and communication. She shares her insights on how the greatest leaders set themselves up for success, allowing the resources, people, and opportunities they need to flow naturally to them.

Join us as we discuss:

• How ignoring office politics can be more dangerous than playing the game
• Warning signs that employees may have a foot out the door
• Why striving to be a community member and thought leader is the strongest recruitment tool
• Why job descriptions should be results-centered rather than task-oriented
• How improving an employees’ performance through coaching requires full buy-in from them
• The frightening truth about what many employees would like to change about their boss (hint: it’s for their boss to leave)
  
  

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Episode Resources

• Roberta Matuson website
• Roberta Matuson LinkedIn
• getAbstract website
• getAbstract on LinkedIn

L&D In Action: Winning Strategies from Learning Leaders releases every other Tuesday, bringing you conversations from the best minds in Learning and Development.

Previous guests include: Simon Brown of Novartis, Ravin Jesuthasan of Mercer, Michael Lee Stallard of Connection Culture Group, Michelle Weise of Rise and Design and Dr. Nigel Paine of Learning Now TV.

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