Welcome back to the Let’s Grow Leaders Frontline Festival. Our August Festival is all about communication. Thanks to Joy and Tom Guthrie of Vizwerx Group for the great pic and to all our contributors! Next month’s Festival is a special edition! See details below.

 Twenty-two Ways to Strengthen Peer Relationships

What one word would your co-workers use to describe you? Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited gives an A-to-Z list of positive character traits for work.  Follow Beth.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership says your peers can help you do a better job sooner. Here’s how to get the most from their experience. Follow Wally.

Michelle Cubas, CPCC, ACC, of Positive Potentials, LLC asks, “Where is the value in peer relationships?” Turns out, there’s quite a bit. Follow Michelle.

According to David Dye of Trailblaze, one of the most difficult leadership transitions you ever make is to move from being ‘one of the gang’ to leading that team. David shares practical tips to help you make this transition work and maintain your relationships.Follow David.

My film maker nephew, and LGL tribe member, Jared Herr with Steven Spielberg.

When I was a kid, there was no collaboration; it’s you with a camera bossing your friends around. But as an adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself. -Steven Spielberg

Chery Gegelman of Simply Understanding asks, “Do you take pride in speaking the truth but often struggle to speak it in a way that others will hear and receive your message?  A spoonful of sugar helps!”  Follow Chery.

John Hunter of Curious Cat Management Improvement advises that when you build a team-based culture the relationship between co-workers should nearly always be peer to peer (with exceptional cases where someone must take authority to make decisions that require reverting to the hierarchy on some specific decision). Follow John

Barbara Kimmel of Trust Across America shares that high trust organizations embrace collaboration which leads to higher productivity and profitability. Follow Barbara.

According to Terri Klass of Terri Klass Consulting, constructive work relationships can make or break a team’s success. To build meaningful connections with our peers, it is essential that we trust one another and cultivate an open line of communication. Follow Terri. 

Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships. – Stephen Covey

Melissa Lamson of Lamson Consulting  shares, “It may surprise you–as it did me–that there are still times when men have difficulty finding common ground with their female colleagues. Men and women both miss out on opportunities to build advantageous new connections in their industries. Here are ten tips to help men connect with female colleagues.” Follow Melissa

John Manning of Map Consulting reminds us that as leaders we have the power to make our direct reports feel good or bad about their performance.  So set a new goal to bring out the best in your people.  Follow John.  

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership explains why you need to pay attention to your peers, and offers 10 ways to get started. Follow Dan.

In the post, Why it is Imperative to Break Down Silos Now and Five Ways to Do It, Robyn McLeod of Thoughtful Leaders Blog shares that building trust, fostering collaboration, and being a role model lessens the friction points within your company and creates more productive alliances.  Follow Robyn.

Assumptions are the termites of relationships. – Henry Winkler

Scott Mabry of Soul to Work shares that leading in community is transformational. It moves our hearts and stimulates our minds. The paradigm of work and the organization changes. We become for each other, not just the firm or even the mission. Follow Scott.

Matt McWilliams of Matt McWilliams Consulting notes that the secret to getting more out of relationships is simple and yet so difficult to swallow. If you feel unfulfilled in any relationship, if you feel like you are not getting enough of out of it, then you are not putting enough into it. Follow Matt.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference asks, “Would your peers consider you in the category of ‘saint?’ Can any effective leaders be qualified as saintly? Here are a few virtues to pursue on the road to saintly leadership. Follow Jon.

Jonathan Moss of the Lead Change Group shares that clearly communicating the big picture and leading through change isn’t enough. Leaders have to figure out what behaviors need to change and change the situation that will lead to changing those behaviors. Follow Jonathan.

Michelle Pallas of MichellePallas.com has simple advice. Work on trust first.   Follow Michelle.

Our culture is all about shallow relationships. But that doesn’t mean we should stop looking each other in the eye and having deep conversations. – Francis Chan

Leadership Coach Julie Pierce (Empowered by Pierce) says leadership is lonely; therefore community is critical to our success.  Cultivating relationships with peers, coaches and 3am friends will make our leadership thrive. Follow Julie.

Alli Polin of Break the Frame  points out that if you’re second in command, it doesn’t make you a second fiddle. You have a peer relationship, both with the unique ability to lead the way forward in different ways.  Follow Alli.

It may sound silly, but you’ve got to remember to care deeply about the people you are training.  Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting, shares, “I remember to ‘love them’ which helps ground me in the truth that these are people coming with their own wisdom and experience. Follow Bill.

Dr. Artika Tyner of the Planting People. Growing Justice Institute  suggests that effective peer relationships begin with building a shared vision, supporting collective engagement, and promoting mutual respect. Follow Artika.

Call for Submissions

For October, we have a SPECIAL EDITION of the Frontline Festival. It’s about 7 Roles of an Exceptional Team Leader Submissions due October 9th. As this special edition coincides with the launch of my multi-media course Results That Last: 7 Roles Every Manager Must Master, I’m going to invite you to submit a post that relates to one of the 7 roles (you’ll actually see that almost anything you have will fit into one of the roles in the model.) The Special Edition will go live October 16th– and I’m hoping to make an extra ruckus.

The 7 Roles of an Exceptional Team Leader

Translator: Don’t motivate until you translate
Builder: To see more, be more
Connector: Trust them to trust you
Galvanizer: Help them taste the win
Accelerator: Burn the script
Backer: Detect, then protect
Ambassador: Polish the boundaries

You can read more about the 7 roles by clicking here.

And, if you can, I’d like you to think of a well-known leader that exemplifies the role you chose to include. (We’ll use this in a separate post on October 23rd again with links back to you, so there’s additional exposure). Please use this link for your submissions.