Episode 24 - Leslie O’Connell - Empowering Greatness in Others

Season 2 Finale  

After 17 years at the same company, Leslie found herself looking for a new path, she is now the Founder and Principal of Team OC3, LLC where she is an executive coach working with C-suite executives and senior leaders. She is also an author, blogger and so much more. This was an amazing conversation with a brilliant, strong woman dedicated to empowering greatness in others.  

 

Leighann Lovely  00:19

If you are an HR professional, business owner or at the operations level trying to understand what people want. You may be struggling; our systems have been shocked practices have been questioned and culture is the leading conversation. Let's learn how culture is created, sustained, and why it should be the leading conversation when discussing hiring, training and retention. This is the foundation of any business and it's time to address it. So tune in to Let's Talk HR Humanizing the Conversation. We tackle topics that influencers of change need to understand and struggle to overcome every day, such as where to start, and what the new workforce wants and how to attract and keep positive momentum going. I'm your host Leighann Lovely.

 

Leighann Lovely  01:08

Leslie O'Connell ignites the purpose, potential and performance of leaders and teams. As founder and principal of Team OC three. Leslie is an executive coach, communications counselor, and catalyst. She works with C suite executives, senior leaders and rising leaders of progressive midsize and growing organizations to envision the culture they want to create, adapt and innovate through nonstop change and empower greatness in their people. Leslie coaches leaders to grow their emotional intelligence, amplify their competence, and break through barriers that are holding them back. Leslie built a successful career as a senior Corporate Communications leader for Fortune 100 companies and a large global agency leading teams as large as 45. In addition to executive coaching, Leslie is an author, blogger, workshop facilitator, and speaker on leadership and professional branding. Beyond work, Leslie thrives on power walks, working out yoga, volunteering, to fight food insecurities, and to adapt the arts and planning her family's next travel adventure. This is going to be an amazing, fun conversation, and I'm looking forward to it.

 

Leighann Lovely  02:33

Welcome Leslie, I'm so excited to have you join me today.

 

Leslie O'Connell  02:37

Oh, it's just a pleasure to be with you, Leighann.

 

Leighann Lovely  02:40

So why don't you start off by telling me a little bit about yourself?

 

Leslie O'Connell  02:45

Sure. Well, I think of myself as a believer in best days at work and creating more best days at work for leaders for employees, for teams for companies. And what that means is both the experience of day to day work and the performance, the potential the purpose of organizations. I'm an executive coach and communications consultant. Today, I run my own firm called Team OC three. And I also work with a firm called Cavendish Vernal as an executive coach and consultant. However, my career has spanned more than 25 years as an executive communications leader in Fortune 100 organizations also with a large global agency. And I've led teams from a few people, to as many as 45. So I've been where leaders have been, and I bring that perspective to what I do.

 

Leighann Lovely  03:51

That's, awesome. And I love that you start off by saying, How did you say that, bringing best days, every day.

 

Leslie O'Connell  04:00

I believe there are more, there can be more best days at work, because when it comes down to it, you know, we all want to be productive at work. But we want to feel good about what we do. And you know, when we go home and talk to our partner or kids or dog, you know, we want to say hey, you know, I feel good that you know I did this today or we did that today or that this week we delivered that.

 

Leighann Lovely  04:27

What is that? You know, oh, it's it's Monday, you know, I It drives me crazy. Like what is it like the case of the Mondays? It drives me crazy when people say that, because I've never experienced that. I look forward to Mondays like I love my job. I love my I love what I do for a living. And I always wondered when people were like, God, Monday's coming work is coming and I'm like, Wait, do you not like what you do and if you don't know Why? Why aren't you changing it? Right?

 

Leslie O'Connell  05:04

Yeah, we have choice for sure. And I know what you mean, I have a former coworker who you know, had like the Sunday sads, you know, it would get to be five o'clock on a Sunday night. And he would, you know, sort of like, go into this slump of, you know, the work week is ahead, and you know, that would only then the work, the week would get better as it went on. But truly, if we are living into our strengths, living into our talents, if we're in an environment where we can grow and thrive, our workweek should be, you know, really good. And, you know, sure we have life outside of work, but it's a part of who we are. And let's make the best of it.

 

Leighann Lovely  05:48

Well, we spend how much time at work, right? And you would, you would think that people would thrive to try to have a second family at, you know, where they work. And I just, I don't understand the people who go to work and are miserable, because you spend 40 hours,

 

Leslie O'Connell  06:09

plus, or more, right? With the 60,

 

Leighann Lovely  06:13

right, doing that job with those individuals that you're doing it with, if you're in an office, or if you're not, on teams, meetings, Zoom meetings, on one way or another, interacting with these people. And if you don't like them, it's going to be a miserable 40 plus hours every week that you're spending.

 

Leslie O'Connell  06:33

Absolutely. And you know, a lot of that, to me comes from the tone that is set for a company and organization, the tone that is set from the top, the environment that leaders at the top want to create. But it also becomes very personal. And you know how employees in a team interact, how their leader sets a tone and sets a direction for the team to?

 

Leighann Lovely  07:04

Yeah, very interesting. So you're out on your own. You have your business owner, team, OC three. So when did you decide, you know, hey, I'm going to do this, I'm going to take the entrepreneurial leap. And I'm going to go out on my own. Was there a defining moment for you that but you knew or was it the progression of? Yeah, this is, this is going to work? I'm going to kind of dip my toe and what? How did that evolve?

 

Leslie O'Connell  07:39

Yeah, so at the end of 2019, my role was eliminated at the company that I worked for, for 17 years as a vice president. And for the first time in my career, since college, I had no place to go on Monday morning, that first Monday in January. And that was a big a big hit for sure. Because I love what I do. And I love work. I thrive on the community and the connection, the people and the impact that we all create at work. And so for me, it was a journey, there wasn't a moment that it was like, gosh, now I'm going to go and start my own business. I had worked for large companies for close to 30 years. And that was my second home. And so for me that first year became a year of reimagination. It was a year of exploring, discovering, I really committed myself to networking, getting acquainted with a new and broader circle of people. And those people were so instrumental for me in helping me recognize talents that I didn't fully appreciate in myself, and in how I could parlay those talents in a different way than I had in the past. I was also at a point in my career where I felt like I had accomplished really most of what I had wanted to accomplish in the corporate world, and yet, I didn't quite know how to open that next door. So that journey of reimagination took me to an international coaching program. I earned my ACC my associate certified coach credential through the international coaching Federation. I started on a coaching path with an organization and just kind of opened windows open doors along the way and so about a year and a half ago in early 20 21 I said why not. And this was based on the encouragement of friends, colleagues, others who had gone this path before me, and launched my own LLC, through networking started to build that core of clients. And it's just grown and unfolded from there. And there is no turning back. Leann it is the place that I am meant to be.

 

Leighann Lovely  10:30

That's amazing. That's, that's awesome. So it was kind of an organic growth. With intent.

 

Leslie O'Connell  10:39

That's a great way to put it organic with intent, it was sort of informed hunch midship to use a phrase that one of my bosses has used over the years is that you gather data, you gather information, you equip yourself, and then it becomes more clear where that path is leading.

 

Leighann Lovely  11:02

Yeah, yeah, it's like, walking in the dark towards the light. And the closer you get to the light, eventually, it becomes clear as to where you're going. Absolutely. That's, that's absolutely amazing. And, you know, I think that all of us have had those pivotal moments in our lives where we're, we're kind of in the dark as to Okay, where do we go from here. And I think that the worlds collectively together, just experienced in a kind of something similar to that we, you know, the pandemic hit, and we all went, Okay, this will be over in a couple of weeks. And then when a couple of weeks went by, during two months, and we're all kind of going, you know, we're walking in the dark going, Okay, well, it's not going to be a couple of weeks. Clearly, it's not going to be a couple of months. Now, we're, you know, we went two years to finally, like, Okay, well, the world's open again, now what?

 

Leslie O'Connell  11:56

Right, and, you know, it brings to mind an experience. A few years ago, maybe four or five years ago, I accompanied my daughter and her confirmation class on their, what they call their east coast road trip, the east coast of Wisconsin visiting different parks and camping, and that is very much out of my comfort zone, I am not a sleep in a tent under the stars kind of gal. And then the end of the trip was a caving expedition, where we went 40 feet underground in a real live cave. And, you know, we're at times, we were scooting along on our bellies in a wet and muddy cave. So, you know, damp, cold, wet, you know, I was game I knew what I was getting into, sort of, but by the time those two hours had elapsed, like I could not wait to get out. And, and it's a metaphor of, you know, like, the only way to it, the only way to the light is through it. And so I've used that metaphor of the cave experience as not only my own career and career turning points. But as I've also worked with people who are making career transitions, either by choice or because a choice has been thrust upon them. People feel very much at odds and in the dark at those junctures and, and so it is about finding those moments of light that lead you more into the light. And as you shared, the world has experienced a really massive, global universal cave experience. And we're coming back into the light now.

 

Leighann Lovely  13:54

Yeah, that's in Wow. I don't know that I would do the whole you two hours in the cave. That I commend you for that.

 

Leslie O'Connell  14:08

You had, I was surrounded by a bunch of 1617 year olds who are like, come on, you can do it, you know. And while they're not my peers, I was definitely feeling the peer pressure.

 

Leighann Lovely  14:20

Oh my god. Wow, that's and that, hey, and you, you're able to take that, that experience and utilize that and or not utilize, but I mean, everything that we experience, we're able to somehow, I guess, not everything but use those life experiences to explain or to, you know, give examples in some way of of the professional world or real world you know, examples of things it's that was just a great analogy that you trying to say that in a very bad way, there we go.

 

Leslie O'Connell  15:02

Well, I mean, clearly, clearly the it was the cave experience for me to, you know, to lose my job. And to then really think about how do I reimagine reinvent the next stage of my career? And so, yeah, it that cave experience was was a metaphor for my, my own career experience. Yeah.

 

Leighann Lovely  15:29

Yeah, that's awesome. So speaking of your career now, tell me a little bit about what that is, what what are you? How are you working with companies? How are you? You know, tell me a little bit about what team OC three does?

 

Leslie O'Connell  15:50

Sure. So we've focused on executive coaching, and that's on a one on one basis with leaders. And that can be C suite. I have CEO, clients, senior other senior executives, but also aspiring leaders to people who are perhaps taking on leadership for the very first time. And of course, nobody hands you the how to manual when that happens. Or, you know, leaders who have been in place for a number of years who just know that they want to grow, grow their impact, grow their effectiveness, grow their capabilities. And so we do that, both with one on one coaching of leaders and executives, as well as through facilitated workshop and retreat experiences. The reason that team is in my business name is that I do team up with other experts in organizational development, learning and development, and who are coaches and consultants as well, so that we bring the right mix of skills and capabilities and experiences to each particular client.

 

Leighann Lovely  17:12

That's, that's amazing. So if you're, if you starting real world example, example here. So if I were to approach you and say, Hey, Leslie, I really want to level up. Can you help me? How would you go about beginning with with me?

 

Leslie O'Connell  17:28

Yeah, so we start with a discovery. And that can be as informal conversational to as formal as is appropriate or relevant for the individuals. So for some, that's just getting acquainted asking a series of questions to understand where they're at in their career, what kind of environment they're in what has changed in their organization, often what they see as an opportunity or a pivot point, many of the executives I work with, have recently made a change, take it on expanded responsibilities or a different role either in the organization are in a new organization. And as you said, want to upskill up level, their capability as a leader. Or it can be more formalized to Leanne, where we do a 360 assessment. So you know, having an individual select a group of 15 to 20, individuals who are direct reports, peers, or superiors, and have them complete a formal online survey, that then synthesizes the feedback and the themes from those individuals about what they see, as my clients strengths are and areas of opportunity or growth, that often reveals blind spots for someone both on the positive and on the constructive side. Sometimes people don't realize their strengths and how their strengths are having a positive impact. And they also maybe aren't aware or don't fully appreciate some of the blind spots that they have. And then there's some times in in between where I've done, you know, just one on one interviews with three or four individuals who work with my client to get a sense again of strengths, blind spots, opportunities, things that can help an individual gain more self awareness, and then determine how they want to use spread information to grow and improve.

 

Leighann Lovely  20:04

Interesting. So are you. So does the individual usually approach you? Or is it an organization, because because I don't like, for me, you're talking about, you know, interviewing, like, either superiors or people who report would report to me if I had, you know, a group of individuals report to me. And that's, that's so awesome that, you know, you could go interview them on a confidential basis and say, you know, I want to talk to you about, you know, LeighAnn lovely, and her management style, and the goal is to help her understand better, what she's great at, understand better what she's mediocre at, and where maybe some blind spots are, are that she's not aware of that we can help her get better at or, for me, I, you know, I'm a strong, confident individual, I'd be like, Yeah, do that, because that can only make me better. But I gotta, I gotta guess that there are some people out there, that would be like, No, you're no, you're not going to do that. Like,

 

Leslie O'Connell  21:10

yeah, and it does, it does take a willingness to be a bit vulnerable, to put oneself in a learning mode, and to welcome that reality check, if you will. And, and it's not always easy, even for confident leaders to hear what others have to say about them. And, you know, no 360 assessments are when they're done in a inappropriately professional way. They are very growth oriented, with a sense of kindness, of learning, of understanding how to grow and, and so, and that's really the role of a professional coach, or a professional organizational development consultant who is trained in how to do that in a way that is helpful and productive for an individual. But as you say, this isn't for someone who is really reluctant, because they're not at a point of readiness to grow.

 

Leighann Lovely  22:34

Right? Right, they're not going to anything, you say to them, they're there, it's going to be, they're going to take as well, they're gonna probably not handle the feedback, well,

 

Leslie O'Connell  22:45

they'll be defensive, and so, you know, it's sort of like, you know, working out or working on our health or physical fitness is that we have to be ready to be all in and to make the commitment that this is something that's going to benefit me. I'm going to stick with this because a coaching relationship does take a lot of work and commitment. And while there's a lot of powerful aha moments that do come in the midst of a coaching, conversation, a coaching session, the work happens in between it comes as an individual reflects on their learnings, applies new techniques, on the job or at home in what they do. So it absolutely needs readiness and commitment on the part of that leader or that employee.

 

Leighann Lovely  23:57

Interesting. Very, so. The people who are engaging you are individuals, they're not typically companies.

 

Leslie O'Connell  24:05

Actually, it's both. It's a both and so I do work with individuals. And often that happens when they're at a career pivot point, seeking to get more out of their career and wanting to understand how they can better grow and position themselves for the future. And I work with organizations where, you know, from the CEO to other senior executives, and that can be an individual basis, I met a CEO who came to me and just was taking on newly expanded role and really wanted to work with a coach to help grow her and her skills. And, or it can be, you know, a group I'm with the firm, Cavendish Bernal that I mentioned, we're working with an organization where seven of us coaches are coaching a group of 14 leaders in the organization. Each of us has two or three clients. And then we're also then able to distill systemic themes that are either helping or hindering the organization to. So so it happens on all points of that individual to organization.

 

Leighann Lovely  25:40

That's it. Okay, so now, you just touched on something that I, that I have to dig into a little bit. So companies, you know, obviously, culture, and you and I were just talking about this starts with managers, starts with leaders starts from the top, because everybody at you know, in, you know, they what, shit rolls downhill, right? To throw out something that's, you know.

 

Leslie O'Connell  26:11

That's right. Yeah, yeah. I call it the shadow of a leader. And so that's the shadow of the CEO, the shadow of the senior leadership team, the shadow of the team's manager, that shadow casts a light for better or for worse on the organization, the department, the unit, the team.

 

Leighann Lovely  26:37

So working with, you know, the senior leaders in the executive, the C suite, if you are, if you're a business, you're an organization wanting to make a true impact on the culture, you know, and I've seen this mistake happen, where they're like, Oh, we're working on the culture, we're working to change the culture, and they're working on. And I always use manufacturing floor, or they're working, and I shouldn't always use that example. But you know, they're like, Oh, we're out there, we're trying to rally the troops. And I go, Okay, that's great that you, it's awesome that you're trying to get the, you know, you know, the main population of your organization on board with this, but you still have, you know, a major problem with your C suite that doesn't want to engage with the employees, or, you know, they still are acting the same way that they were, before you took this on this initiative. Sorry, but nothing is going to change, it's going to default back to where it was over and over and over and over again, because of exactly what you just said, you know, the shadow of you know, that they're always going to revert back because it eventually just continues to come back through the Manage upper management, and they are the people who drive, ultimately, decisions, culture, attitudes, because everybody's looking to them for their leadership.

 

Leslie O'Connell  28:07

Absolutely, we all look up, it's human nature. And, you know, we're looking at what is what is the CEO? What is he or she doing? What is his or her approach? I'll take the example of an organization that we're working with, and there was a CEO change about a year and a half ago, and the previous CEO had very command and control sort of approach to leadership and management, it was about telling, not asking, it was about directing, it was not an environment of dialogue and openness. There wasn't a lot of transparency. And so the organization largely followed suit, there were pockets where where individual leaders were trying to create more of a servant leadership approach, but that is only going to take root you know, on a more segmented team basis, because ultimately the shadow of that command and control senior leader is influencing his or her leadership team and how they respond and are rewarded. And, and so on. And then a new CEO was appointed who has a vision for much more of an emotionally intelligence based servant leadership. Inclusive, egalitarian I kind of culture that she wants to engender, because she has done that at previous organizations. And she sees the value to the satisfaction, retention, attraction, growth of employees. And so it's a different way of thinking. Culture does not happen with a flip of a switch, it takes a very concerted effort across multiple levels, and needs to really filter through an organization over time. But she has invited coaching for herself for members of her leadership team. And she's introduced workshops for their leadership group at large a group of about 65 people who are learning leadership in a different kind of way.

 

Leighann Lovely  31:04

So, and that's awesome. I mean, that that is amazing. And, but so here's the, you know, the question that immediately pops into my head, which is one yes, how long, but to, you know, what is going to be the turnover ratio of because, you know, obviously, you get a new, a new person in there, who's going to flip everything on its head. Now, depending on how long that other person was in there running things, the way that they were running, you have a group of people who have gotten so conditioned to do it one way, right. And we are, we are our conditioning, we are, I mean, that is routine

 

Leslie O'Connell  31:49

Absolutely. So in this particular example, three of her leadership, team members opted to leave the organization, I, you know, they started their own job search, you know, by choice, not by invitation, just because they realize that, you know, this is not the way I've been conditioned, or the way that I value leading. And, you know, you can't say one style is right or wrong, they're different. And they have different purposes. And so, so in this case, you know, three of the 12, senior leadership, team members opted to leave. And that itself starts to create a regeneration across the organization, too.

 

Leighann Lovely  32:45

Right. And that's, and, and what you said, not one or the other, necessarily is wrong, if it's conducive to a healthy work environment. I would have to say that nowadays, people don't want the do as I say, not as I do, or the barking of orders, more and more people are looking for that more inclusive, you know, environment a, the world's been flipped on its head, they're there people are demanding a much help, you know, happier, easier work environments.

 

Leslie O'Connell  33:23

Absolutely. You know, and people are at a point of speaking up of voicing what matters to them in the workplace more than ever before. You know, certainly that has been a part of more progressive organizations, but you know, people really want more out of their workplace. You know, I, I talk about the five be used, if you will, that people want to one they want to believe in a vision in a purpose. They want to feel like there is a mission for their organization or their team. They want to belong, they want to feel that they are included and take pride in belonging to something that is bigger than ourselves. People want to be heard, you know, they do want to have a voice, and that that voice is acknowledged and respected. I think employees recognize that they're not always going to be the decision makers. The decision isn't always going to go their way. But they want to at least have their feedback, their voice heard. They want to be stretched. You know, I think we all want to grow and thrive and And, and expand our capabilities or take on different or new responsibilities over time. And then finally, and this goes back to that, you know, what makes the best day of at work is that we want to feel like we're, uh, we're the difference, we want to be the difference, you know that what we do matters that has an impact, it makes life better for our customers or our clients or, you know, those who are relying on us. And so, you know, that sense of believing belonging being heard being stretched? Being the difference? I think those are expectations today of employees?

 

Leighann Lovely  35:56

Absolutely. I mean, first, you don't go into management's? Well, some people get kind of pushed into management, and then they ended up being under trained and don't know what they're doing, which obviously, is the, you know, the cycle. What was it, I think I just recently threw this out there, this number might have changed, you might know. But it was like 8% of the people who move into management are actually trained, the rest, have no have no management, actual management training, that doesn't go for necessarily the C suite, but you know, just a general manage manager role. And the point that I'm trying to get to, though is that typically people who choose to get trained, move, and have an intentional, you know, drive to move into management, the goal that they have is to make an impact, try to make change, to make things better to be able to walk away at the end of the day and say, I've accomplished, you know, what my goal was to accomplish today, and I've made an impact in some way or another, right? It does, absolutely, and it doesn't matter. It's not, this is not industry, specific, it doesn't matter if we're talking about a service industry, or if we're talking about a non service industry distribution company, or, you know, manufacturing company, and you're in the management role, if you, you know, typically people who choose to manage other people, they, the goal that they have at the beginning, is that I want to be able to help the people that I'm managing to be able to lift them up to do their job the best they can do. So at the end of the day, we're all moving in the same direction. But it often happens with organizations, where managers are not being given the tools that they need to do that. And then you see, these cultures just crumble, they just they start to fall apart. And you see pissed off managers, who are creating volatile environments for the people that they're managing, because they don't have the answers. They're not being able to, to provide them with what they need. And it's just becomes this systemic issue and problem throughout many companies and in our society of, of, you know, people who are just not being treated the way that they should be treated, because even upper management isn't paying attention to the fact that they're not giving what they need to those managers.

 

Leslie O'Connell  38:38

Absolutely, you know, culture takes a lot of vision and care and feeding

 

Leighann Lovely  38:45

and absolute intention.

 

Leslie O'Connell  38:49

Intent for sure. And, and, you know, I've throughout my career, I have worked in across industries, my career started in manufacturing, at quad graphics, you know, a printing company here in Wisconsin. And I have to say that reflecting on the nearly 30 years of my career, the best leadership training I got was at quad graphics. Now that was under the leadership at that time of the founder, Harry Quadracci who was an enlightened leader himself. And he created in a egalitarian environment that was, you know, whether people were considered were management in the traditional sense of the office leaders or leaders on a press on a binder in the finishing area. We all came together for managment leadership training, to learn how to bring out the best in people. And he made it Harry Quadracci, he made a very significant and intentional investment in leadership development for his people. And he modelled it himself. And, and, you know, that's the kind of commitment and vision that it takes to really drive a positive culture.

 

Leighann Lovely  40:35

And that's great. And you hear about, you hear about these diamonds in a rough all the time in where you, you've got owners who walk around and personally think everybody at their company, from the person who cleans the bathroom, to the President, you know, of the organization, he treats every single individual, he or she, I don't like to say he, he or she, you know, owners of companies who walk around and they treat every single human at that company, the same. It's an it's you don't hear it often. But you do hear of these leaders from from the past, and those are the people that we should all be modeling our businesses, you know, modeling them against, you know.

 

Leslie O'Connell  41:24

Absolutely, there's great role models. And, and I do think that there are progressive, enlightened leaders and companies today that are are initiating positive culture, evolution. And it's a, you know, it's a super challenging time, as you started our conversation. We have come through a cave that disrupted life as we know it, and that has challenged and stretched leaders and companies in ways that, you know, none of us anticipated. But what I am seeing is that, as companies as organizations have regained their footing, leaders are taking advantage of this time to invest in their employee development and leadership development, recognizing that to attract, grow, keep talent in an ever competitive environment. That a positive culture, a good workplace, having good leaders really matter.

 

Leighann Lovely  42:51

Yes. And, you know, my day job, I'm in staffing, there was a time when. And this like, just shot me through the heart when I would have companies come to me and I, I was, you know, they would say to me, Well, we've we've actually stopped doing the employee onboarding process until the until the employees here for a week. And I'm like, what, what do you mean, you're not, you know, you're not grading the employee, when they start on their first day, like, no wonder they're not staying for more than a week, like, and they're like, well, that that was why we stopped doing it, because they just weren't staying here for a week. And then we were wasting all of our time. And I'm like, well, that doesn't mean that you need to stop crit. Like, you've obviously got something else going on. I mean, it's, but you're right, we are finally companies are finally really okay, that's not working either. Like, I know the things that I hear the things that I deal with. But I think that now we're out the other side of the pandemic. At least I've I've done with this. I've moved on, I think the most of the world has. I think companies have finally started to figure out this was eye opening. It truly was eye opening that they can't You can't be you know, you no longer can say oh, yeah, number two employee come over here, please. Number 22. employee, you actually have to know who they are. You actually have to put you know, stock in them, you actually have to treat them like humans. And when they say hey, I've got a family emergency, don't make them feel guilty about it. Because you know what, you make them feel guilty. They're gonna start thinking about going somewhere else. And right now, they've got a million different places to go.

 

Leslie O'Connell  44:42

Yeah, the environment today and for the future, you know, based on just demographic, the demographic wave of changes that was then only accelerated by the pandemic and how the pandemic caused people to think do currently about what sacrifices they were making or their families were making, that people do have more choices today. And there's not a line of 10 individuals waiting to fill that role. And so, you know, for the better, it's been a wake up call to organizations, to companies, that investing in people investing in leaders really does matter. And that it is a not only a competitive differentiator, when it comes to talent, it's a competitive differentiator when it comes to the performance and the results that an organization can deliver. Right, because how an organization treats its employees is absolutely mirrored in how those employees treat customers.

 

Leighann Lovely  45:56

oh, absolutely. And there was, and when I say, you know, a lot of positions, you know, there, there was a time when, you know, the only positions open were just, you know, the general laborer, those were lacking in that, but we're not just talking about positions being open at that level we're talking about is, you know, like, for controller position C suite level positions at, across the board, I mean, it's positions at every level within organizations, starting with President CEO, controllers, you know, tax we're talking about across the board. So, I mean, it's people like you who are going in and doing the leadership training is, is, in order for companies to retain and keep employees, if you don't have those, you know, that that level of culture, your, the companies are going to fail, they're gonna, they're, they're gonna lose great people, to other companies who are investing in their people. And it's

 

Leslie O'Connell  47:00

Right there, and then it also, you know, I think, it also becomes an oh, we're just going to have to increase wages or increase salaries. And, you know, there are countless surveys that show that employees will select a great leader, a great team, over salary when they have, you know, comparable offers, you know, when they feel compatibility, respect, the opportunity to grow, you know, when those qualities are present, they will take those kinds of opportunities over the, you know, the salary that might be five or 10%. More. I mean, I can I use myself and many of my colleagues over the years as examples, there are times where I made career changes specifically, and took a step back in salary, because I was motivated by the team, the opportunity, the long term growth, opportunity of the organization of my role of my potential. And so, to me, I saw that as an investment play, and in my experience, it played out. Along the way, that I earned more, I had more responsibility, I grew faster, you know, as I made those choices, too. So it's not always about the money if people feel that they're being compensated adequately.

 

Leighann Lovely  48:42

Absolutely, absolutely. I completely agree. Now, we are coming to time. So the question of the season, if you could go back to your younger self and give yourself advice, when would you go back? And what advice would you give yourself?

 

Leslie O'Connell  48:59

Well, I'm all about like, start early, start often. So I would go back to myself at age 22. And, gosh, you know, try to pack, you know, three decades of wisdom into a sentence. But, um, you know, in short, I would tell myself, you know, be kind to yourself, and be bold. You know, I grew up with a type A father, who instilled in me, the desire to be a perfectionist, always get it right. And the reality is, none of us are ever going to get it right. And so in some ways that held me back from taking risks from believing in myself along the way, and you know, and then when we think about it, we often To say, things to ourselves that we would never say to somebody else, you know, the self talk that we have, is often often skews negative more than positive. And so that's where the Be kind to yourself. Lastly comes from is cut yourself some slack and be generous with recognizing the goodness in, in yourself and, and acknowledging the warts too. But balancing that self critique, and again, having worked with many different clients, we all have a voice on our shoulder that is talking back to us way more than it should be. So be kind, be bold.

 

Leighann Lovely  50:55

That's awesome. I love it. And yeah, I mean, absolutely. Because you know, what, 22 year old me a 22 year old. Most people could use that advice.

 

Leslie O'Connell  51:13

Well, I hope it I hope as I am able to, and I do work with some young people today too, as an aspect of my business I. In fact, I've recently worked with a young woman who is preparing for medical school interviews and you know, talk about a pivotal life moment. And another young woman actually who is preparing for grad school interviews, and it actually she's the performer and musical performer. So auditions too. But as I coach them, I am helping to encourage that idea of self awareness, self reflection and kindness to self.

 

Leighann Lovely  52:02

Yeah. Yep. Awesome. Awesome. If somebody wanted to reach out to you, how would they go about doing that?

 

52:10

Yeah, a couple of ways. Thanks for asking. Certainly visit my website, which is www.teamOC3.com. So T E A M O C 3 .com. Or my email, which is Leslie@Teamoc3.com. Or, lastly Leslie@teamos3. The it's L E S L I E.

 

Leighann Lovely  52:43

Excellent. Well, and that will also be in the show notes. So if anybody does want to reach out to you, they can find it in the show notes as well. But Leslie, I really appreciate you coming on and talking with me today. It's been an awesome conversation.

 

Leslie O'Connell  52:55

And the privilege has been mine and thank you so much.

 

Leighann Lovely  52:58

Thank you. Thank you again for listening to Let's Talk HR. I appreciate your time and support without you the audience this would not be possible. So don't forget that if you enjoyed this episode, to follow us, like us or share us. Have a wonderful day.

 

Contact Leslie

 

Website – www.teamoc3.com

 

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/leslieoconnell/

 

E-mail – Leslie@teamOC3.com

 

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SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, organization, leaders, employees, companies, individual, leslie, culture, grow, coaching, absolutely, leadership, career, executive coach, ceo, pandemic, role, management, team