Money Lessons with Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA

The (not so) Secret Formula for Success Part II

Once you’ve come to terms with and start loving the unique human that is you, then achieving your definition of success boils down to relationships and results. For a deep(erish) dive into the relationships side of the equation, here’s the link to last week’s episode for you to review. [1960s elevator music plays] Now that you’re back, let’s tackle the second part of the equation, results.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

The (not so) Secret Formula for Success

What’s the formula for career success? There are endless consultants and prognosticators who claim to have the golden ticket to success. I’ve thought about this many times throughout my career, and with nearly 40 years of experience under my belt, I can boil the formula down to two interrelated concepts: relationships and results. If, at first glance, this framework appears overly simplistic, it is. Each of these words encapsulates numerous competencies and take years, if not decades, to hone and perfect. So let’s spend a bit of time diving into the nuance behind this formula—today we’ll be focusing on the first part of the formula—relationships.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

The Downside of Side Conversations

We’ve all been there. The conference room is packed with attendees for the big presentation. The projector comes to life and the speakers begin walking everyone through the next big corporate innovation, the quarterly financials, or an update on a cross-functional project. The room is professional and focused, with the exception of Suzie and Quentin, who are whispering so loudly that their side conversation is impossible to ignore. As the presentation progresses, Suzie and Quentin continue to chatter periodically amongst themselves—unimpeded and oblivious to their surroundings. Nobody steps in to call them on their behavior. Why?
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The Importance of Coachability

There will be times when you’re the smartest person in the room and others when you need a helping hand. Your colleagues will quickly become exhausted by a know-it-all attitude and will begin to tune you out. Your value to the team and its leader will fall, and tough decisions will follow.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

Clear Goals Matter

What do your people want (other than more money)? They want clarity, autonomy, empowerment, respect, and organizational accountability. They want to make a difference and do good, meaningful work. They want to know that leadership cares and that everyone in the company is rowing in the same direction with the same commitment and vigor that they apply to their own work.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

Reducing Emotional Waste in Business

Your people need to hear from you. Radio silence is a terrible management practice and is a big driver of employee dissatisfaction. In the case of our delayed flight, all the pilot needed to do was provide a 30 second update to passengers regarding why we pulled off an active runway prior to takeoff. That simple action would have prevented unnecessary spinning and emotional waste. You can prevent spinning, gossip, speculation, and emotional waste by being prompt, clear, and as transparent as possible during times of uncertainty in your business.

Connecting Stewardship and Diversity

One of the biggest errors a leader can make is to hire team members who are direct reflections of themselves. Yes, it can be temporarily convenient to surround yourself with people who always agree with you, or who share your own perspectives, but in the long-term, this type of hiring behavior will hinder growth, innovation, and forward momentum. A balancing act all leaders must grapple with is the short-term benefit of moving fast with minimal drag from a personally curated “Team Yes,” versus the long-term satisfaction that comes from building a diverse team that will simultaneously challenge, support, and push the boundaries of your current state positions and thinking.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

"I Get To" v "I Have To"

Are you feeling disengaged or ‘stuck’ at work? Does it feel like you’re trudging through mud and that the light in your eyes has dimmed? From my own personal experience, it can be very difficult to pinpoint the root cause of these feelings and it’s even harder to break through to an improved state of well-being and engagement. Today, I’d like to share a tip that’s worked well for me when I find myself feeling negative, harried, and strained.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

How to Build Empathy? Listen.

Far too often, when confronted with a challenge, we talk. We talk to deflect. We talk because we don’t know what else to do. We talk to release nervous energy. To make matters worse, when we start talking, we usually start relaying a story of a similar challenge that’s happened to us. The individual who’s going through the challenge doesn’t want to hear about our suffering or similar situation, they want to be heard.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/

Yes, They're Talking About You!

There are many truisms in business, and one that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is that as a leader rises through the ranks of an organization, the amount they are discussed, analyzed, and talked about increases in a non-linear fashion. I would periodically get asked if this bothered me during my career, and I would typically respond with a flippant: “My ears stopped buzzing long ago.” Meaning that it no longer bothered me. While marginally humorous in the moment, as I look back, my response was less than helpful and certainly didn’t reach the mark of a teaching moment.
https://www.andrewtemte.com/