What word or phrase would you use to characterize the past year? How do you sum up a season seen as a global pandemic, travel restrictions, seismic shifts in the global economy and our own working lives, acute political tensions, violence, and renewed calls for racial justice?    

When we ask our clients these questions, we hear words like change, upheaval, hard, painful, scary, and growth. And we hear a common thread—uncertainty. It has been a season of extraordinary instability and uncertainty for all of us—one filled with extra pressure, stress, and anxiety.

In this episode of Lessons from Leaders, Lynne Gilliland sits down with Katherine Grainger, a partner at Civitas Public Affairs Group. Throughout their hour-long conversation together, Lynne and Katherine describe the value of empathy, emphasize the importance of mentorship, and discuss professional vulnerability. Below is an abridged excerpt from the episode–watch the full video below!

In our first episode of SocialEx this year, Director of Marketing & Communications Caitlin Holland enjoys an in-depth conversation with Dr. Tessie San Martin, President and CEO of Plan International USA.Tessie has had a career-long focus on advocating for those with less power in society, including women and girls.

In this episode of Lessons from Leaders, Lynne Gilliland sits down with Humentum’s CEO, Dr. Christine Sow. They discuss her career in public health, and background in epidemiology, to her role at Humentum today. Dr. Christine Sow also explores the strengths leadership need to possess in this current climate, and the difference between transactional and transformational leadership. Below is an abridged excerpt from the episode—watch the full video below!

What are the characteristics of the world’s most effective teams? As leaders, which levers should we use to strengthen team cohesion and impact?     

Google conducted and published a global study on the world’s most effective teams – dubbed Project Aristotle - and revealed the five most important attributes of the highest performing teams. 

In this week’s episode of Lessons from Leaders, Lynne Gilliland invites Dr. Rehana Ahmed—Senior Reproductive Health Consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO)—to share her personal story. Dr. Ahmed explains how she approaches challenges in her field and discusses the importance of courage in decision-making. This is an abridged version of Lynne’s interview with Dr Ahmed – watch the full video embedded below.

Lynne Gilliland:

So, you want to ramp up your leadership skills but aren’t sure where to start. First, it’s expensive, and you don’t have the luxury of being out of the office for days at a time. Or, it could be that the latest leadership training course focuses more on theory and less on relevant experience and practical application. Or maybe, you come away inspired after a great leadership program only to find your organization’s environment doesn’t support the new ideas and practices—so how will you enact any real change?

In the wake of COVID-19 global pandemic, we have honored frontline health care workers and essential workers for their dedication during this significant health care crisis.

When coaching leaders, I identify the critical application of proactive leadership during volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous times, which equips leaders to make a huge impact. From that concept, we must bring attention to what will be the next wave of frontline individuals whom I consider the job seekers, recruitment, and human resources departments.

The time between a new, entry-level employee to not-yet-senior-management can be an odd time in your career. Depending on your role and the responsibilities assigned to you, it may not always be clear where you stand in terms of leadership. I am now sitting in that awkward phase. I have more than a decade of work experience to draw on and my work history is varied; I’ve gone from managing ten supervisors and more than a hundred employees to having no reportees at all.

Our Member Profile blog series features Humentum members talking about their work and how they manage the operational challenges within their organizations. This month we feature CORE Group Executive Director Lisa Hilmi, seen in photo at right.