Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm

specializing and helping teams and organizations create better working experiences that deliver

better results. I keep talking to organizations that are struggling specifically with

the feeling of connection. They feel like they've lost in recent years.

They're trying to figure out the big things like how to rebuild culture in a world of hybrid

or geographically dispersed teams. In these conversations, I've really been encouraging clients

to focus instead on singular relationships, on inviting people at all altitudes of the organization to

really prioritize creating connections on their terms. And it's led to my delivering a number of

workshops to teams designed to get people moving in this direction. Shoot me an email if your team

could use a quick hit workshop on building relationships to drive connection.

But today, let's just talk about a few of the ideas I've been covering in these sessions.

And let's hope that something in here resonates for you.

First, learn about your style.

When I run these workshops, I ask participants to take a brief self-assessment just to offer them some insight into their default communication style.

But I invite you to be scrappy and collect some insight on your own, no assessment required.

Choose a handful of people that you trust and let them know that you're not looking for pats on the back or accolades, but you're looking

for real insight into the good, the bad, and the ugly of how you show up. Ask earnestly for

honesty, and then be open to hearing it. I've done this before, and I've heard things like,

you know, Rachel, you're generally pretty calm and cool, but when the pressure is high or a deadline is looming, you get very directive, because we don't say bossy anymore.

Or I hear, you ask great questions and you listen well to the answers, but sometimes the discussion goes just a little too long, and we need you to make a decision sooner.

These bits of feedback have been helpful intel for me. It's great to know what I do well,

but it's also helped me to pay more attention to how I navigate stressful moments or how long

...