Lisa Zeeveld:
Welcome back, Ryan, to the One Next Step.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
We are here. We’re doing it. It’s extra.
Lisa Zeeveld:
It’s extra. It’s extra. Well, thank you for hanging around. I know it’s been a unique experience for you to be on the other side of the conversation today, so I appreciate that.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
You know it really, if you listen to the episode, getting to be a guest on a podcast, you just, you get everyone to laugh at your jokes. So this is a perfect situation for me. I’m all for it.
Lisa Zeeveld:
That’s true. So true. Well, I’m gonna laugh at all your jokes and your stories because I love to hear them anyway, so you picked a good host in order to laugh at them, but we did cover a lot of content, and I hope that everybody actually listens to the full episode. Of course, we’re glad you’re here for this bonus content, but definitely drop some good nuggets in the full episode. So definitely go and check that out if you haven’t heard it yet. And so, but I do feel like we had a little bit more to talk about and that is perhaps some of the overlooked benefits. And I think there’s one I’d like for us just to dive into. So what can you share, what’s an overlooked benefit of this hybrid remote model?
Ryan Fitzgerald:
One of the things that I learned pretty fast was when you’re engaging with somebody in a virtual kind of work arrangement, accountability is a very, it’s a totally different application of that because when you’re in person, you know, you’re really working on being emotionally intelligent and engaging with people and building relational capital over time and building buy-in and really having to pay attention to that. And in the context of a more virtual experience, there’s just a little more comfort I’ve found with employees to just kinda be like, ‘Okay, this is your expectation of me and you pay me that. Okay, great.’ It’s a value proposition. And so accountability I found required a little less emotional energy in the context of, you know, more modern staffing approaches. And so I would, I think that that is a thing that, as a leader, when you think about how many direct reports you can manage, how many people you can handle, how you know, what you know, when you need to bring on other managers to scale or things like that.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
The idea of moving people remote really does allow you to change things. I have one staff member I meet with weekly for our one-on-ones and they take less than 17 minutes. And it’s just because she’s a rock star and she’s killing it and she doesn’t need a ton of coaching. I’m offering to engage with her. We kind of find other opportunities where we’re talking regularly, but like, it’s just like ‘Hey, here’s what you need, here’s what I need, here’s a few questions. Okay. You feel great. What else can I do for you? Oh, that’s it.’ And I think that, you know, really great remote engagements, especially when it comes around, you know, a hybrid work environment, you can kind of probably find staff members that way. Found the same experience when I was at North Point when I had my virtual assistant started in-person assistant, and she had a baby and it was the first thing that I ever did virtual. I was like, she’s so great. I don’t wanna lose her. I’ll try it. And I found when she went home, she was more productive. She was easier to work with. I think, honestly, like I said on the podcast episode, she shed the burden of my emotions and my kind of leadership style. And she was able to just be really tactical and honestly, that’s what she wanted. That’s what was best for her, and it became what was best for me too.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think you, you’re able to tailor that relationship with who you’re leading, because I definitely have had folks who you get on a one-on-one and you are like, at 30 minutes, which is what it’s scheduled for, and you could probably go on for another 90 minutes because yeah. They’re just very relational and they need that. They need to, ‘Hey, let’s grab a cup of coffee, let’s go out to lunch or something and meet in person.’ And then I love that I have other team members to your point, who are like, ‘I mean, I’m good,’ like you’re grasping for things to talk about, but they’re rock stars. And so they give you energy to be able to pour into those who need it more. I think it’s a better balance that way in that accountability. So that’s, that’s really good stuff.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
Yeah. I totally agree.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. Well, thank you, Ryan. This is awesome bonus content. I appreciate you sharing with our listeners.
Ryan Fitzgerald:
I love getting to hang out with you LZ and honestly you have so much wisdom in this area. I appreciate all the things you offer every time we talk.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Well, I can’t wait to have you back on this side of the microphone for the next podcast, so looking forward to that. Well, hey guys, thank you so much for joining us for this bonus next step. Be sure to join us next week for more practical tips and actionable tools to advance your business one step at a time. Start by making today count.
