How the C-suite can lead during an executive shakeup

Leaders can build up what leadership author Stephen Covey called an "emotional bank account" with their team members by depositing honesty, kindness and keeping commitments, which means teams are more likely to work hard for your company because they feel appreciated, writes Jason Evanish, the CEO Get Lighthouse, Inc. Evanish outlines Covey's six types of necessary deposits and what to do when you need to make a withdrawal, or inadvertently damage your team's trust in you.

Put it into practice: Leaders should make frequent deposits in their employees' emotional bank accounts and avoid six mistakes, including making insincere apologies and not listening to their team members, writes Evanish. "Building a base of strong relationships allows you to guide your team through challenges that arise," Evanish notes.

Frequent C-suite changes, especially those involving the bulk of its officers, can wreak havoc on employee confidence, writes Alaina Love, CEO of Purpose Linked Consulting, who shares five leadership actions to avoid. Wiping the slate clean is a mistake, Love explains, because "firing everyone from a previous administration says a lot about a CEO's belief in their ability to lead."

Put it into practice: Companies in upheaval should think twice before dictating from above instead of getting input from workers, ignoring high performers who will end up recruited by the competition, brushing off employee disillusionment and eschewing the need to inspire, Love writes.

Businesspeople can control public-speaking anxiety by redirecting their focus from their own worries to the audience's needs, which consultant John Millen writes helps every time. "By centering your thoughts on delivering value and helping them, you can transform anxiety into a powerful tool for effective communication," Millen says.

Put it into practice: Before a speech, practice mindfulness techniques, Millen advises. Then switch the focus to the audience by making your content relevant (and watching them get more interested), being genuine and interested in your topic, asking questions or engaging them in other ways.

Challenge, promote and pay them. It seems creating opportunities for career and financial advancement are the biggest barriers to hanging onto your high performers.

There are only so many promotions to go around and budgets are always tight. Given those constraints, it requires you to think creatively as a leader. Are there roles in other functions, departments, or divisions of your company that would be promotions for this person? Sure, it means they leave your team but at least they stay with the company. There's also a good chance they'll "boomerang" back to your team in the future when you have an open role that's a fit for them because you took care of them.

On the pay front, are there creative spot bonus programs available? One-time award grants? Other benefits that don't hit the salary line of your budget? Are you budgeting aggressively enough to create salary space for the next time you have to advance them?

Sure, it's hard keeping your high performers. It's even harder losing them and hiring/training someone new to fill their shoes. Put in the effort to keep them.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

Leaders can often succumb to "friction blindness" as they ascend into the C-suite, where they don't have the same everyday inconveniences and challenges faced by their teams or customers, says Robert Sutton, a Stanford University professor and co-author of "The Friction Project." Fix friction by asking, "What do I make hard and what do I make easy?" says Sutton, adding: "And it's important to think of yourself as a trustee of other people's time."

New Orleans-based UPS driver Jason Hardesty is dispelling the myth of dogs versus delivery people by posing for selfies with all the dogs he encounters on his daily route and posting a weekly photo. The practice began after he snapped a picture of a chance encounter with a dog and posted it to his Instagram account, which has led to more photos with cats, pigs, rabbits, goats and even Hardesty himself in a dog costume.

I have written about emotional (or trust) bank accounts, but Jason Evanish's reminder of Steven Covey's idea is always timely. I have had bosses who didn't even know such accounts existed and made numerous withdrawals until there was no trust left, and usually no choice but to leave for another job.

The point of such an account is to have it so full through demonstrating concern, trustworthiness and transparency with your team that if you need to make a withdrawal because of a challenging situation, you have enough trust in the bank to bounce back quickly. A full account can also safeguard against broken trust when a leader may inadvertently break a trust or make a mistake.

Leaders should strive to make deposits in those emotional accounts daily. Without these trust deposits, you may find your best team members heading for healthier cultures -- perhaps at your competitor.

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