First Thing Monday #11
This week: an All-Substack selection of this week's best leadership and development articles, we share what music you need to know for Q4, and offer a quick method for prioritizing tasks 🌠🎧✔️
🍃 Happy Monday y’all! This week’s FTM is an all-Substack edition—full of articles and insights from some of my fave writers on Substack. Enjoy!
☑️ FTM is a weekly newsletter that includes a recap of all the news Millennial and Gen Z leaders need to know to help make better decisions about their careers. Each issue also includes four tips for developing better relationships in your workplace. Weekly issues come out on Monday mornings!
❓ Have a work question or topics you’d like us to discuss? Drop me a line 📱 misterfantastiksubstack@gmail.com or leave us a comment below!
I’m Jon Cochran, a consumer goods executive with 15 years of experience leading sales, marketing, and product development teams and working with brands like J.Crew, Hilton, and Mattel. I want to provide resources to help you take control of your career and maximize your satisfaction in the workplace.
⏰ What to read before your first meeting:
Mostly research: Tech Hiring Trends (August 2023 report) (
): For those of you who manage revenue and hiring decisions, this article makes the argument that with headcount growth or decline, so does revenue. Headcount growth or contraction for your competitors can also indicate market trends.Tackling What Is Most Urgent First (
): I think we will always have to prioritize work tasks every day, whether we have an app, device, or fancy notebook to help us manage the process. Decide what is most urgent and important, and start there!- ): Did you ever make fun of those adult coloring books? Yeah, me too. Then I spent some time coloring with my niece and my perspective changed. “Play isn’t about achieving a medal or a certificate. It’s not even about any tangible output (for once). Rather, it’s about enjoying the damn activity!” 🎯
- ): When a direct report doesn’t hit their goal, directing them to simply “fix their number” will not get you the results you want. Try this five-step process to more collaboratively work together on improvement.
The 5 Types Of Organizational Structures For The New World Of Work (
): The more people I talk to, the more I hear a need for changing old organizational structures to meet the needs of today’s world.
🚰 The Water Cooler
Every quarter I keep track of new songs I find on an Apple Music playlist (sorry Spotify users, I picked my tribe a long time ago), and I just started my playlist for Q4! You can find Q1, Q2, and Q3 2023 in these links.
“33 Nonfiction Books to Read This Fall” from Saturday’s New York Times. I didn’t expect to feel this way, but I may be most excited for the mammoth 800-page Madonna bio coming in October. The other one I’m excited to read is the Larry McMurtry biography. I loved Lonesome Dove!
Usher for Superbowl 2024. Yeah!
How to Hang an Art Collection Like an Expert. This guide gets a little in the weeds but includes some key tips regarding measuring, placement, and frame choice. Hanging art can be scientific, but once it’s done, it’s done!
📖 Reflections for this week:
For yourself: Be willing to admit when you don’t have all the answers. This advice has served me well as a supervisor and as a direct report. My least successful conversations have been when I pretended to know everything. Telling someone you don’t have all the information and you need some time to get back to them is a way to earn trust.
For your boss: Sometimes we all need some flexibility at work. But navigating those conversations can be anxiety-inducing. If you ever find yourself needing to discuss new work arrangements with your boss, make sure to choose a time when they are not too busy or stressed, that you have a clear understanding of what you need, that you anticipate any potential concerns that may come up before the talk, and then you frame it all professionally and with empathy to make sure your boss knows you understand any potential inconveniences your request may cause and that you’re willing to work together.
For your direct report(s): Trust is a recurring theme around here, but that’s because trust is a building block to strong work cultures. This week, think about how you follow through on your commitments to your direct reports. When you make promises or commitments to your team members and keep them, you show the team you’re reliable and trustworthy by doing what you say you’ll do. Be patient and consistent in your efforts to build and nurture trust.
For your co-workers: Are your co-workers American football fans? Soccer? Basketball? Fall sports are heating up, and most people have opinions on them. Want to connect with someone new? Make a comment about sports and see where it goes. You may find you both hate how long it takes to play a game of football or that you both love the 76ers! Go team!
⚡️ And one last thing…
As a supervisor, you may have conversations about your priorities, your direct reports’ priorities, and the priorities of your company…you may even feel overwhelmed when it comes to deciphering what is urgent among all those priorities. If you’ve ever found yourself in a role where ambiguous or conflicting priorities are the norm, you can take control!
First, consider your mindset. You can’t assume that someone else is responsible for prioritizing your workload. Don’t blame your manager just because you’re experiencing stress or overwhelming work. Learning to set priorities is key to professional success, so think about how well you are handling the increased workload that comes with leadership.
Second, start small. Pick one or two areas to set priorities in; this reduces how much information you have to process. In the past, I’ve used three areas to focus on: clients, direct reports, and my supervisor. These areas should reflect your responsibilities and scope of work. If you have a task that doesn’t sit in one of these areas, is it a priority for you?
Third, now you have your areas. Time to think about what tasks go with which area. Organize tasks and due dates in whatever format works. I still love an Excel sheet. Something like the one below.
If you have a task that doesn’t sit in one of your areas, is it a priority for you? Can it be delegated? Should it even be your responsibility? This exercise can also provide clarity on how you should or should not be spending your time and might uncover tasks that are your responsibility, but may not reflect where you most or best contribute.
Keep in mind the fact that you may be on a learning curve as a new leader and your priorities may also need to shift day-to-day. But if you don’t prioritize your time, someone or something else will. Own the decision-making power over how you spend your time and energy. Do you have any prioritization tips to share? Drop a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
See you next week!
Follow me on Instagram at @mistersfantastik
I really appreciate that Usher joke!
Great advice for talking to your boss about schedule flexibility. Thank you!