Episode 31 | Meet the Inspector Gadget of Communication with Monique Russell

Monique Russell  00:00

I love being able to help people figure out, unpack, uncover, “Okay, this is what you said. But what did you really say? What did you really want to say? What message were you really trying to get across? What are your audience think? You know what what are they thinking?”

Voiceover  00:19

Welcome to the “Lead at the Top of Your Game” podcast, where we equip you to more effectively lead your seat at any employer, business, or industry in which you choose to play. Each week, we help you sharpen your leadership acumen by cracking open the playbooks of dynamic leaders who are doing big things in their professional endeavors. And now, your host, leadership tactics, and organizational development expert, Karan Ferrell-Rhodes.

Karan Rhodes  00:54

Hey there superstars, this is Karan and welcome to today’s episode. You know, I don’t think there’s a person out there that would argue with me that communication is not an essential skill of great leadership. And on today’s show, I’m honored to have Monique Russell who’s the founder and CEO of clear communication solutions, who which is a consulting firm that helps leaders and teams upskill their ability to communicate in a way that better drives change, and workplace effectiveness. She will share with us some valuable communication models and tips that we can definitely think about incorporating back into the job day one. And be sure to stay tuned to the end to listen to my closing segment called Karan’s take, where I share a tip on how to use insights from today’s episode to further sharpen your leadership acumen. And now enjoy the show. Hey there superstars, this is Karan and welcome to today’s episode, I am super thrilled to have our guests today, who is a very dear friend, who I know is gonna have a bunch of nuggets of information for us. And please welcome to today’s show, Mister Monique Russell, who is the founder and CEO of clear communication solutions. So welcome, Miss Monique.

02:13

Hi, Karan. So happy to be chatting with you here today.

Karan Rhodes  02:18

Oh, I’m so happy to have you believe you me. Uh, we have been trying to get on earnings calendar have quite a bit, but she is such in high demand. And we were finally able to get a date that worked and are so thankful that she’s able to join us. And as you can probably tell by the name of her business, she is an expert in all types of communications. And she really focuses on communicating for better leadership and better impact, both for individuals and teams. But before we get started, Monique, why don’t you share with the audience just a little bit about your background, maybe you know, where you grew up, and maybe a 50,000 foot view of your professional career thus far.

03:02

Oh, gosh, okay, where I grew up the. So when I was about six or seven, I, my mom put me into ballet class. And I remember going to ballet class every Saturday and one day a week. And we had to practice and practice and practice, our plies, our bows, our cartwheels, all that good jazz. And that was on the in the beautiful islands of the Bahamas where I grew up. And I remember this one time where we had to do a final performance. And we didn’t have a whole lot of space in the front on the stage before I had to actually do the cartwheel. So we went back, he took a few steps back. And I know at the final finish, we were supposed to do this cartwheel and then you know, open up our hands, you know, for the audience. And I had to make a split decision if I was going to give my cartwheel the full full full thing. Or if I was going to hold back because I didn’t want to fall off the stage. And I only had a little bit, you know, right there. But I went ahead and I did the whole cartwheel. And when I landed on the stage, like very close to the edge, and I realized that I did. I took this deep breath in and I was like, and then everyone in the audience started laughing. And that story just came up. They were like they laughed because they realize that I was concerned if I was going to fall off the stage, but I didn’t. And so everybody felt that there. Like I said it out loud and they laugh. But that story when you asked me like my, you know where I grew up, it just popped up here because it just reminded me of all the risks, strategic risks that I had to make and how this whole journey of strategic decision making and risk taking has been throughout my entire life. When I went off to college and I left the beautiful islands of the Bahamas at 17, that was something I had to do on my own by myself and then I became a mother at eighteen and I turned my community of strangers into family. And then continuing on I studied broadcast journalism, I got both graduate degrees in the science of communications, one in PR one in advertising. And I will tell you the journey after college, it was one that I never even considered. I started working in executive support because I was supposed to be traveling the world covering all these international broadcast stories on air, just like the Christiane Amanpour is, and you know, all of the investigative reporters because I wanted to be up in people’s business, okay, I need to know, what’s the real real, we got the story, and we need the real story. But that didn’t happen. So I started working in corporate America, out in California, I also spent time in the tech space in executive support. I also spent time in the healthcare space, in executive support, and teaching in the university system and higher education, all the communications courses, the public, speaking of intercultural communications, the media and culture, just really immersed in the science of communications through and through, and like we were talking, you know, I was someone who wanted to be more engaged in work, I wanted to do more, I wanted to be in the communications office, I didn’t want to be where I was in that corporate space supporting executives, but it gave me a bird’s eye view into behind the scenes of what made leaders really respected and supported, what made them tick, I was able to see the public facing and the back behind the scenes facing because you’re supporting helping them make decisions, think through things, you know, and be that problem solver for employee engagement question that has part of been my journey. But sooner or later, I went ahead, and I started that business alongside working in corporate America, before I took the jump, and just went ahead and went into my business full time, which I’m doing today.

Karan Rhodes  07:11

Oh, that is amazing. And congratulations on your long term success in your business, because as most people know, especially me, similar to you, left corporate America and, and stuck out, you know, this, you know, being an entrepreneur is a full time job within itself. So it’s not for the faint of heart, if you will.

Monique Russell  07:32

You could say that again.

Karan Rhodes  07:35

But what I do love about your journey thus far is that, you know, we talk a lot in the world of work right now about rescaling and upskilling. And, you know, and then to some extent, you know, there’s been a lesser focus on actual full degrees, you know, like, bachelor’s or MBAs, not that they’re not important they are, but now a lot of employers are talking about skills. And what I love that your story is your love, still, for investigative journalism kind of comes through your curiosity comes through when you’re trying to get to the root of what’s going on, you know, when you’re talking to either leaders or teams in the workplace and trying to get to those root causes. I’m sure you’re using some of those skills to pull back the layers of the onioin, right?

Monique Russell  08:19

You could say that again. I mean, it is like Inspector Gadget, the female version on a mission, you know?

Karan Rhodes  08:26

That’s right.

Monique Russell  08:30

And I love it. It is so true. Karan, like, just I love being able to help people figure out, unpack, uncover, “Okay, this is what you said, but what did you really say? What did you really want to say? What message were you really trying to get across? So what are your audience think it you know, what, what are they thinking?” So I do use the background of my education and everything that I do on a weekly basis, even helping people to learn how to present better, or be ready for an anticipated questions, because that’s a big one, when leaders really want to be able to answer questions they don’t have the answers to have. So this is yeah, this is something that’s integrated through and through diving into their messaging, their self awareness, helping them to make more strategic decisions when they don’t have all the information. That’s definitely my investigative journalism coming into play.

Karan Rhodes  09:26

Coming through, right? Oh, that is amazing. Well, tell me what are some of the areas of focus for clear communication solutions right now? Like what are some of the the hot areas that your business is there’s really partnering with employers or companies on right now?

Monique Russell  09:44

Right. So it’s so funny because it’s definitely connected to my own personal journey, which I actually didn’t see this or consider this for a very long time to be honest with you, but it’s really about helping the companies to keep their are top talent engaged, so 30% of employees who are leaving the workforce they’re leaving to start a business. I mean, both you and I are here. We’re validating that that statistic. But on a weekly basis, I am talking to at least three individuals who are highly engaged, they’re helping their company to really take some innovative stances, because, you know, they’re, they’re just looking for ways to solve problems. But that part of the fulfillment, there’s something that’s triggering them for greater meaning for greater fulfillment. And they’re considering also started a business. So I’m helping employers to really think strategically on how to use the upskilling approach to keep their top talent engaged. Another report that came out was the American upskilling survey by Gallup and it was saying that 48% of people said, you know, what, if someone else offers me a job where I can upskill on the job, I’m out of here, like their switching. They’re gone. Yes, that’s close to half. So this is just a trend, I think, for leaders who are so busy, who, you know, may not really have time to keep up to date with the, with the trends and keep up to date with the shifts in the workplace, this is a time where it can really be more strategic or creative in terms of how you form those learning communities at work to keep people more engaged, and even thinking, you know, cross functionally, what that would look like, what new skills, they could think of, what new approaches they could use to keep the top talent engaged.

Karan Rhodes  11:45

That’s amazing. And, you know, put you on the spot. And we don’t want to give names because we’re going to protect other individuals. But I wonder if an example pops to mind with maybe a group or individual that you worked with that by improving their communication skills, they ended up really get into a much better result than anticipated, you know, stories like that really kind of helped spark inspiration in our listeners. And so why is there one that’s kind of top of mind for you by chance?

Monique Russell  12:18

Yeah, there’s several. And I’m thinking like, okay, well, how do we make this so that it is truly sterile, and sanitize it down? Right, so, but I remember there was one individual that I was working with, and the thing about it is the love for music, the love for music was a passion that was, you know, not really brought out to the forefront in the corporate space, it was something that was done on this side. But through helping the individual really get a sense of greater awareness and seeing how to blend both skills and passion like really bringing in and I think a lot of employees could really think about how to help their employees, bring in their other skill sets or their other loves, and see how it can help them, you know, partner to create innovation in the company. But this is someone that we we worked on. And I will just say like, at the end of the day, they not only got a promotion, but they became a very integral part of marketing and promotions for that company using their passion for music. So I mean, there’s so many different experiences where I’ve worked with an individual or I’ve worked with someone who not only did they improve their communication skills that help them work better with their team members or with their leaders. But the biggest satisfaction comes when they’re able to see that, okay, I could bring in this part of me, I could bring this, I don’t have to push this to the side, I can bring this part of me. And actually, it can also help them to secure roles, because we’ve been going through a lot of layoffs in different companies. And I know with surety 100% that a few of the folks that I’ve worked with, they were able to hold or bring more value to their organization because they were able to bring in the other things that they they did outside of work into their existing job.

Karan Rhodes  14:17

You know, I’m curious, what do you see is one of the most common areas of opportunity for improvement as it relates to communications in the world of work right now, like what is one piece of low hanging fruit that, you know, companies could target pretty easily that people struggle with?

Monique Russell  14:35

Well, the easy part is not easy. I know we’re supposed to find this like the really easy thing, but I think that’s the hard part in the past. Maybe it was easy to do to check the box thing, but because of the shift again, like multi-generational workforce, different priorities in the workforce, borderless teams where so many different cultures, a lot of the clients that I work with, there’s they’re in different countries, you know, they’re in Spain, they’re in Germany, they’re, you know, they’re, and they have cross functional teams that are, you know, all across the world. So I don’t think there’s an easy approach, I think the approach is that we really have to support, employers really have to support individuals in getting deeper awareness. When it comes to communication, what I tend to see is, it’s easy for people to say, you know, let’s keep at that top level, high level training, you know, just check the box to say that we’ve brought in the communication, but for the long term, we have to pair it with training and coaching for a longer period of time and for the team. So helping people to get better aware of themselves to learn how to find common ground, working in different departments, you know, that having competing priorities, really, that starts with getting a better understanding of self, and then also maintaining that frequency of communication. So low hanging fruit is we need to strategically quantify how communication, poor communication is impacting our workplace. And on average, it’s costing one employee about $1,000 a month, $12,000 per year and poor communication. So

Karan Rhodes  16:21

That is just amazing. I didn’t even realize that the, even the financial impact on organizations. I mean, everyone knows communication is important, but when you put it in dollars and cents and true impact to the bottom line, you know, that’s very eye opening, I think, for a lot of executives, you know, leaders. It is for me, anyway.

Monique Russell  16:40

Yeah, yeah. And there’s so many, so many areas where there are opportunities to improve, you know, just in the meetings, or you think about time management with the calendars and setting effective boundaries, advocating for the team, you know, just a lot of things happen from that lack of awareness. On the true impact. People will say, Yeah, we know poor communication, you know, we have a problem of communication. But do you really know how much time you’re losing, or how much time is being taken because you’re not able to come to an agreement or helping people to learn how to disagree, but still move forward. Right?

Karan Rhodes  17:22

You know, we love to give a practical tool or tip and I know you deliver a lot of them in your your coursework in your coaching work does one come to mind that you have a quick one quick piece of advice or tool or something that someone can do to help improve one particular aspect of communication?

Monique Russell  17:40

For sure, I will always reference the HALT method, right, the HALT which is H A L T: Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. And this taps into emotional intelligence and also self awareness, we tend to make decisions that are in a fog, which is out of fear, obligation and guilt, when we’re not really paying attention to our needs. If we are hungry, oh my gosh, like that impacts our decision making if we’re angry, it impacts our decision making. If we’re feeling lonely, it impacts our decision making. And if we’re fatigued or tired, it impacts our decision making. So anytime you find yourself in that state, but you have to be aware of it, I say HALT and address those needs. Grab a snack, get some water, you know, take take a walk type of the email angrily but don’t send it. Don’t send it or send it to yourself. How about that. And then if you’re feeling a bit lonely, you can take out a journal, you can listen to something motivational, use music to influence or shape your mood, get out in nature, call up a friend. And if you’re tired, seriously, the power of a 15 or 20 minute nap will do you wonders.

Karan Rhodes  18:56

You’re so right. You’re so spot on that and I know you’re a great you know, leader in your own right. I mean, you were successful in corporate America as well as your own business. I’m curious, what do you do? What do you do to lead at the top of your game? How do you…where do you focus to try to bring your best at all times?

Monique Russell  19:16

Yes. So I practice what I preach literally and figuratively. I can’t say the word today or now figuratively. Come on. So I definitely use those methods. I use the HALT method as well. I definitely use a lot of journaling. But I think the biggest thing that really widens my effectiveness is my intentional travel. And intentional travel. It just helps me to really see things from different perspectives. It helps me to experience cultures. Always challenge, challenge, challenge the bias because that’s the biggest thing like the the really the largest problem we’re facing when we’re in leadership or when we’re working with others or even in our marriages and raising our kids is not being able to see different perspectives and not being able to receive that different approach or a perspective. I think traveling for me, helps me to widen that gap.

Karan Rhodes  20:18

Me too. Me you. And I’ve traveled so much to you quite extensively, but and I’ve always tried to, you know, bring my family with me when I can to help open their eyes as well. And you’re so right. When you’re able to do intentional travel, and get past the touristy points and really understand the culture, the people, and even their diversity of perspective, it really opens your eyes. So you’re so spot on, on that. We have the same love.

Monique Russell  20:49

Mmhmm. Definitely, definitely.

Karan Rhodes  20:54

And you know, I’m always a person of action. So leadership and action. And one of my favorite questions I love to ask my guest is, you know, out of the seven tactics that came out my research that some of the world’s most successful leaders master, I’m curious out of those seven, if any of one resonated for you, and and if you could share it, or if not, what is an action that resonate leadership action that resonates with you?

Monique Russell  21:19

Oh, my goodness. So the one that I love the most, is strategic decision making Karan. Strategic decision making, yeah, oh, man, who. So you’re trying to go on vacation, and you’re trying to figure out what activities you’re going to do. And you’re in a group of five, and everybody has something different that they want to accomplish. But instead of choosing one thing, now two days out of the vacation has gone and nothing has happened? Because no decision has been made. And I think this is similar to what happens in organizations where there’s many competing priorities. And everyone feels like their priority has the top precedence. And they don’t know how we’re going to move forward. How are we going to take that next step without someone else not getting what they think should be the right solution. So I love strategic decision making, because I think it gives people a framework in terms of how we’re going or a process people like process, there’s freedom and process, I think, and so you have a process on how we’re going to make decisions, how we are going to agree to behave and play in the sandbox when we make these decisions. And then from a personal standpoint, I just, I gamify it. I’m like, Okay, do I have enough information to make this decision? I don’t remember where I read what book I read, but it was about the speed of implementation, I’ll never forget that line. It was just like, the speed of implementation is so important. When you’re learning something new. When you’re trying to make a decision, you may not have all the information, but making that decision quickly, is what’s going to get the momentum going. So…

Karan Rhodes  23:10

Can I add to that? Quickly, but with the most data or information or facts possible at the time for you, so you can make the best calculated risk when you ultimately make the decision. So I’ve done it in a vacuum in other words.

Monique Russell  23:27

Exactly, exactly. I love it. So I gamify it, I’m like, Oh, I’ve been sitting on this this when will literally Karan when I have a decision that I have been sitting on for maybe a week or two weeks, which will give me torture. But if it’s a week, I’m like, Okay. I don’t care what it is, this decision is getting made today.

Karan Rhodes  23:50

And, you know, I will be honest with you, I struggle with that, I would I know is critical. To be a good leader, my natural nature is to because I’m kind of a semi-perfectionist. And so my natural nature is to stop and think until I have a better level of confidence. But you know, running a business and and having to consult with clients who need to make a decision in the moment they don’t have time to wait on me to take a week to give them advice kind of thing. That has made me have to sharpen my own skills, if you will, about taking information. That’s why it’s so fresh for me, you know, taking the information you have at the time doing research, and then very quickly, and then making that you know, the final decision or working with your other stakeholders or team members to make a final decision. So and I love how you gamify it that might be what I need to do to help myself because I love playing games.

Monique Russell  24:53

Yes! I’m like, You know what, when I read that I need to really find where I read and I was like, huh, I was saying Something some astronomical thing like 80 something percent of people get hung up because they don’t or they take too long to make a decision or that the window of when they are inspired to make a decision is so short. And once that passes with each moment, it gets harder and harder and harder to make that decision. So I use an affirmation from Les Brown “Done is better than perfect.” I literally have it plastered there. “Done is better than perfect. Everything counts.” So yeah, that talk to myself.

Karan Rhodes  25:32

And he has something to that. There’s something to that something that absolutely. Well, Monique…I we literally I blinked. And we’re now near closing time back. Are there any last words, comments, words of wisdom that you would like to leave with our audience today?

Monique Russell  25:49

Yes, for your wonderful, amazing listeners who are leading at the top of their game, your game, just want to encourage you. Communication, effective communication is messy. You’re not going to be perfect. So having that expectation that they’re going to be some bumps in the road, I might make some mistakes. But you could always get back on track. It’s an ongoing process, and you are getting better each time you learn, and you reflect. So don’t make it something that you feel it’s too hard to do, or you have to be perfect to do it. Just take that step, you’re doing a great job, keep up the good work, and continue to upskill and develop to bring out your best and lead at the top of your game.

Karan Rhodes  26:34

Awesome. Thank you so much Monique. You have been a fantastic guest. We’ve had tons of nuggets of information. Listeners, all her tips are going to be in our show notes. You’re going to get the acronyms for HALT for fog. And you get to re listen to all of her advice and revisit her case study example that she was so kind to share with us. But thank you so much, Monique for the gift of your time today.

Monique Russell  27:01

It has been a pleasure. Thank you for having me on the show, Karan.

Karan Rhodes  27:06

All right, listeners. Thanks again for joining the elite at the top of your game podcast. Be sure to share the episode with your network of strategic supporters. I’m sure there’s some nuggets that will be great for them as well. And we are always thankful for the additional listeners. You all have a wonderful rest of your day and see you next week. Bye. I hope you enjoyed our conversation today with Monique Russell, founder and CEO of Clear Communication Solutions. Links to her bio, her entry into our leadership playbook, and additional resources can be found in the show notes, both on your favorite podcast platform of choice and on the website, leadyourgamepodcast.com. And now for Karen’s take on today’s topic of the role of communication and leadership. So today I thought I’d focus on highlighting just a few of the most common mistakes individuals make when communicating about the leadership initiatives that they’re involved in. Mistake number one involves going on what we call radio silence. radio silence is all about too little communication that causes anxiety for your stakeholders. I mean, think how you’d feel if discussions were rushed or non existent. For some people, not receiving regular status updates. And having them frequently enough, makes them really question both you and the effort that you’re leading. So do your best to communicate on a frequent basis. The second common mistake I want to highlight is what I call constant pain. This is when too much communication leads to annoyance of both you and other people. So on the opposite end of the spectrum as it relates to radio silence, over communication can also lead to stress. And, you know, this occurs when you have endless meetings to discuss the project, but little to no movement on the actual execution. And it can also happen when you find yourself feilding a ton of continuous questions from your team, and really sorting through irrelevant information. That is both frustrating for both you and the people that you’re trying to help. And the third mistake I’d love to highlight is the miscommunication that sometimes occurs. And when it does, this really really creates frustration in both yourself and others. You know, sometimes you have the right frequency and quality of communications, but there’s a lack of mutual understanding. You know, maybe you think that you know what other people want, but when you show them what you’ve been working on, they’re disappointed and you’re surprised about that. Other times. You may have thought you’ve answered somebody’s question, but they’re still confused. Or worse yet, you end up doing the same work on parts of the project that other people are doing because you thought one thing and they thought it another. So I want to just encourage you to take some time and reflect on the work that you are currently involved in and see if any of these communication road bumps, road bumps I’m sorry, happened occurring. The good news is that with only a few slight course corrections, you can easily knock these mistakes out of the park and make them better. Thanks so much for listening everyone and see you next week. And that’s our show for today. Thank you for listening to the lead at the top of your game podcast, where we help you lead your seat at any employer, business, or industry in which you choose to play. You can check out the show notes, additional episodes, and bonus resources, and also submit guest recommendations on our website at leadyourgamepodcast.com. You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn by searching for the name Karan Rhodes with Karan being spelled k a r a n. And if you like the show, the greatest gift you can give would be to subscribe and leave a rating on your podcast platform of choice. This podcast has been a production of Shockingly Different Leadership, a global consultancy which helps organizations execute their people, talent development, and organizational effectiveness initiatives on an on-demand, project, or contract basis. Huge thanks to our production and editing team for a job well done. Goodbye for now.