Sarah Albo | Working, Together.

💰🚨$1000 USDT GIVEAWAY ALERT!🚨💰 I'll draw one winner on Sunday, October 6th! 🎲 To enter: 1️⃣ Register an account with @PhenomPokerApp using this link ⬇️: play.phenompoker.com/registe… 2️⃣ Reply Post and show off your Phenom avatar here 📸🎥 3️⃣ Repost this tweet 🗣️

How do you handle #ConflictResolution in the #workplace? Our free #webinar on August 15 will teach #nonprofit professionals and leaders how to prepare for difficult conversations in the workplace. Register today! ⬇️ okt.to/rpcyR0

Congratulations to @Conflict_Coach of ADR Institute of Ontario on receiving her new Qualified Mediator designation! Félicitations à Sarah Albo de Institut de médiation et d’arbitrage de l’Ontario d’avoir reçue sa nouvelle désignation Médiateur breveté!

18 months ago I worked a bloated corporate job on Wall Street. Now I run a lean team of 10 that gets more done in a week than most do in a year. And this weekend, we held our first in-person team offsite. Here are the 8 lessons I walked away with (on leadership & culture) 1. Most “solopreneurs” want to work by themselves out of spite A lot of people talk about how great it is to run a “one-person” business. But everyone promoting that lifestyle tells the same story: they've "freed" themselves from being burnt out, working for a horrible team in the past. And that experience burned them so badly they never want to deal with other people again. Now, I've worked by myself and I've worked with a team. And trust me, working by yourself is lonely, frustrating, and slow. Give me a team of absolute lethal weapon A-players over the solopreneur lifestyle any day. It's more fun, more fulfilling, and more lucrative if you have the management skills to correctly align the incentives of the entire team. -- 2. Your team culture hides in Slack & Zoom—but reveals itself when the entire group is together When I was working on Wall Street, our team "offsites" went like this: Day 1: • Stuff everyone into a conference room to give presentations no one cared about • Finally finish and beeline straight to the team happy hour for 3 hours of drinking Day 2: • Everyone rolls in hungover, unhappy, and complaining that there's another day of this • Sugary breakfast to break the hangover, immediately in a food coma with zero motivation to work • More presentations and conversations that were poorly prepared • Another happy hour to "blow off steam" from a "hard" two days of work But this weekend, our offsite went a little different: • Every person on the team showed up like it was training camp: Sharp, high energy, ready to ball • Every person got up and got after it in the hotel gym both mornings • Zero out of 14 people drank anything at either group dinner (so they could continue to be at their best) • There was not a single complaint from anyone on the team—everything was positive and focused on moving our mission forward And this difference arises from our core values: • Relentless Tempo • Extreme Ownership • Championship Energy We mention these 50+ times per day, at least. And for the most part, I *thought* our "remote" culture was electric. But it truly revealed itself during our time together. -- 3. Don't underestimate the amount your team members look up to you Just 18 months ago, I worked for a company with 10,000 employees and I sat firmly at the bottom of the totem pole. Now, I run a team of 10 others who look to me to set the direction, vision, and tempo. (I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like a massive wave of imposter syndrome when we sat down to start and I saw 10 sets of eyes turn to me. You don't feel this on Zoom or in Slack, so this was a new feeling for me.) And this left me with an important realization: If you run a small team without any hierarchy or bureaucracy, chances are, you are one of the most influential people in the life of each team member. They'll watch how you conduct yourself, how you speak, how you listen, everything. Small things you say off the cuff can leave them thinking or pondering for weeks. But I find this empowering and have completely reframed it as a positive. I plan on liberally sharing the way I operate with my team. I want to create internal trainings on topics that are obvious to me but my younger or less experienced team members will find a lot of value in. • Sleep • Nutrition • Exercise • Organization • Personal beliefs • Personal finance I can't wait to distill and share my frameworks with them more often. -- 4. Nothing beats the energy & speed of having an in-person event This was the first time we've ever had the entire team together. Last year we were just a team of 4. Now, we're a team of 12—so a lot has changed. This was the first time I had met 5 of the team members in person. And this was the first time many of them had met many of the others. The energy was infectious. The speed with which we made decisions and started mapping out new systems was lightning quick. And it made me realize the importance of doing this on at least a quarterly basis. Remote work has its benefits, but so does in-person work. So the goal is to identify all of the in-person benefits and make sure we tap into them as much as we can. Now, onto the logistical lessons I learned from the event: -- 5. When putting an event together, keep the environment dynamic The absolute worst thing you can do is stay in a hotel and rent a conference room in that hotel. They’re stuffy, rarely have windows, and no one wants to sit there for hours on end. Instead, we operated in multiple locations which kept the energy fresh. • Workouts at the hotel • Different restaurants each night • Walking meetings & walking home from events • Time together both inside & outside for fresh air • Conference room in a completely different part of town • Time together with the whole group + small group huddle time The entire weekend was free of stale moments, which made our time together more effective & more enjoyable. -- 6. Hire a photographer and videographer, it’s worth every penny The event itself was great—but what was even better are the photos & videos we will fondly look back on for the next 50 years. We had our video guy film a mini documentary of the entire weekend. He took photos of everyone at each venue which captured the energy of the entire team. We also had another photographer snap fresh headshots for every team member so they can update their social profiles. This is a relatively small additional expense to make the time together more memorable for everyone. -- 7. Invite your most successful customers to come to the offsite for a hot seat day We had several of our most successful students come out for a 1-day intensive to help them scale their Ghostwriting Agencies. This meant every team member got to hear each student’s story going from $0 to $30k+ per month since they began working with us. Bringing them out does two things: 1. Increases conviction in the mission from each of your team members 2. Gives even more value to your best customers We already had all of the logistics mapped out to have the team there, so there was little additional planning or expense for us to bolt this “intensive mastermind session” on to the rest of the weekend. Truly a win-win. -- 8. Have your team members write up their takeaways from the event and share them with you Last but not least, this is the most important part of the offsite. Rather than have everyone dive straight back into work when they get back, I’m encouraging them to spend a few hours reflecting on their experience. This does two things: 1. Gives them space to share their ideas with you—ones you might have overlooked but they saw as profound or important 2. Makes sure they squeeze the most value out of our time together by distilling everything they learned And as a kicker for me, many of the ideas they share back to me will be the foundation for future content I can write about building a team. Once again a win-win all around. -- Aaaand that’s it. Last night as I sat down to reflect on the last few days, it truly hit me that I’m running my dream business. I’m working 14 hours a day on a mission I care deeply about. I’m surrounded by a team of absolute all-stars who force me to up my game on a daily basis. And the best part? I’m having more fun than I ever thought possible. Here’s to keeping it going ✊ -- To recap: 1. Most “solopreneurs” want to work by themselves out of spite 2. Your team culture hides in Slack & Zoom—but reveals itself when the entire group is together 3. Don’t underestimate the amount your team members look up to you 4. Nothing beats the energy & speed of having an in-person event 5. When putting an event together, keep the environment dynamic 6. Hire a photographer and videographer, it’s worth every penny 7. Invite your most successful customers to come to the offsite for a hot seat day 8. Have your team members write up their takeaways from the event and share them with you -- By the way, we spent a lot of our time together working on the curriculum for Full Stack Writer: 7 Skills To 7 Figures. And we can't wait to launch this and help more writers earn life-changing $$$ from their writing. Because if you're ready to reach 6 or 7 figures as writer in 2024, then you need to be more than *just* a writer. You need: • Viral Writing • Newsletter Writing • Offer Creation • Landing Page Copywriting • Sales Email Marketing • AI Prompt Writing • Ghostwriting We're launching this in 8 days—join the waitlist in the reply to this post.