Building Stronger Teams Through Relationship-Driven Leadership with Jessper Maquindang | 006

Consuela Muñoz: In today's episode, we're gonna be talking with Jessper Maquindang. And he is an expert on helping teams and leaders build those strong teams through different events. And I can't wait to welcome Jess per,

Excellent. Good morning from Los Angeles. I'm excited to join you today.

Consuela Muñoz: Oh, my goodness. So is it sunny out there in Los Angeles,

it is it's actually expected to reach triple digits in Southern California. So I'm really looking forward to the heat. But I'm still glad it's sunny and warm weather.

Consuela Muñoz: Wow, I could be worse than sunny and warm. So love this Jessper, I know what you're doing. I love what you're doing. Tell me a little bit to start out with, how has your key strengths changed or really informed your leadership style?

Absolutely. So I remember taking strengths finders, I believe I remember three out of five, and there was harmony, included and adaptability. And when I looked at these results, it made me realize that I appreciate the social side of leadership, that team building that cohesion, that's really informed how I want to approach the field of leadership. And just throughout my career, I really honed in on that, really giving people the opportunity to feel like they're part of something greater than themselves a part of mission and purpose that we can all work together.

Consuela Muñoz: So that's amazing, your top three strengths, you most likely lead them for relationship building. So relationships are very important. I know from what I've seen from different teams, sometimes people who lead from a relationship building are not necessarily as sought after to be leaders because there's this stereotype or this idea that that's you need to be a strategic person, or you need to be someone who gets things done, only to lead. But I know. And you know, that more important is knowing how you lead and using that information. So knowing that you lead from relationship building, you bring that into the work that you do. So I'd love to hear more about how and y'all include her include her and adaptability together include her is that one that nobody wants to be left behind, you don't want to leave anyone behind, bring everybody in. So tell me a little bit about how you use the fact that you lead from relationship building into developing what you do with leaders and teams.

That's actually an excellent question, especially in this day and age where we have just moved past the pandemic. And we're seeing more people work remotely and hybrid, where they're not getting that same face to face in person interaction as we used to experience before the pandemic. And that sense of belonging is so much more crucial. Now there is just this great opportunity to make people feel like they belong as a part of something. So what I have done, especially during the pandemic, and as we move past it is really being intentional about reaching out to staff, members, employees, people who we work with, make sure you're very scheduling more appointments. Back in the day, as it was so much easier when in person was still the norm. A manager employee can just walk around the office to someone else's cubicle, have a quick chat and really have conversations that build that relationship. But it's not as easy as it used to be compared to how it was. So nowadays, I would encourage leaders and managers to be a lot more intentional about opening up those communication channels, that way employees, staff members, team members, they really get that opportunity to be heard.

Consuela Muñoz: Oh my goodness, that is amazing. Right? Your it is a change. You're not bumping into someone in the break room or at the you know, getting water or even popping into their office as easily unless you're intentionally doing that. You know, I know some companies use, like, teams or instant messenger or some kind of thing to be able to have that quick communication. But if you're not being intentional about that, that could fall by the wayside. Right. And as we know, with everybody operating from different sets of strings, different individuals are going to need different levels of that connection, have that feeling drawn in. So do you have some actionable things that that leaders listening to the podcast could do to be more intention to bring that intention and to help make their team stronger? Absolutely.

As we've seen in recent days, there's so many more technologies that really give you that opportunity to keep in contact with other people. There's Microsoft Teams. Google made zero We have all these chat apps like WhatsApp, all these are ways to really see what your employees are up to, I would encourage taking the time to schedule a quick check in, it doesn't have to be formal, or official, it can be something as quick as a five minute check in, just put it on your calendar. And when you get the opportunity to connect with your employee, or manager or team member, have a conversation of how are you? How are things going more than just what are you doing that can lead to overwhelm and burnout when you're just checking in on people? Just to check in? Yeah, what progress of their work you want to know about how they're doing on an individual level to seeing? Is the work manageable? Is everything going well. And of course, you want to check in as far as any personal things as well, as far as just how you're doing in general. That way, when you get that human perspective, you're getting a better understanding of how you can work much better with your employee or manager moving forward. Yeah,

Consuela Muñoz: that is really important. And it made me think it reminded me, I had seen this thing, it feels like a million years ago now. But I had seen this thing around the tone, the tone in which you say, Have you got a minute, because when someone hears every level, like depending on your tone, that can instill some panic and fear and individuals, right? And so can create, you know, like you're saying, if you're only checking in to see how that they may feel like you're just checking up on them, versus checking in with them and hearing them. And it's hard, and much harder to do tone in a text message in, you know, a message like, Hey, do you have a minute? Now, what is that other person thinking? But if in general, you're operating in a way that they know to expect that and they know that you're we're just going to have a quick conversation, like we're at the, you know, at the watercooler. That's better than what it could be right? Like, oh, that's going through their mind. So I love making that intentional and using the tools that we do have at our, our hands now that we didn't have right? To make that intention. What are some other things that leaders need to be doing now that we are where we are?

Absolutely. But another thing that's crucial is active listening. I know that based on a lot of leadership, research, a lot of people listen, to respond, instead of listening to understand that in today's world, especially in the world of this relationship building, you want to make sure other people feel heard. Because if they don't feel heard, people are going to tune out and feel like their work doesn't matter. But if you're giving them that voice, they'll be so much more engaged. And they'll actually listen to you as well. And to help you achieved what you need to get done for that day. So really having that empathy, listening, being there for others, in turn, they'll reciprocate and give you that respect as well.

Consuela Muñoz: Yes, very important to respect as a leader isn't. If you're approaching it as if respect me because I'm leader versus let me earn respect, it's not going to be as strong as it could be. Right? Like you. You want to create that atmosphere where they're engaged, where they know that they're heard, where they know, that you're listened to, if you're asking a question and not listening to the response, they're going to know that they're going to know you're not paying attention, and they're going to be less likely to share honestly, with you in the future. And I think one thing, you know, we hear about communication, right? You want to be able to put communication on your resume, all those things that people miss the point of communication that is most can be most important and that is listening, actively listening, to be able to say back what they said not listening to respond. Huge difference. And it is a big key component in being a good communicator. Communicating is not just speaking, it's being able to receive the information and actively listening to it. So I think what you're saying there is absolutely brilliant. Is there anything else that someone's so they need to be intentional about having these appointments? Have this active listening? Is there anything else that leaders should be doing? Absolutely. Now,

this reminds me of the world of culture and it's more than just pizza parties, and it's more than just take your dogs to work their culture is really setting up. That's right. And bigger leader in setting up the right culture. There is always the often quoted Simon Sinek start with why purpose mission, really express In that, in sharing that with your team and your people, that's what's going to inspire them to move forward. Because if they feel like the organization is just doing things with no sense of direction, that's really going to turn them off. But on the other hand, if an organization stands for something noble, something worthwhile, and you're expressing that value, you have a team that will be inspired to help you move forward. So really, believing in that purpose and sharing that with the people that you work with.

Consuela Muñoz: You're speaking my language here, Jessper, because really important, when I talk about achieving aspirations, right, knowing where you're going, knowing what you want to achieve, is important. But helping each member of your team. Also feel connected to where you're going, that that where you're going, your goal, that thing that you're trying to achieve. I often talk about folks achieving what other people think are impossible. And so achieving that. You need to have everybody else know why it's important for them. So not only knowing your why, and them knowing your why, but you knowing their why, why is it important to them to reach the goal. And when each team member knows that information, you're like unstoppable, you are going to be able to achieve bigger and more amazing things with your team because they're going to be engaged and powerful and ready to go. Oh, my goodness, yes, this is amazing. All of this.

What's right, when you're reminding your employees or team that your work is making the world a better place? Imagine how much impact that will have on their heart?

Consuela Muñoz: Yes, yes, bringing that in. And again, because your relationship building, you bring that in to, you know, the heart of people. And you could say that other folks, if they're not from relationship building, might not be as heart centered, right, they're like, more focused on strategy are more focused on executing or what have you. But at the end of the day, everyone on your team as human, well, unless you use an AI, but everyone on your team is human. And they all need to be heard, have those feelings want to feel connected to something that is bigger than them. They may not express it in the same way. But it is important to every team. So it's something not to overlook. And I would imagine that because you lead from there, this is something you're really good at. So I'd love to ask you, Jasper, tell us about what is you know, of your three strengths that you remembered? What is the most important strength that's really influenced how you've been able to achieve the impossible, how you've been able to achieve that aspirational goal for what you do?

Absolutely, for me, it is the strength I would most credit to is included, making sure everyone has that voice. Because in one of my roles, we were just trying to find ways to be more efficient and more productive. But when I asked each individual member, what's on your mind, instead of just getting all the ideas just for myself, but actually making sure everyone else had their voice, we really collected all these insights and perspectives to really build a more productive workforce for my department. And over time, we realize that it got to the point where getting from point A to point B test one, two and three, it was just so automatic that you didn't have to think about it. And you realize that you've reached a high level of performance, when you get to that level because you don't, you no longer have to put in any extra effort to get there. So that's the value I see and really giving other people a voice. I

Consuela Muñoz: love that and there are things that you think of that somebody else wouldn't think of and being able to give somebody their voice is a really key piece that again, people would miss so I love what you're doing and I love how you bring your strengths into action there to help achieve those aspirational things. So thank you again Jessper for for today.

Thank You Consuela. I had a great time on their show.