[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is where smart business conversations meet real world experience, where strategies are shared, lessons are learned, and ideas come to life. I'm Emily Galindo and you're watching Biz Talk, your destination for real insight from the mind shaping tomorrow's business world only on NOW Media Television.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Welcome to Biz Talk. I'm your host, Emily Galindo. And today we're addressing something every business leader faces, difficult conversations, whether it's managing conflict, giving feedback, or addressing behavior. Too many leaders avoid these moments and it's often cost them more than they realize.
Joining me today is Bikita Poindexter, a nationally recognized HR and DEI expert with over 30 years of experience helping companies navigate tough challenges with confidence and integrity. Known as the HR fixer, she helped organizations turn tension into trust and conflict into collaboration. Vakita, thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:01:00] Speaker C: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Absolutely. This is definitely a conversation that needs to be had similar to the topic we talked at the top, which is conversations that we don't have. Right. And how much is that costing our company?
So many leaders think silence helps keep the peace. And, you know, means that if it's not broke, don't. If it's not completely broke, we don't need to address it or fix it. And if we just ignore it, it might just go away on its own. Like why, why is that always the easier route or for them the easier route in the moment than just addressing it head on?
[00:01:35] Speaker C: Well, you know, it's, it's one, it's really simple. You know, everybody in nature just typically wants to stay away from conflict. Right. Whether it's in our business lives or personal lives, just in general, we don't like to deal with conflict, but. And we don't like to have crucial conversations. And like you said, if it's not broke, don't fix it. However, if it's cracked, then it's going to turn into a fault line and you're going to have a major issue. And so you have to be able to deal with conflict. Conflict is healthy. It's how you communicate during the course of that particular conflict. Not dealing with it, not addressing it, kind of escalates the situation where it morphs into something that it didn't need to be. If we were just to simply have, you know, old fashioned communication.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Right. I would assume that if you continually stuff it or sweep it under the rug and we pretend like it's not happening that eventually it becomes explosive. Right. And maybe the communication style at that point is not at all Effective, Right. Or helpful.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: Right. And so I think that part of the challenge is one of the reason why leaders really kind of avoid it is we've just gone into this electronic form of communication. Well, let me send an email, let me send a text message, let me see an IM or DM or whatever is necessary instead of having old fashioned communications.
Sometimes it's just miscommunication where you're talking about conflict and so, or when you call, when you're talking about challenging conversations, we want to avoid them by all costs. But when what you don't deal with will create long term problems for yourself and the organization, they even morph into, you know, performance issues, team issues, leadership issues, and legal issues. And so in order to mitigate risk and liability, you got to be willing just to jump on in there and deal with some of the challenges that you have to deal with. It's not as difficult as people think it is. It's just a avoidance. We just don't want to.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Gotcha.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: And so if we were to actually do it though, you have to take a stance that it actually builds trust versus breaking it down. Because I think some people think that if I give you this feedback, you're gonna reject me, not like me. It's gonna impact this working relationship. All of those sound negative, but your stance is that it actually improves the relationship and can improve trust. Talk about that a little bit.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Absolutely. So when we talk about crucial conversations and we talk about conflict, and I think one thing that leaders have to be able to clearly understand, you are not responsible for how people feel.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: That's.
[00:03:49] Speaker C: That's not your job as a leader. And I know that sounds harsh, but that's just the reality. You're not responsible for it. What you are responsible for is creating a work environment that is conducive, where people are able to thrive, where they're able to grow. But being responsible for how they feel is not part of your duties and responsibilities as a leader. I think that is one of the reasons why leaders tend to stay away from having those particular conversations. Now, how does it build trust? It builds trust because now you're being more authentic, you're being more transparent. You're dealing with that conflict head on. And then your, your team, your, your employees, or whoever you're responsible for are saying, hey, this is someone that I can go to when I have a question, comment, complaint or concern. Those are all of my C's that I talk about and they're willing to at least hear me out. They may not agree with me they may not provide me the income, the outcome that I am, but at least they're giving me the opportunity to express the concerns. And most of the time, it's just about being heard from an employee perspective.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Okay. And so from the employer perspective, what are some communication techniques that help leaders approach conflict with this? More confidence and care, you know, and doing it head on at a small stakes versus when we're explosive on the big stake.
[00:05:03] Speaker C: Absolutely. So what you need to be authentic. Right. People can see where you're just going through the motions or whether you are really concerned about whatever situation they're bringing to the table. So listening to, and I cannot stress this enough, you have to listen to understand.
Oftentimes when we're communicating, we're listening to respond. We. We grab just enough to be able to say, okay, I got it. Now let me, you know, run off with whatever response that I want to be able to give so I can address it and kind of move on. You got. You have to take these conversations and these conflict scenarios very seriously. So you have to listen to understand, really try to understand what. What the employee or whoever you're communicating with is trying to convey to you. And if you're not clear, then ask qualifying questions. Okay, so what I hear you saying is this, that, and the other, and then engage them with resolution to the own problem. And so oftentimes, as leaders, we feel like we have to be able to come in, diagnose the situation, be able to create a plan, and then fix it. We're leaders. We're not heart surgeons. And so you just need to be one. Listen with authenticity. Be very authentic in your communication. Listen to, understand, help create resolution. You not fix the problem for them, but help them create resolution as well. And then that builds that leader, coach, employee, team member kind of relationship, and they won't be so concerned about bringing a concern to you.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: All right. And I mean, that's incredibly helpful because we. I think we get really. Some people can get really wrapped up in the process. Right. Like, how do I do this? And there are some leaders of organizations that you've got a checklist of all the things we have to go through to make this makes sense for everybody. Could you maybe talk a little bit? Make. Bring a little. Bring it to life and talk a little bit about a client that you may have worked with that came in that to you, and this was maybe their biggest issue and how you were able to help them work through it and what that impact was on the company.
[00:06:54] Speaker C: Sure. So that's a daily Occurrence for us. Right. And so I literally was having a call this morning with a particular client that is going through a situation where, you know, two C suite leaders are exiting the organization. And, and so that's a little bit of a challenge. And so what is that communication going to look like to the team? What is the perception going to be with the team? And so really, you know, saying listen, I understand the narrative does not look well. However, it's for the benefit of the particular organization. It's not going to crumble the organization. Things are not going to fall apart.
I think one of the things that we have to do is get out of our own feelings and emotions about, you know, whatever situation or scenario that we're currently dealing with is business is not personal. And so I think once we first take that one step, I think that allows us to create a strategic plan. Now planning is good. Having a strategy for how you deal with certain situations is always advantageous. So for example, you know, we get a plethora of calls regarding, you know, being uncomfortable within the workplace. Well, what does that mean? Everybody's uncomfortable about something. Right now I'm uncomfortable that my football team lost yesterday. So am I going to take that into the workplace and, and have a bad attitude? So there has to be processes and systems that are in place.
If there is a challenge, what's the first step of action? Do you contact your immediate supervisor? Do you contact hr? If your immediate supervisor is the problem, then what is that next step?
Then once you have these policies and procedures in place, employees know exactly what the chain of command is.
In this particular scenario that I'm talking about that I was dealing with this morning and talking to the CEO of the organization. I said, listen, let's put together this strategic plan. Let's have this conversation regarding the reason why these individuals are exiting. It's just basically their assignment on this team has ended. And so how you communicate that to the rest of your team members will have an impact on how they receive the information. So again, communication is crucial. It is extremely crucial. No matter what you are dealing with. Everything can't come across in an email. Everything can't come across in a text message. You literally have to have old fashioned communications. You cannot discern somebody's body language, their nonverbal language in a text message or an email. You need to have some old fashioned.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Community, such a fashion communication.
[00:09:08] Speaker C: You got to just be able to have some old fashioned communications to be able to deal with any kind of conflict. You can't use, you know, all of the electronic forms of communication that we used, just real old fashioned communications will help resolve any potential conflict that you may be encountering.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Okay, and so before we go to commercial break, I would love for you to give our audience a last minute tip. What is one way that leaders can start normalizing open, respectful dialogue? Like if you've got somebody watching right now, they don't have an open door policy. It's just do what I say. Like how can we start to open that door? What's one technique they can start to do?
[00:09:43] Speaker C: Number one, you need to have an open door policy because this is not the generation that it was 20 years ago, which is do what I do and do as I say. You have to be able to model what you are asking your employees to do. If you're not doing what you are asking them to do, you will never gain the respect of your team. So that's the first one. Have open dialogue and communication. Definitely reach out to your employees. Do check ins on a daily basis just to see how they are doing. There's an old statement that says before someone cares how much you know. Excuse me, they want to know how much you care. So show your employees that you generally care about them as individuals, just not, you know, square pegs that are fitting into round holes to be able to do the work that you're asking them to do.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: That's wonderful advice, Vakita. And if people wanted to talk to you more about this or this is bringing up things for them, how can they get a hold of you so.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: You can reach out to us? You know our website is pcghr.net or you can reach out to
[email protected] you can find me on LinkedIn and that's an easy way to get in contact with us. We'll be more than willing to help you navigate through the complexities of some of the challenges that we're talking about today.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: Wonderful. Thank you so much. And up next we're going to go to commercial break. But up next we'll look at how HR can become one of your company's greatest growth strategies and not just paperwork. So stick around.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around and we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business forward. You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that move business forward.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Welcome Back to Biz Talk. Want more of what you're watching? Stay connected to Biz Talk and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish. You can also catch the pot version right from our website at www.nowmedia.tv. from business insights to leadership and growth, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Welcome back to Biz Talk. I'm your host. If you're just now joining us, I'm Emily Galindo and we are here with Vikita Poindexter, a powerhouse HR strategist who's changing the way companies think about people and performance.
Vaquita. Too often hr, that word right there, it just seems a, you know, most company people think that that's just like a compliance department and there's lots of jokes and memes about that department. But you know, you say it's actually the company's hidden growth engine.
[00:12:26] Speaker C: Absolutely. Absolutely. It is a lot.
It's funny when I hear it, you know, been in this industry for some time now and hear the jokes and the memes about hr. It's fascinating.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: So why, why is, I mean, why do, why does HR get a bad rap? Why are we. It's so misunderstood.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: It's obvious. I mean, oftentimes we're dealing with the disciplinary issues, the termination issues, denying requests, denying pay incentives, denying pay increases that employees feel that they want. So it's always like normal behavior, focus on the negative and not the positive things that HR does. I think that's one of the reasons why HR just consistently gets a bad rap. But that narrative is shifting.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: So how do you specifically like and how does your organization help reframe for companies, the HR department is actually a part of the strategy and it's an advantage. How does that, how do you do that?
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Sure. Well, number one, I'm not into creative titles. Right. It's just HR stands for human resources. And one of the things like consistently remind businesses is this, the first word in human resources is human. So you're dealing with individuals, you're dealing with human beings that have feelings and emotions just like yours.
And so again, what you are trying to do with your HR department department is maintain consistency, compliance and communication.
For, for my firm, we have an open door policy.
My employees can come to me and talk to me about anything. If they have a question, comment, complaint, concern, I tell them I take compliments too. Feel free to reach out to me and let me know. I am genuinely vested into my employees. And this is one of the things that I try to teach business owners. Like, you have to be vested into your employees. It doesn't matter the industry, because people are your greatest asset. If you take care of your people, your people will take care of the business, Meaning they'll be your biggest marketers, they'll be your biggest advertisers, they'll refer you out.
They will tell everybody about you. They will talk about how great of an organization that you are. Now, if you don't take care of your people, it'll have the opposite effect. You'll have consistent complaints, consistent, you know, bad behavior, consistent litigation issues.
So one way that we're shifting that narrative is one, I tell my clients, you don't need fancy titles. You don't need chief Strategy officer, chief People officer. Just be hr. Everybody understands what that means. You don't need to be doing some creative marketing for the title. You need to change how HR is operating within the organization.
So deal with your people like they're humans. Every leader was an employee or is currently an employee. Every CEO has worked for a supervisor or manager that they didn't get along with, didn't like the way that they led or manage, and so focus on the things that they didn't do correctly and make sure that you're not duplicating that. Put your processes in place. Employees want accountability. They want to know what they're going to be held accountable to. You can't tell them that they're going to be held accountable to something and don't tell them what they're being held accountable to. Make sure that you have policies and procedures. Make sure that those policies and procedures are written to the point where, yes, you're being compliant with whether state and federal law.
However, they're written from a humanity perspective. And so it's not all about, you know, lowering the hammer if you do this, that this is going to happen. When you start talking about exit strategies for employees, shift your mindset. You're not terminating Summit Buddy's employment. Their assignment within the organization has ended. Now they are going on to their next assignment. Your job as a leader is to do this. What is it that you can do to make that person the greatest asset for you in your organization, for the time that they're with you and set them on to their next assignment? What did you pour into them for the trajectory of their particular career path? If you shift that mindset and that narrative, your employees will stay with you for A long period of time.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: And that's what I mean, given the market, at least here in Houston, finding good help seems to be the business owner's like biggest complaint, is finding good help. Is there a recommendation that you would give to a business owner that if that's their, their narrative of how HR can help impact making that attractive, you know, or not even once they do get them, keeping them so that they stay for a long time and we don't have to continually look for good.
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Help, there's not a shortage of good help. Right. I think the biggest challenge is the recruiting process. And so my philosophy, which has been like this for over 35 years, is hire slow, but fire fast.
And so if you know that someone is not performing on your team well, you should be able to do that evaluation within the first 90 days. The first 30 days will tell you whether or not this person is going to be a valuable asset to your team.
If not, if there's no reason to try to make that situation work. When I say hire slow, typically what happens from an HR perspective is we have an opening and we need to fill it right away. We don't take our time, we don't do our due diligence. You need to make sure that the job description is crystal clear. What are the duties and responsibilities going to be? Have you done a compensation analysis to see what, what this particular position pays in other organizations? That's the side of yours, the size of yours.
Make sure that you are prepared for the interview process. I mean, oftentimes leaders just show up, ask a bunch of questions, and they base their decision on whether or not this individual is going to be an integral part of their team based off of a resume. There are people that write resumes. I mean, you can chatgpt a resume. And so you really need to go back to having those conversations and communications with.
Tell me, what attributes do you bring to the table? Why are, why does the mission stand out for you? What is your own personal mission and vision statement? If you could create the ideal position for yourself, what does that look like today? So ask questions because you need to get to understand and know the individual that is going to be coming to work for you. Do they mesh well with you? Do they communicate with you? Do some type of testing. In my firm, before I extend an offer, I have them do an enneagram test because I need to understand their style of communication. Does it work with mine? Because if it doesn't, it's not going to work. And so I would be doing a disservice to the employee, potential new employee, and myself as well. So do your due diligence and take your time during the hiring process.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Which brings me to a question that I've been hearing from, I mean just my friends, colleagues in the business community. Right. We've seen a lot of AI coming on board, whether that's to write your resume or, or to read the resume. Right. A lot of the hiring process has been turned into an efficiency process with a lot of computers and a lot of, you know, new age technology to work through that so that I, because I don't have to stop, slow down and do that portion.
What would you, what is your firm stance on those types of measures being taken on behalf of the business to determine whether or not that resume should be viewed or not viewed or whether or not that person should be interviewed or not interviewed. And using those, those tools, I think.
[00:19:27] Speaker C: You can use, you know, AI for some, for, for some things. Right. Like typically we're able to discern whether or not using some AI tools or whether or not resumes have been written by AI and it's okay if they have been.
I'm looking for a core experience. I'm looking for tenure on particular positions. If I get a resume that's four or five pages, I'm not reading it because I don't have the time or capacity. You can be able to condense all that in to one page.
And so the, the, the, the shorter the resume with a higher impact is typically what's going to get my attention. And then again, tenure on employment. Right. Does the skill set match what I'm looking for? If I'm questionable, I still may put them onto my list to say, let me give them a call before I have a face to face interview with them. I'm doing a telephone prescreen. Like how's our communication over the phone? Again you. We are not going to escape communication. And if we're trying to, then employers and leaders are going to consist a challenge with, with team members. And so I have qualifying questions that I want to be able to know within a, you know, two minute telephone interview or pre screen is what I call it. And then we move on to the face to face interview and then I may have somebody do a secondary interview. All that cannot be done by AI. And so yes, there's tools to be able to tell me if that resume was written. And that's not necessarily a negative thing because depending upon the industry, you may want somebody that has the ability to use artificial intelligence to be able to get some of that work done. At least it shows me that the individual is up to trend. So I don't necessarily counsel them out for that.
I take a further, deeper dive into looking at skillset qualifications, communication, how they like to be led. Because I don't manage people, I lead people. Those are some of the qualifying things that I think leaders need to look at.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: Okay, good thoughts because I get that question a lot. So what is in terms of our segment here is about 8hr being a growth strategy. What is one mindset shift that business owners can make today to turn HR into a driver of growth in their business? What's the one thing you would recommend.
[00:21:30] Speaker C: They do for employees as your marketers? And the only way that you're going to be able to do that is making sure that their employees, number one, are mission driven within your organization. Your employees should be able to spit out the mission of that organization without looking at the website.
Number two, making sure that employees clearly understand their role and in their particular department or, or their role just in general. And so your employees are your greatest marketers. They're the ones that are going to go out and tell individuals about the organization, about the company, ask questions from your employees, get suggestions. I literally have told clients, ask your ask your employees how they would go solicit new clients.
Ask your employees how they would put things on social media to promote business growth and opportunities. And then there's little things. Employees are not looking for huge, you know, pay increases or this, that and the other. They want to feel like they're a part of something that's bigger than them. So attaboys, congratulations. You know, gift cards, small things that just shows your level of appreciation. I think that's how you're able to shift it and use HR to your benefit when it comes to your employees.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: Yes, Vikita, you have said quite a bit of amazing. Those, all of those tips were incredible. And so if people didn't catch them or want to know more, because those were fantastic ideas to turn your staff and your team into advocates for your own business and marketers. What a better way to do that than involving themselves with them? So how can they get you involved in helping transition that team?
[00:23:06] Speaker C: Sure. So reach out to
[email protected], or look me up on our
[email protected] and always, I am always on LinkedIn posting updates about employment law and some of the shifts that we need to be able to do as individuals because leading teams today is different than it was a Year ago or two years ago.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: It sure is. And that is why after this commercial break, when we come back, we'll be diving into how diversity drives performance, innovation and results.
So not just politics. Come on back. And we will dive into that amazing topic.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around. And we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business forward. You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that move business forward.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: Welcome back to Biz Talk. I'm your host Emily Galindo and we are continuing our conversation with Takeda Poindexter on a topic that every modern organization is navigating, diversity. Many companies want to get it right, but then often struggle to move beyond checking boxes. Vikita, you say diversity is not just a moral goal, it's a business advantage. Could you elaborate on how you see that?
[00:24:31] Speaker C: Absolutely. So when we start talking about diversity, equity and inclusion, we often think about the political landscape. And I'm the first one to say that is not what that means. Right. You want diversity within your organization.
And what I mean by diversity, I'm not just talking about race and gender. You want diversity in the mindsets, the upbringings.
Here's the one thing that I tell leaders all the time when I talk about diversity, it literally looks like this.
Your employee base, your board of directors base should be reflection of your customer base.
And so who is your customers? And so people tend to do business with people that they know like and trust. And sometimes, depending upon the landscape, you need to make sure that you have individuals that can relate to your particular customer base. So no, it's not a moral compass. It is just the right thing to be able to do.
We can learn from each other because the commonality that we have is in if I cut you and you cut me, we're going to bleed red. So we're more alike than we are different. And we can learn from each other from a business perspective. And so you need to have individuals of different races, religions, colors, creeds and ages. Because what we're starting to see is a lot of individuals over 50 are entering back into the workplace. But also we have the ones that you know are Gen Z's and millennials that can learn things from the Gen X's and baby Boomers. So that's a part of being having a diverse workforce. So that's When I talk about, it's more than just a moral compass. It's not about politics. It's just good business.
[00:26:06] Speaker B: I couldn't agree more with you because they, like you said, those Gen Xers have a lot to teach us. They have a lot of life experience. And a theme that's been coming up for me lately is that there's 8 billion different versions of reality happening at one time. Right? Everybody's had their own story, gone through their own things, and we can all learn from those experiences. Would you say that's something that improves innovation and performance within the organization?
[00:26:30] Speaker C: Absolutely, absolutely. Because, you know, I'm a parent of a millennial and Anagen Z X Z, whichever the younger one is, right. I can't even keep up with them.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: And that's listen.
[00:26:41] Speaker C: And that's what helps me because they consistently remind me, okay, this is what this is. It's like, okay, got it. But yes, it can help because individuals that are the younger generation are struggling more on how to deal with adversity and challenges that come up in life where if you take someone that's a Gen X or a baby boomer, they've overcome some of these same challenges and so they're able to help talk to a counterpart team member, manager or supervisor to be able to give them some of that wisdom and knowledge. So that helps in the workplace because let me say this, 90% of challenges that take place in the workplace are not work related. It is this thing called life that people are trying to navigate through. And so oftentimes people don't think that, you know, life has given them a book of instructions on how to navigate, you know, certain adversity or certain challenges. It's only by lived experiences. So when you have a very diverse workforce, we can learn from one another. Okay, how do I deal with these childcare issues? What type of resources would be available to me as I'm dealing with aging parents or, or what is it that I can do if I'm a caregiver and have to maintain a job?
When you have a diverse workforce, it helps eliminate some of this because you spend more time with the people that you work with than the people that you live with. And so this is where you're going to get some of your counsel. And so this is when I talk about, when you have a diverse workforce, this helps to help eliminate some of those potential challenges that take place in the workplace that are really not work related.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: So what does I mean, we can include them, we can hire them for that reason, and you've made that very clear and how beneficial it is for the organization. But what does real inclusion look like in the workplace? Is it just you are all hired and you all work together? Figure it out. Or are there other things that organizations can do to create more of an inclusive environment?
[00:28:30] Speaker C: A bunch of things that individuals can do to include an inclusive environment.
I think this is October 27th, and so we are still right in the middle of breast Cancer awareness month.
Instead of focusing just on women, let's just have cancer awareness month. That includes everyone that is dealing with something.
I think that organizations can get involved in dealing with challenges that employees may be going through that makes it more inclusive. And so we're not seeing singling it out or separating it just based off a gender or what, you know, what the popular trend is. Take a look at, you know, your employee assistance program. Take a look at your employee demographics. Right? You. You have to have employee demographics to be able to determine what resources, what opportunities, what do you need to do as an organization to make sure that everybody feels like they're a part of that particular organization? Do some fun things within the organization, like team day. We're right in the middle of the NFL. I'm a huge cowboy fan. Everybody knows that. You know, Jersey Friday. And so now you're building camaraderie, let alone competition. And so that also will increase the. The. The performance and morale within the organization.
So it's little. It's. It's so minor. Some of the changes that you can make that would increase your. Your work environment and people feeling like they're a part of the organization.
Stop focusing on the differences that we have. I think that's the biggest piece that I tell organizations. You don't have to agree with anything, right? Your personal opinions. That's why they call them personal. Those are your personal opinions. They should not be in the workplace. There should not be conversations in the workplace regarding it. I tell every employer, stay away from controversial subjects. Right? Race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, preference, military status, politics, stay away from it. Whatever causes, division. Find things where there is commonality, and everybody can feel like they're a part of the same organization.
[00:30:35] Speaker B: Okay? And I think those are really great. I think that we have gotten to a place sort of that with, I think, social media. We've had some experts on the show talking about this, that we've got all of the things now out there about who you are as a person, and then it becomes. It is impacting the workplace. And when I hear you speak, it's just so very clear. It's very, it's very black and white. It is very. This is your work, this is your personal life. The two do not mix.
But there is a way to create a place of belonging in, in the organization that is about work. Right. Like that is the common thing that brings us together. Right?
[00:31:10] Speaker C: Right, Absolutely. And I think the biggest piece for me is just give people some grace. Right? Because you really don't know the struggles or the challenges that someone else has gone through. We all have gone through something. We all have our struggles. We all have our challenges. We, we've all gone through something in life. If you haven't, just keep living, you will.
And so remember the struggles and challenges that you went through that you had to overcome, that you didn't get the grace from a previous employer, which is probably why you let that employer and join this particular organization, or the grace that you received from a leader that may never know the impact that you've had on their particular life. That is where grace comes in. We need to start operating with some grace as we're dealing with individuals.
Their story may be different than yours, but adversity is adversity. I don't care how you define it. And so make sure that you, you know, just treat people the way you want to be treated. And so within the workplace, stay away, again, this is, I hammer in on this. Stay away from those controversial subjects. You want a diverse workforce. You want people to look different, who act differently, that talk differently, that serve differently. You want people that have an appreciation for the mission and the value of the organization. You want people to be a reflection of your customer base. And so when you were recruiting and hiring, don't eliminate individual based off of your personal beliefs because you could be missing out on a star candidate.
[00:32:42] Speaker B: That's, I mean, absolutely. And people are missing out on that opportunity. So if somebody's looked down and realized that their entire workforce is pretty, you know, status quo, can you share a success story, bring some color to life of who you've worked with that made that realization went to you, worked with you on the DEI and getting the more innovative, you know, more inclusive, more diverse workforce. And some of the results that you.
[00:33:06] Speaker C: Saw from that, a few clients that are a male dominated industry. Right.
And so the first thing that I do when I take on a client is number one, I'm looking at your board of directors.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: Right.
[00:33:17] Speaker C: I want to see who is representing your organization for profit, nonprofit, doesn't matter for me. And then second of all, I want to have in depth Conversations with leadership CEO all the way down. And then I want to look at a org chart. Let me see your employees. And so the first thing that I see is whether. Whether or not there's diversity within the organization. The other thing that I take a look at is your customer base. Who are you serving? Who is your core client?
And so because guaranteed in this time of social media, we saw this during the pandemic, you know, I call them social media investigators. That's what they are doing. They're looking at all of that. And so with my clients that were male dominated, I said, listen, you got more women customers than you have men. Why don't you have more women on your corporate boards? And why don't you have more women in leadership, right? And so the bias was, women should be at home and doing this, that and the other. And I was like, okay, we're going to have to change this mindset. And so it took some coaching and developing of one particular client to say, you have a narrow mindset, which is prohibiting you from growing in business. And so after some, you know, coaching and development, they made a switch. I said, let me take on your recruiting. Give me the key, key attributes that you're looking for, and let me go hire the individual for you, regardless if you agree with them or not. And they were like, okay. I said, and you're not even going to be involved in the interview process. They were like, okay, well, that's a big pill for me to swallow. I was like, well, here's a little bit more water. And so went ahead did that ending up hiring this phenomenal woman to work as the controller of the particular organization cleaned up the books. Everything was phenomenal. And so the bias from this particular client was, oh, okay, that worked. Let's replicate that.
And so it went almost to the extreme. The entire leadership team now is all women. And I said, okay, now we need to diversify it. But there needs to be some women of color. There needs to be some people that speak, you know, you know, Spanish, because now you need to tap into those external markets. And so your limited mindset could prohibit you from growing and attracting additional clients, let alone employees. Because now that this client has bilingual services, they tapped into a whole bilingual market that they didn't even know existed because of their limited mindset.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: And that is how HR can be a growth strategy and a growth advantage. There we go. Well, we're going to go to commercial break real fast, so don't go anywhere. When we come back, Vikita shares how to lead through crisis with calm, clarity and confidence. So hang out. We'll be right back.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: We are just getting started. Stick around and we'll be right back with more lessons, insights and behind the scenes stories from the people driving real business forward. You're watching Biz Talk only on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Emily Galindo and this is Biz Talk on NOW Media Television. Let's dive back into the conversations that move business forward.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: Welcome back to Biz Talk. Don't miss a second of this show or any of your NOW Media TV favorites streaming live and on, live and on demand, whenever, wherever you want. Grab that at free now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our lineup of bilingual programs in both English and Spanish. Prefer podcasts? Listen to Biz Talk anytime on the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv covering business, leadership and lifestyle. Now Media TV is available 24. 7, bringing you insights that drive real results.
So as we wrap up today's episode, we are talking about one of the most important leadership skills of all, staying calm in the storm. In times of crisis, true leadership isn't about control. It's about clarity, empathy and composure. So Vaquita Poindexter is here to guide, has guided countless companies through storms and crises and with wisdom and done it with grace. So thank you for sticking with us. Vakita, welcome back.
Thank you.
[00:37:23] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: So why do so many leaders lose focus during a or confidence during a crisis?
[00:37:31] Speaker C: Because they blame themselves. They take it personal. You know, they feel it as though it's a failure. Like, how did I, you know, how.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: Did we get here?
[00:37:39] Speaker C: I fail.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:40] Speaker C: How do we get here?
Then they go into self preservation mode, which instead of, instead of doing that, just, you know, take a step back, take a deep breath, you know, understand that you are going to go through storms as a leader. That's just the reality of life.
Anytime that you are dealing with people, you are going to have to be able to deal with crisis that come. And so one of the things that I tell my clients is this, as a leader, you wear a multitude of hats, right? You are a coach, you're a therapist, you're a counselor, you are a priest, you are a preschool provider, you are a high school principal.
You wear a multitude of hats. And I'm not trying to say be demeaning or condescending, but when you're dealing with people, you're just not dealing with their work life. You're dealing with their entire life.
We Run a consulting firm here in California. And employment law in California is a little bit more challenging than the rest of the world. We have very strict compliances.
One of the things that I try to tell my leadership team is this.
You need to know your team. Right. You need to know what motivates them, you need to know what excites them. You need to know what challenges that they have. I can tell you every single one of my employees, how many kids they have, parents are living or not, health challenges, health issues, life in general, how we have helped them navigate through all of that. And so when you're talking about crisis, again, the majority of the things that surface in the workplace are not work related. It is this thing called life that people are trying to navigate through. And then when they come to work and if they're dealing with an employer who doesn't care, then you become their escape, you become their target. And so, you know, because people like to place blame somewhere. And so you become that area and where they start to place that blame.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: Right. And so when you're going through a crisis, you are the one to blame. What is the saying that when they, when the wins, it's on the team and when the team loses. On the coach. Right.
[00:39:53] Speaker C: On the coach.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Right. And. Or in your case, the general manager and owner.
[00:39:58] Speaker C: Right, Absolutely. And that. And that's just the reality. And so, you know, I'm blessed. We've never been sued. I've never had an employee relations matter. You know, I lead, I lead my team the same way I want to be led. And so the same principles I use for my firm are the same principles that I try to teach my clients.
Some of them adhere to it and some of it, some of them don't. Those that don't have high turnover, extremely high turnover. And then I make the determination to say, as a, as an owner, I'm not going to take my team through unnecessary crisis and dealing with clients who just don't want to change their mindset because it's a mindset shift. Oftentimes it takes a little bit of time for a leader to really be able to grasp how they need to make changes within themselves if they want to lead a team out of crisis. Currently today, everybody's in a crisis. They can't find good people. The people that are working for them are always complaining about something. The environment that we're currently in from a political perspective has everybody on edge. Whether it's tariffs that they can't get their products from or it's all the other Stuff that's cumbersome of what people are dealing with. My role as the human resources consultant for these businesses is, everybody take a deep breath, right? This is not the first time that we've been in a crisis and it won't be the last. Leaders, you've got to be stable and calm to be able to keep your team through it. It's like a coach, right? What are you doing to motivate them? What are you doing to keep them encouraging? How are you showing up?
So I think those are some of the key components that leaders have to be able to understand.
You have to focus as a coach, which is why I consistently talk about sports, because there's no I in team unless you're playing golf. And so when you're talking about football or basketball, we're all in this together. We're going to win together, we're going to lose together. We're losing is because the coach didn't do what they were supposed to do. But if we're winning, it was the team that caught the win. You can't be prideful as a coach, right? You can't be like, okay, it's me or nobody else. You literally have to put your team before yourself if you want to be able to be successful.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: So when it comes, you had used some of these words, but I want to know when it comes to, you know, being responsive versus reactive, like what separates calm, effective crisis leadership from reactive decision making?
[00:42:16] Speaker C: Right. Reactive is immediately when you hear a problem and you go into self preservation mode or you are immediately trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation so it doesn't come across that you are the problem. That's being extremely reactive. Being responsible, being responsive is. Let me sit back, let me evaluate the totality of the situation.
Let me see what, what is the problem? Number one, how did we get here and what is the resolution? Okay, those are some core things that you need to be able to do. Just because you get an email or a phone call and someone's in crisis or there's a crisis situation doesn't mean that you automatically pick up the phone or start creating a whole strategic plan on how do you diffuse it.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: It.
[00:42:58] Speaker C: It's. First of all, take a deep breath and breathe. Right? This too is going to pass.
What is the process? How did we get here, how do we fix it? And how do we make sure that it doesn't replicate or duplicate itself? That's the difference between the two. You want the reason why I say you have to stop because we're human beings, we, by nature, our feelings and emotions are going to take over. And so you have to put a pause on that. You got to shut that down. And the only way that you can do that is just to not be reactive. You got to stop and breathe through the process.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:43:27] Speaker B: And I think that right there, that's that, that deep breath, it can be the bridge between those two things because it just gives you a minute. And I don't know, that's that self preservation survival instinct that we have to just solve the problem. So the feeling will go away.
[00:43:42] Speaker C: Absolutely. And that's, and that is part of the issue. I think that's part of the challenge that leaders do is they automatically don't want to feel like they're being blamed for something.
And I tell leaders this all the time. I just finished dealing with a harassment situation between a leader and a subordinate.
Allegations don't make them true. That's the reason why they're allegations. Right. They allege that you did X, Y and Z. Doesn't doesn't mean that there's any validity to the allegations.
It could have been the way that you communicated. That person could have had a bad day in this particular situation. Both of these individuals have more commonalities and they had differences.
And so it was literally delving through, making sure that nothing had violated the law. There was no, you know, inappropriate harassment that actually took place within the workplace. It was an individual who got their feelings hurt because they didn't like the style of communication that another person had. Okay. And so instead of having old fashioned communication and talking about it, it just kept simmering and simmering and simmering and simmering. And then before you know it, it exploded.
[00:44:44] Speaker B: It.
[00:44:44] Speaker C: The leader, on the other hand, took it very personal. Right. How dare I've never had this happen to me. How dare you make these allegations. And my response was, you haven't been in leadership long enough because there are going to be more allegations that come down the pipeline because of your style of leadership. You're very direct, straight to the point. And so you can't take this personal. So it took eight coaching sessions for me to get this individual to understand, do not take this personal. This is not indicative of who you are.
This is just an individual who didn't like, doesn't like your style of communication.
[00:45:20] Speaker B: Okay. And so would you say that's a leadership discipline that most owners or people in leadership can take? Is that across the board that don't take things personally?
[00:45:32] Speaker C: Yeah, across the board, don't take it personal.
[00:45:34] Speaker B: Right. Because it's just the position, it would be this, it would be the same thing, the same response potentially if somebody else was sitting in that same seat.
[00:45:42] Speaker C: Absolutely. Because it's not you, the individual, it is the position that you hold. And so you have to remember when you step into leadership, and I say this all the time, everybody wants to be in leadership. They want the title, they want the pay, they want the benefits. It looks good on the trajectory of their career path, looks good on their resume. All that is fine. But there's this whole other piece over here that they fail to understand. There's going to be allegations, there's going to be inaccurate, you know, communications that you allegedly have said. There's going to be finger pointing, there's going to be all of these negative things, but there's also going to be a tremendous amount of positive things depending upon you have, how you handle it. You've got to be ready to step into leadership. If you've got some self limiting beliefs about yourself, that's gonna, that's going to cripple you in leadership. If you got some unresolved issues from childhood, that's going to cripple you in leadership. And so you cannot take things personal. If something were to, an allegation were to take place or something were to happen or something, somebody made an accusation about you and it reminded you of your father that did something to you when you were seven, then you're going to respond to that because you haven't dealt with these issues over here. So when I say don't take it personal, it's not personal. It is simply the fact that this employee disagrees with you. How you handled something in that particular organization, not you as an individual.
[00:47:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. Like Vakita, your insights have been incredible and it's very clear that you can make a huge impact on companies across the board in this department. So for anyone who wants to learn more from you or about leadership and HR consulting, how can they connect with you?
[00:47:22] Speaker C: You can reach me at bakitacghr.net, our website is pcghr.net or connect with me on LinkedIn.
[00:47:32] Speaker B: Wonderful.
I couldn't thank you enough. You've been very insightful today. Thank you for joining us.
[00:47:38] Speaker C: Absolutely. Thank you for having me.
[00:47:41] Speaker B: We thank Vakita for reminding us that leadership isn't about perfection, it's about presence.
You've shown us that when we face hard conversations or crises or diversity challenges with integrity and calm, we lead not just businesses, but people.
So thank you very much for all of that. To our viewers, remember, great leadership starts with courageous conversations and ends with purposeful action. And it starts with the people. So I'm Emily Glendo, and this has been Biz Talk. When strategy meets heart. And leaders discover new ways to build businesses that last until next time stabled.
Stay balanced, and stay in business with purpose. Have a great time. We'll see you next time.
