Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:10
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast where we interview experts in driver recruiting. We provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to help you level up your recruiting game.

00:10 - 00:39
Ginger Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Ginger Craddock. Emily is the best team builder I have ever worked with. That's how Erin introduced me to Emily Walton, today's podcast guest. And as I prepared for the podcast, I kept asking myself what topic would Emily, the best team builder, start with to encourage healthy teams?

00:39 - 00:44
Ginger Craddock: So, Emily, what topic would you start with to build healthy teams?

00:45 - 01:07
Emily Walton: Well, Ginger, first, thank you so much for inviting me to be on the podcast, and thank you for sharing that. That's really sweet that Erin shared that with you. I would say that respect is the most important thing to start with when you're building a team. And the reason I say that, you know, people will say, well, you're in a position of power. You've been appointed as a leader.

01:07 - 01:25
Emily Walton: People are gonna follow you. People don't really care about the title at the end of the day. They care about how you make them feel. So when you're able to build that trust with people and that rapport with people, then you're able to start building the foundation and the building blocks for a healthy team.

01:26 - 01:42
Ginger Craddock: Wow. And I do remember how the very best leaders have made me feel and how they've inspired me to keep leveling up. And so, Emily, when you think about respect, what does that mean to you personally?

01:44 - 02:22
Emily Walton: Yeah. When I think about respect personally, for me, it's about honoring what the other person brings to the table and hoping that they, in return, also honor what I bring to the table. We all have different backgrounds. We all have unique experiences. And so when I can respect what someone has been through and what they can bring and can contribute, and if they can respect what I bring and what I can contribute, then we have the ability to take all of that and put it together and walk away with so much more value than what just one of us could bring individually.

02:22 - 02:29
Emily Walton: So I think it's really understanding those differences, recognizing them, and appreciating them for the wealth and value that they contribute.

02:30 - 03:07
Ginger Craddock: And that synergy that you're talking about when two collaborative respectful diverse team members come together, there is a remarkable synergy that that genuinely levels up. But the intention it takes to respect, see, and hear that other person. And so as I reflect on on what you said about those positive characteristics, Have you ever experienced a situation where you felt disrespected? And if you have, how did you handle it?

03:09 - 03:37
Emily Walton: Yeah. Well, I think, yes, I have. And I do think that it varies situation to situation. So for every individual, there are going to be things that bother you more than others. So you may find, and this has been my experience in certain situations, is that, you know, if someone says something and maybe it's just a little dismissive and you register it and you have the awareness to recognize it and say, oh, that didn't sit well with me.

03:37 - 04:03
Emily Walton: Then you may also have the language and the composure to be able to speak up and say, you know, can you clarify that for me? Or what makes you think that? And then you have an opportunity to work through it. There have also been times where things have been said around me or to me that because it was so I I registered it as so disrespectful, I actually shut down. Because our bodies, you know, they're designed to keep us safe.

04:03 - 04:21
Emily Walton: So we're either going to go into a fight, flight, or freeze, And sometimes for me, that's also freeze. So in those moments, when that hits me, usually, need some time to step back and reflect on what's happened and then figure out what I need to do going forward to address it. Mhmm.

04:21 - 05:07
Ginger Craddock: That that is so good. And when I'm thinking about respect and building a team, when I'm looking out, I can think of those leaders who have respected me well and helped me become a better version of myself and grow and have been part of that collaborative team. And then I can also think of times on a team where I've been disrespected. But may I tell on myself? As a leader, there have been times it was not my intention to be disrespectful, but I'll give you a scenario if I may because I would rather tell on myself than tell on someone else.

05:07 - 05:53
Ginger Craddock: And so I hope in telling my failure an opportunity for a failure is an opportunity for growth if if we're paying attention. And so I had the intention in a meeting to speak with respect about a situation and but my emotions were really really high. And I knew they were high and I knew what my intention was. And in the moment I needed to address the situation, it wasn't a situation where I would have typically stepped away, got composure of my emotions, and then come back to revisit it. So and and I had been challenged by a coach to address things more quickly.

05:53 - 06:17
Ginger Craddock: And so I was like, okay. I've been preparing for this. And so my intention and I'm gonna illustrate it for you with not the real words that were said, but I think the way that I deliver it will illustrate how I was disrespectful. So my intention was, Jane, the sky is blue outside today in Texas. It's a remarkable day.

06:18 - 06:56
Ginger Craddock: And the names have been changed to protect the innocent that I disrespected. That was my intention in my delivery. The way that it came out was, Jane, the sky is blue. Like, the That and so I kinda buckshot at my whole team, and I was so plugged into the moment. I didn't I I I knew that I had failed, but I could not yet emotionally intelligently assess where I had failed.

06:56 - 07:29
Ginger Craddock: And it seems so obvious now, but it took me about two weeks. And then and people on your team, especially if you're the leader, even if you ask for feedback, they're not gonna tell you that blatantly how you failed. So even as I asked, they they were kind to me and I couldn't really get to it. But then finally, I I kind of unpacked it. Is so what can a leader do when they realize they're the one who has failed to respect a team member?

07:29 - 07:53
Emily Walton: Oh, what a great question. So I love how you said earlier failures, you know, they're an opportunity to learn if we're paying attention. And when it comes to being the one that has disrespected someone, The first conversation has happened. You you've somehow disrespected an individual. That's over and done with.

07:53 - 08:06
Emily Walton: You can't dig it up and and change that. It's happened. It's in the past. So the question is now, what do you do going forward? And in my experience, owning it is the biggest thing you can do.

08:06 - 08:28
Emily Walton: Own that you did it depending on the, you know, the gravity of it and the audience that was present may determine, do I need to just do this one on one? Do I need to do it in a team setting? What's required? But owning it, getting clear with the other person, understanding, you know, how could I have done this better? What could I do differently?

08:28 - 09:00
Emily Walton: Sometimes people aren't going to be comfortable giving you that feedback, especially when there's a difference in power that can be pretty regular occurrence, but just leveling with them. And then charting a plan for how you're gonna change that going forward. So you've you've owned it, you've apologized, but words become empty if they're not followed through with actions. So what are you going to do going forward to make sure that you stick to that? Perhaps it's something you're not aware that you do, so you ask someone who's regularly in meetings with you to be an accountability buddy.

09:00 - 09:12
Emily Walton: Or maybe you work with a coach if it's something, you know, that you need coaching on. But actually following it through with action so that you can address it, you can own it, and then you can work on fixing it.

09:13 - 09:52
Ginger Craddock: It's so true and I and I appreciate what you said about the owning it and working with a coach. I because of my role and because of my influence and I was trying to draw it out from my team, but for obvious reasons where they were And I worked through it with my coach and and it definitely took someone outside of myself to be able to make that progress. And and two weeks was a long time, but it was a big step for me and I needed that. And I wouldn't have gotten there in two weeks without the coach, you know. So just the value of having a coach as we continue to level up professionally is just key, I believe.

09:53 - 10:09
Emily Walton: Yeah. It can be so helpful because like you said, you're you're the one who experienced it. You're still flooded with all of the emotions and what's going on. And then you also see it from one angle. When you bring someone else in to see it from another angle, it can open everything up for you, create so many more possibilities.

10:10 - 10:43
Ginger Craddock: A %. I I was seeing one piece, but as I began to be transparent and apologize and ask for feedback, then they did give me some other insight that I didn't even see within that self realization. And to your point, in that specific instance, it's a small it was a small team thing. I ended up going one on one to everybody just yeah. Because I felt like that was really necessary because it had impact on everyone in the room or potentially could have.

10:43 - 11:02
Ginger Craddock: And and they felt it, and I wanted to make sure I did everything within my power to reset, repair, and do a better job of really hearing and just remind them no matter what level we're at in life, we're still learning and growing if we're paying attention.

11:03 - 11:17
Emily Walton: Yeah. Yeah. I hear that as one damage control because a lot of times these things will happen and then people are in sticker shock and they go, what's going on? What's happening? So you have the opportunity to kind of set the tone going forward.

11:17 - 11:28
Emily Walton: And then the other piece there is that you're setting an example to that. I'm not expecting perfection from anyone. It doesn't matter what level you're at. You're still gonna make mistakes and here's how you own them.

11:28 - 12:04
Ginger Craddock: That's so good. And I do not expect perfection from others, but this is a strong word. Oftentimes, I will demand it from myself and that is as a leader or as a human being, that is not realistic. And so many members of our audience are leaders in different capacities. And so I'm curious to know if they feel some of that self analysis and judgment on their selves and the compassion first needs to come to us and then we can better demonstrate it to others.

12:05 - 12:08
Ginger Craddock: A lot easier for me to give it to others than myself.

12:09 - 12:13
Emily Walton: Sure. Well, and you know, we say we're our own worst critics and sadly it's true.

12:14 - 12:39
Ginger Craddock: It is. It is. And so I love the proactive examples that you gave of Ginger. Here were some ways to improve that or address that when leaders have experiences like that where they fail to demonstrate respect and they want to repair the relationships within their team or even within our family. You know, these principles work in personal and professional relationships.

12:39 - 12:52
Ginger Craddock: So I'd love to hear when you're thinking about the characteristics of the healthy teams you've worked on. What are some of those characteristics that rise to the top? You're like, this team demonstrates.

12:53 - 13:21
Emily Walton: Yeah. So I think all of that kind of boils down into psychological safety, but I'll I'll break that apart a little bit more. So for me, psychological safety is the knowledge that I can take a risk. And if it fails, there's not going to be some sort of retaliation or retribution or shame or blame associated with it. It's a safe space to try new things, throw new ideas out there.

13:22 - 13:40
Emily Walton: And so the teams that where I've seen really good respect that's integral is you can see it in team meetings, you know, okay. We're gonna brainstorm something. How are we going to bring up this idea? How are we going to achieve this thing? And people will throw some things out there.

13:40 - 13:57
Emily Walton: There aren't people making laughs, you know, jokes, laughing at things. Instead, you have people going, okay. Okay. And there may be people pointing out, well, that might not work because of this, but how could we get around that? So it's not a tearing down.

13:57 - 14:16
Emily Walton: It's how do we build up? How do I take what we can use from this and make it bigger and better? And that's a way of demonstrating respect. I respect what you're bringing to the table. I respect that maybe it's not feasible right now, but what could we do with it?

14:16 - 14:58
Emily Walton: And you never you know, you don't have people making others feel like, oh, I'm so dumb for saying that or oh, no. And also, this is more common with women I find, but you don't hear as often, this may be a dumb question or maybe someone threw this out sort of the buffers before they share things. It's a safe space to just share it and they know that. So I would say that's a big piece when it comes to the psychological safety of how people can interact and engage and share. And similarly too, I would also say, you know, I wish we worked in a place in a world where everything was just rainbows and everything was great all the time, but that's not the case.

14:58 - 15:35
Emily Walton: We have conflict. So when there can be respectful conflict where I can disagree with you and I'm not trying to cram my idea down your throat or make you see it my way, but we can actually meet in the middle, understand each other, and walk away with opportunities of growth for both of us, that's a huge sign of respect. Because I'm not expecting you to go all the way from over here to all the way over here in my camp. I'm expecting that we can understand each other, learn from each other, and respect each other in this exchange and walk away better for it.

15:37 - 16:33
Ginger Craddock: The phrase that you used in a conflict moment looking for opportunities to grow together or to move towards the middle, the best ideas really from my experience are rarely let on either side. There's something that comes out in the collaborative nature of meeting together that elevates the idea. And not only do I see that it elevates the idea when there's that meeting in the middle, but relationally, it builds trust and that psychological safety. And with if it was rainbows and unicorns, we would be missing the opportunity to build some of that higher level of trust as we navigate the uncomfortable spots together.

16:34 - 16:36
Emily Walton: Yeah. Absolutely.

16:36 - 17:01
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17:01 - 17:07
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17:07 - 17:47
Ginger Craddock: So in healthy teams, when you've got a collaborative I'm gonna give a tangible example, and I'd love for you to kinda coach us on what that would look like in a healthy team dynamic. So let's say in a team meeting, there is psychological safety, and the team is collaborating on some ideas. And all of a sudden, you realize these ideas are bigger potentially. The conversation's going really good, but you've got a hard stop because the rest of the team has other responsibilities. Help me see what that would look like.

17:48 - 17:52
Ginger Craddock: How do you honor the time and honor the engagement?

17:53 - 18:17
Emily Walton: Sure. So what I'm hearing there is that you know, you've got good momentum. You're sharing a bunch of ideas, but maybe you've scheduled thirty minutes to meet, and we're at meet numb you know, meeting minute twenty five. And so we're gonna have to wrap things up because we've got a hard stop. So in those situations, I think that's also an element of respect is honoring everybody's time and their commitments to things.

18:17 - 18:47
Emily Walton: So if you're good at doing it or if it's there's someone on your team who's good at it, you could appoint a minute keeper, someone to kind of moderate the meeting to keep everybody on track. So if you've got really good momentum, this is great, but you have to wrap it up. You say, okay. I see that we have five minutes left, and I just wanna check-in with the group here. Do we how do we wanna spend those last five minutes on this, on that, you know, throw some things out there?

18:48 - 19:00
Emily Walton: The team may collectively decide, let's wrap this up, or the team may say, you know what? Yeah. This is really good momentum. I think there's more here. Can we look into next week and maybe schedule an hour to finish this?

19:00 - 19:13
Emily Walton: But respecting everyone's time and respecting everyone's opportunity to weigh in for the next steps allow you to use that time in a way that, you know, you're not coming down to the wire or you're not leaving things unfinished.

19:15 - 19:43
Ginger Craddock: So what I'm hearing is in your questions that you're asking of the team, you're clarifying expectations. And, again, you're creating safety and security so people feel heard and then they can kind of say how to continue. That's that's excellent. I hope the audience every time I'm with Emily, I'm like, I love I told my team this morning. They're like, aren't you recording the podcast with Emily?

19:43 - 20:11
Ginger Craddock: And I'm like, yes. And I everything she says, like, is like gold. I love to hear her feedback. And so I love how you clarify expectations in that way. Another team challenge that I wanna kinda pivot to that can undermine psychological safety on a team, that can inhibit the momentum of a team is micromanagement.

20:12 - 20:29
Ginger Craddock: So Mhmm. How do you create teams that are empowered versus micromanaged? Again, tangible things. It looks like this to be micromanaged. It looks like this to be empowered.

20:30 - 21:04
Emily Walton: Sure. Oh, I love that. So micromanagement is when you have someone, I think of it like a puppet master, you know, they're using the little marionette strings and they're controlling every action. They have to have their their hand on the pulse for everything, whether or not it's strategic for them to do so. And then when you have an empowered team, they're taking initiative, they're moving the ball forward, they're checking in when needed, but they don't need someone to tell them, go run this from point a to point b.

21:04 - 21:22
Emily Walton: When you get to point b, then run it to point c, and that they don't need that. They know how to operate. So couple of things to kind of break that down. If you are a leader and you're micromanaging, my question to you would be, how come? How come?

21:22 - 22:07
Emily Walton: There is something that's driving this underneath the surface. So is it that you have an expectation of perfection and you feel that you're the only person who can do it right? Is it that you have a very new team and they don't know how to do some of these steps and maybe you've gotten in trouble for steps being taken incorrectly in the past. So you have to first figure out if you wanna move from micromanagement to empowering as a leader, what's underneath the surface that's driving that. And then when it comes to helping to equip your team to become more empowered, it's not as a leader, your job is no longer that of an independent individual contributor.

22:07 - 22:29
Emily Walton: Your job is no longer the one that does everything. You're the one that is now responsible for this web of responsibilities and making sure they get done to a certain standard. So if you think about that, let's say you have eight people who report to you. Do you wanna go from doing one job to eight people's jobs? Because that sounds like a nightmare.

22:30 - 23:13
Emily Walton: And it's gonna wear you out, it's gonna burn you out, and that's gonna lead to micromanagement where your team isn't feeling empowered. So in order to equip your team to be empowered, I would start with delegating. What are the responsibilities that are not strategic that you do and have an opportunity to provide a growth opportunity and application opportunity for someone else on the team? And if there's someone who exhibits a specific skill set for that, match those up. I hear very often when we're talking about delegation, oh, I would do that but it takes so much time to teach somebody.

23:14 - 23:51
Emily Walton: Does it take that much time to teach somebody if you have to maybe show them, let's say three times and check-in with them a couple times and then set them loose and just let them know that you're there for them should they hit a roadblock versus you doing it in perpetuity? One at least has an end, you know? And then that frees you up to actually do your new job and for you to take on more responsibilities and for you to grow your skill set. When you do that, when you delegate, when you give people other opportunities or if it's just a new opportunity. And you say, don't have the room on my plate for this, but I don't know.

23:51 - 24:11
Emily Walton: Sarah Sarah is really, really good at this cross team collaboration. I know she's really good with relationships. I know she has a good eye for the strategic thinking that's needed here. I'm gonna pull her in and see if she can do it. Then what you can also do, because the other thing is, well, I've tried that before.

24:11 - 24:34
Emily Walton: I've delegated. I I keep showing them they're not getting the hang of it or I showed them and then we got to the, you know, launch date or the deadline and it was a disaster. Okay. Well, we can also set up a framework for people so that way you're not having those situations happen. So you bring Sarah in, you say, hey, here's what I have in mind.

24:34 - 24:59
Emily Walton: Are you on board for that? If Sarah says yes, then you outline, again, clarifying those expectations exactly what it is you are looking for them, not in a micromanagile managerial. I want you to do this and then this and then this and then this, but zoom out a little bit and say, here's the end result. Here are some things I think that need to happen. And then you could go ahead and check-in with them at strategic intervals so you don't get to the end and it just blows up.

24:59 - 25:11
Emily Walton: So have your initial meeting, then 20% into the project, check-in. How are things going? Do you need to course correct? Did Sarah take a left turn and that's not where things need to go? Bring her back.

25:11 - 25:25
Emily Walton: And then at, you know, 40 or 50%, have another check-in. See how things are going. Then at about 80%, check-in again. And then you're there. You're at the finish line.

25:25 - 26:11
Emily Walton: So moving from that micromanagerial, I have to do everything. It's important for it to be done perfectly, whatever it may be, And creating more opportunities and exhibiting for people what it looks like to grow, what it looks like to be in your responsibilities, in your role, and putting trust in others to do theirs creates opportunities for your team to become more empowered. And it because they believe in themselves, they know you believe in them, and it gives them opportunities to grow more skills. So then they're realizing, wow, I'm actually learning new things and that always makes people feel good about themselves, you know, that you've made progress and that you've seen that you're able to do hard things, learn them, and go from there.

26:12 - 27:03
Ginger Craddock: It is so true. I consistently find that high achievers wanna be part of something bigger than themselves. And I had one of the most elite developers that I've ever had the privilege of working with who said it is so exciting to see how the product that my team and I developed is actually impacting and growing the business. And so he has the skills, but he had been in other areas where he developed the product or the service, but he was further away from the piece that delivered it. And so he knew it helped the business, but in this scenario, he had a closer view of how it actually helped.

27:03 - 27:44
Ginger Craddock: And it was so fun to hear him give that feedback. And and I think that illustrates beautifully an empowered team that sees how they contributed to the whole. And it it excited him beyond what he could have done independently. And it and it went both ways in in demonstrating that respect that you're talking about. And also in product development or in project management, there are those windows of conflict and and how those are opportunities to find solutions and innovate, but it's grounded in that psychological safety that you talked to us about.

27:44 - 27:45
Emily Walton: Mhmm.

27:45 - 28:19
Ginger Craddock: I love that. So helpful, Emily. And so I love the foundation that you've built for us with respect, psychological safety, navigating challenging conversations, and moving the team forward and empowering them versus micromanaging them. So when we zoom out a little bit, this is kind of on the opposite side. What are some pitfalls for leaders to be aware of when working with a team?

28:20 - 28:44
Emily Walton: There are quite a few. Quite a few. I think couple of things coming to mind. So pitfalls would be the roles that people play. So as a leader, you're in charge for the direction of where the team is going, but how in charge do you wanna be of everything?

28:44 - 28:56
Emily Walton: You know? Are you gonna rule with an iron fist? Are you gonna be the one that makes all the decisions? It's my way or the highway. Or are you going to create a space where more of that psychological safety is present?

28:56 - 29:24
Emily Walton: You can, you know, bring your ideas to me, bring feedback to me, let's work together. So I think that's one aspect is how do you show up? And another I would say is how do you communicate? So when you are communicating with your team, I've seen managers and leaders who they don't wanna share information. They wanna keep all the cards close to their chest.

29:25 - 29:49
Emily Walton: Nobody needs to know anything, and then that creates a lot of opportunities for distrust and rumors and concerns. You have other people who maybe go too far on the other extreme, they're sharing too much and they're creating fear unnecessarily because not everybody has all of the pieces to understand. You know, how's the business doing? Is this concerning? Is this not concerning?

29:49 - 30:43
Emily Walton: Where are we going? And then also in how you communicate, what you communicate. So the volume you communicate, the tone you communicate, your choice of language, your choice of gestures, how much you listen as well. So, you know, if you were to come to me with a problem, for example, I I actually had a conversation like this earlier in my career where there was an issue going on and brought it up in a meeting and someone said, well, is this just the same old conflict that occurs between so and so and so and so? And already at that point it's sort of dismissive, you know, this you're not I didn't even get a chance to say what the scenario was, I just said, hey, I'm observing some conflict here, and it was, you know, is it just this versus, okay, let me hear I'm gonna hear you out.

30:43 - 30:50
Emily Walton: Okay. I'm listening. Oh, that does sound like it's having a negative impact on this, that, and the other. Okay. Let's brainstorm some ideas.

30:50 - 31:10
Emily Walton: You know, it's the way that you listen to what people bring you also sets the tone for how you're able to interact on your team and what people will bring you ultimately. Because if you're not hearing your people as a leader, then eventually you're training them not to bring new things.

31:12 - 32:05
Ginger Craddock: So I began the podcast with how Aaron introduced you to me as being the best team builder he had ever worked with. One of my initial takeaways in working with you, Emily, and getting to know you was you demonstrate a master class in how to listen. You are the one of the best listeners that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. And the thing that I would say in how you listen is when someone states their point of view, you begin to ask some questions that further draw them out. And so if you are working with a leader or a manager who's like, I want to improve my listening skills.

32:05 - 32:17
Ginger Craddock: What are some tangible tips that you could give for them to draw out that conversation so that they can listen on a deeper level?

32:18 - 32:33
Emily Walton: Yeah. Well, thank you, first of all. And I talk about listening when I'm coaching with people. I talk about it on three levels. So we've all been in a situation where maybe we call somebody on the phone and you're getting the mhmm.

32:33 - 32:48
Emily Walton: Yeah. Okay. And then they jump in with whatever story they wanted to tell you. That's not really engaged listening. And then you'll have times maybe where you're you're having, you know, lunch with someone and you're sharing stories, and they're really there.

32:48 - 32:56
Emily Walton: They're present with you. Their phone's not out. They're engaged with you, and you're having a pretty good conversation. And that feels a lot better than mhmm.

32:56 - 32:58
Ginger Craddock: Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.

32:58 - 33:24
Emily Walton: Well, what happened to me was it doesn't feel the same level of engagement, but there's even a deeper level we can go with listening where I think of it as a holistic approach. So when I'm listening to someone, I'm not just hearing what they're saying to me. I'm looking at them. I'm observing what's going on with their body language. Are they moving their hands?

33:24 - 33:31
Emily Walton: Are they fidgeting? Are they stressing? Are they worried? Are they smiling? Are they lighting up?

33:31 - 33:42
Emily Walton: What's happening with their body? What's happening with their tone? Is it getting high pitched? And I don't really know. Or are they talking faster, talking slower?

33:42 - 34:09
Emily Walton: Is there maybe some choking in their voice like they're about to break into tears? So I'm trying to understand what's happening for them physically. And then I also, like you said, will then draw out more from them. And a couple ways you can do that is to say what you're observing. So I have observed that you've, you know, run your hands over your face a couple times.

34:09 - 34:24
Emily Walton: You know, what does that mean? Are you feeling stress? How are you feeling? Questions like that to just sometimes people aren't even aware that they do that. My husband does this thing when he's stressed where he goes and then I'm like, okay.

34:24 - 34:41
Emily Walton: What's wrong? You know? And apparently, I take these big and he goes, what's what's going on? And I'm like, I didn't even realize I did that. So sometimes bringing that awareness to people that they've got these physical tells can help them check-in and realize, oh, yeah.

34:41 - 35:19
Emily Walton: Something is actually registering for me. Let me explore that further. And then another piece that I'll do is I ask a lot of open ended questions. So there's a big difference between, you know, which one should we do, this or that, option a or option b, or what do you see as the pros and cons of option a and option b? If I ask an open ended question, then I'm going to get more from somebody because your brain is wired to give an answer and closed ended questions are yes, no answers.

35:20 - 35:36
Emily Walton: If you really want to engage with something someone asking something that's open ended actually puts them in the headspace to go, yeah. What do I think? What am I gonna share about that? And that could be really helpful when you're listening. That can also be really helpful in meetings.

35:36 - 35:59
Emily Walton: So when you're in a meeting, if, you know, lot of different ideas are going around or maybe no one's bringing forward some thoughts instead of somebody please contribute something, that's not gonna make people feel comfortable. That's not gonna make people want to speak up after that. You say, well, I'm really curious. What are the thoughts in the room today? You know, John, what are you thinking?

35:59 - 36:31
Emily Walton: Okay, Steve, Cheryl. And you invite people with an open ended question to share their feedback. That way, you sometimes people will bring you something and it's surface level, and sometimes they don't even know where to go yet with the question, or with what they're bringing you. So you're able to help explore with them what's going on and where to go with it. And that may be like we talked about a little bit on the emotional side, but it may also be, let's just pull a little bit more and see what we can get.

36:32 - 37:17
Ginger Craddock: I noticed in your example of the open ended questions that you just included in your example that many of them began with the word what versus and somewhere along the way, I heard ask what not why. Mhmm. Because why can few can feel accusatory or judgmental where what in your each of your what questions just gave me clarity on what it looks like to draw that out. And I also appreciate that you touched on what they bring to the table initially. They may be still formulating some thoughts.

37:17 - 37:59
Ginger Craddock: And by asking another open ended question, lets them continue to think through that to anyway, did I mention that Emily is a master class in listening and drawing out? You can see how these are foundational practical tips to how you can strengthen your team whether you're the the executive leader in the room or or maybe you're a middle manager. You you can have influence by applying these tips that she shared with us because it helps to build all relationships. So thank you. Thank you, Emily.

38:00 - 38:09
Ginger Craddock: And as we wrap today, what are some small daily actions that can help foster a culture of respect?

38:10 - 38:38
Emily Walton: I think there are a couple key components. So one is as an individual, whether you are a leader or a member of a team is building awareness around how you're showing up. So a good way to do that is to take a couple deep breaths, check-in with yourself, and see if there's anything that is showing up for you. Are you feeling tension? Are you feeling nervous?

38:39 - 39:19
Emily Walton: Because when you can build that awareness before you're in a situation or when you're in a situation that maybe has the potential to become disrespectful, you can become aware of how you're feeling and maybe that you should not speak up in that moment. Or maybe you need to step away and come right back or take a sip of water. But the more self aware that we can become, the more we can be in control of our contributions. And that can have a really big factor for the respect. I would also say, for individuals, think about your motivation.

39:19 - 40:01
Emily Walton: What is my motivation here? Is my motivation for me to be in control and taking care of all these things and, you know, we're going back to the micromanagement, example, or is my motivation to drive collective collaboration and be able to work effectively across the different managers? And if that's my goal, what might I need to change in my interactions in order to further that? And then another I would suggest, this has been a practice of mine that I love. So if you commute home or maybe you work remotely, take a few minutes at the end of the day to reflect on the day.

40:01 - 40:43
Emily Walton: What are some of the things that came up that you think were wins that really had the positive effect you wanted or that drove an outcome that you wanted or maybe you tried something different in a meeting and you had much more success working with another individual than you have in the past. And catalog those, remember those, practice those, put them into practice. And then also with that awareness, can review and go, was there anywhere maybe I put my foot in my mouth or gosh, if I had a do over, I would do that differently. Spend some time thinking about that because if you do, then the next time it happens, you may have it in the back of your mind kinda left on a back burner of, oh, yeah. Last time that didn't go so well.

40:43 - 41:01
Emily Walton: I'm gonna try this this time and see if maybe I have a better outcome. So a lot of that's around the self awareness, but a lot of it is also around owning our impact and what we can do to influence whether there's respect present or whether we're damaging respect.

41:03 - 41:49
Ginger Craddock: Owning our impact. That is powerful. And so as each of you that are listening today, think about owning your impact and where you are, whether you're an executive leader, an owner, a partner, or maybe you're an emerging leader. How can you own your impact? And if I can pull the curtain back for just a moment, each time in my career and each time in my personal life when I wanted to level up, I always, me personally, I looked outside for someone who was ahead of me, a coach.

41:49 - 42:07
Ginger Craddock: So I've literally had coaches and mentors in every aspect of business and in my personal life. I want to have I didn't want to just be married for a lot of years. I want to be married well. And so I sought out people who were ahead of me in that area. I wanted to parent in a certain way.

42:07 - 42:50
Ginger Craddock: So I sought out coaches and mentors in that area. And then professionally, as I've wanted to develop skills, as I've wanted to develop my leadership, I consistently over my lifetime have sought out a coach to help me get there. I get there further, faster, and I see things in myself through their lens that are either really difficult for me to see or that I'm actually just really blind to. And so I personally cannot communicate fully how impactful coaches have been to me. And so if you're looking at yourself and kind of self assessing and saying, hey, I I need a coach.

42:51 - 43:21
Ginger Craddock: Emily is a powerful coach and I hope you see an influential coach to many. And I hope you can see in the in the things that she shared, it's because she's walked the walk that she's talking. And so if you find that you need a coach, Emily, if people are interested in connecting with you, where can they, find you and and just start a conversation, a a curious conversation with you?

43:22 - 43:39
Emily Walton: Sure. Sure. So you can find me online on LinkedIn, Emily Walton. And my coaching business, if you wanted to find me online with my website is Allo,alo,coaching.com. If you wanna get in touch, you can, I do free coaching consultations?

43:39 - 43:46
Emily Walton: So you can always schedule a consultation and we can talk about coaching and, you know, if that is a good fit for you.

43:47 - 44:04
Ginger Craddock: Thank you, Emily. And at a minimum, you guys go follow Emily Walton on LinkedIn and alocoaching.com. Did I get that correct? Yes. Alocoaching.com for more information if you're interested in her services.

44:05 - 44:12
Ginger Craddock: Emily, thank you so much. Five gold stars on team development and exceptional listening skills.

44:13 - 44:15
Emily Walton: Thank you so much, Ginger.

44:15 - 44:27
Aaron Craddock: Thank you for joining us today. Our goal with the Hire Truckers podcast is to provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to level up your recruiting game. If we added value, take a few seconds to share this with your network. Have a great week.