# Leanne's perfect workday

- **Episode:** [17](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/17.md) (2022-12-20)
- **Type:** other
- **Tags:** workday, introvert, balance
- **Time:** 37:00–43:38 (start 2220s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/17?t=2220](https://truthliesandwork.com/17?t=2220)

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[37:00] Leanne Elliott: I am quite introverted. So I think my perfect workday would be a balance of kind of work in my head. So doing kind of analysis and putting results together and talking to people as well, having that balance. But I think my favorite days in work are the days where I see people hit a breakthrough, whether that be people that I'm coaching and they suddenly get that, oh, they did that because I did this, and they thought, okay, yeah, those kind of breakthrough moments when people suddenly all realize all of a sudden that, oh, my behavior does impact my employees and how they think and feel and behave. Um, I find that satisfying because ultimately I, I want to be disposable. If I'm doing my jobs right, I'm a short, sharp intervention and And you don't need me again for 6 months, for 12 months. Um, you know, the whole point is building the capability of leaders. Um, and I think as well, when, as we, you know, we say the podcast, you know, understanding the complex world of people and culture, it's not that complex actually. It's fairly straightforward. Um, but gathering the data and the insights that you need for it to then seem straightforward can be the tricky part. And I think for me, when you see leaders that suddenly have this clarity in an area that before would cause them so many headaches and they just didn't know where to go, I guess seeing that relief, that reassurance, that drive kick back in, that entrepreneurial drive to go, okay, now I know what we need to do, I know the plan, now we can make it better. I think just, yeah, taking somebody from Where do I even begin? To, okay, I've got a very clear plan of action. That's a good day
[38:49] Al Elliott: So who, who's the dream client to work with?
[38:52] Leanne Elliott: I'm not sure I have one specific organization in mind. I think, I think it is, as I said, more about helping kind of those owner leaders just get, get a handle on all this. Because once they do, it's, it's easy. It's maintenance. But I think in terms of personally, it would be cool to work with a private welfare-to-work organisation again, reconnect with that. I think it would feel like a full circle moment. So to work with somebody like, I don't know, CTEC or Groundworks or that type of thing. But ultimately, I'm not— there's no one. I think that just makes it very much about me. And I'm not sure that is ever really my drive
[39:33] Al Elliott: Yeah
[39:34] Leanne Elliott: I want to feel like I'm helping and like I'm having an impact. But I know whether that impact is in an accountancy firm, a digital creative agency, or welfare-to-work organisation, that translates to happier, more fulfilled people. And that has a massive impact. It's not just then about our work selves, is it? If I'm happy and fulfilled in my work, I'm gonna be happy and fulfilled at home
[39:55] Al Elliott: Mm-hmm
[39:56] Leanne Elliott: So yeah, I don't think there is a target client. I think with all clients, and the only clients that I will ever work with are those that That get it or are open to it. So, you know, they're unlikely to call it fluff. But even if they did, I think just being open-minded to this, this could change everything. So strap on your, you know, your big girl, your big boy pants. We've got this, but it's going to take commitment from you, an open mind, and a bit of hard work
[40:28] Al Elliott: So there seems to be a trend towards this year, and I'm guessing it's gonna, it's gonna continue next year, towards having outsourced sort of C-level chief people officers. Imagine that you were brought in as the chief people officer for Twitter, let's say. What would your first day look like?
[40:48] Leanne Elliott: I mean, maybe not Twitter because Lord knows where you'd start with that. I think that's without, beyond my realms of capability. I guess the things that I— if we're talking like people, you know, with that kind of an organization, those types of challenges, maybe an organization with high turnover or an organization that is struggling to find great talent. I think my first day, what would John do? That's where I start. And my first day is gonna be sitting down with people, having conversations. And I think first of all, understanding that You know, at a board level, is this a priority? Are we gonna take seriously that our turnover problem is more than likely down to the fact we are not creating an environment that engages people? We are pushing people to the point of burnout, and we don't have the managers in place to support people in the way they need to be supported. And I think if you, if you don't have that, that, I guess, consensus at board level, Then there's almost no point starting, because without that support from the most senior of levels, any intervention is gonna struggle. So, I think that'd be my first priority, would be to make sure it's on the board agenda. And yeah, have conversations, have conversations with managers, have conversations with people, gather the insights. You know, as you know, one of my favorite psychologists is a guy called John Amici, He says the most powerful thing that you can do is understand exactly where you are right now. And I think that's something that is so— it's not sexy, is it, for an organisation to be like, do you know what we need to do? We need to do a survey. So we need to know exactly how your people feel right now. That's not sexy. People want to talk about employer brand and all these wellbeing interventions that we can do. And that's the sexy stuff. But the reality is that stuff isn't going to work if it's not targeting the actual problem that you have in your business. So probably my first 2 months, let alone first day, is just gonna be figuring out exactly how people are thinking and feeling within the business, exactly what's working, exactly what's not, and then designing a roadmap to get us back on track. And that's when the sexy stuff comes in. But first, we need to do the work. We need to gather the data
[43:08] Al Elliott: So if you were gonna write a book then, what do you think you'd write the book about?
[43:13] Leanne Elliott: I think I would write a book that brings together culture, engagement, and wellbeing in a way that makes it accessible and makes it actionable. And I think— and this isn't— I mean, I didn't even know these questions. This isn't even about kind of promoting what we do at Upland or the RX7, which is our culture engagement wellbeing tool