[00:00:01] Speaker A: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the let's be diverse podcast. I am your host, Andrew Stout. This episode is dedicated to all friends, family, and co workers and loved ones who have supported me through this journey.
So I think. So I think when we are all aware, I think we are all aware that when an organization is successful, we must promote mutual trust between all your team members. But we all know that this is easier said than done. Trust is required for both in person teams and remote workers. Without trust, employees are likely to become unmotivated and unproductive. So today we're going to talk and take a deep dive into why trust in workplace matters. Now, I've been talking to this lady for quite a bit in the last few months, so when she said yes to come on today, I was thrilled, to say the least. I'm sure this will not be the first and last time she'll hear about this topic. It is my pleasure to introduce our guest for today, Lindsay Lapquette. Now, Lindsay is a founder of collaborative solutions. She has experience as a speech language pathologist and is a workplace communication expert. She works with middle managers who would want to communicate authentically so they can effectively lead others without losing themselves.
Lindsey worked with clients such as the Cree Nation government, Four Seasons hotel and resorts, QuickBooks, and WB Canada, drawing on her expertise in emotional regulation, collaborative problem solving, mindfulness, cultural proficiency, nonviolent communication to creating trust and respect workplace environments. And I don't want to forget to mention a hardworking and super awesome lady. I must also admit I am a super fan of hers. Welcome to the show, Lindsay. It is an absolute pleasure to have you on today.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Well, thank you, Andrew, and I appreciate the flattery.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Oh, you're very, very welcome.
It's like I said when I spoke to you a few times and then we agreed to come on, I was.
I was thrilled the first time we spoke on the phone. And I'm thrilled to have you on here today.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah, of course.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: Yes. How have you been? How are things?
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Things are good, yeah. Lots of work, so I can't complain of.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Keeping out of trouble?
[00:02:42] Speaker B: I'll plead the fifth on that one. No, just kidding.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: Before we begin, I always have a fun question to ask my guests to get things going. Are you ready for yours?
[00:02:57] Speaker B: I am ready and a little bit scared, but let's go.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Oh, there's nothing to be scared of. So my question today is, if you were given a choice between floating alone in space and floating alone at sea, which one would you choose and why?
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Oh, goodness. Okay, well, let me say first of all, when you said floating alone, I thought, I'm in. I will go anywhere floating alone. But then when you said space, I thought, oh, God, no, I'd be really nauseous. And then you said, see? And I was like, oh, God, no, I'd be really nauseous. So, um, I mean, let's just pick space, because I'm going to be sick no matter what. And I've never been to space, but I have been at CDNA, so let's pick that one.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Okay? Absolutely. And why would you pick that one?
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Well, like I said, because I'm gonna be sick regardless, and so I may as well go to space, right? Because I've been sick at sea. So let's go experience space and be sick there, too. Why not just take lots and lots.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Of gravel, so have it in your pocket. Take.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: Goodness gracious. Doesn't help.
[00:04:06] Speaker A: So, Lindsey, so, for those who don't know you, why don't we start today with you telling our audience a little bit about yourself?
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Sure. So I guess that means give you my whole story and how I've gotten to the work I'm doing now, right? Yes. Yeah. So, as you said, andrew, I used to be a speech language pathologist, and I loved, loved, loved what I did. I worked a lot with clients who had emotional regulation challenges. So basically just meant that they experienced their emotions in a really strong way and who also had communication challenges. Cause that was, of course, my expertise. Well, I guess still is.
And the longer I did that work, the more I realized that what I really loved was training. I'd gotten into training in that field and some mentorship and capacity building.
And as I shifted from primarily frontline speech language pathology to training, initially it was, well, parents and educators, but then it grew to social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, other professionals, and then even some things in leadership, I started realizing that there were a lot of parallels between my old field and I, gaps in skill development in adults. Because even as adults and myself, you know, I recognize that there's a lot of stuff that gets in the way with communication. And when we don't have an awareness of, you know, regulating our emotions, it can both affect our well being and how we connect with others and our relationships in the workplace. And so, eventually, after some life defining events, I decided to take the big jump and unregister with my college and let go of my ability to be a speech therapist, despite having done my masters in it. And I shifted to what I'm doing today now, doing speaking and training and consulting. In leadership communication, and I've been loving the journey ever since.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: So you've basically always been in, like, a communication type of communication's been with you for a while.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: I live, eat, and breathe communication because I love it. I'm, like, fascinated by it. And my kids will say to me, stop collaborative solutions ing us when I'm trying to get them to, like, work through problems. But, yeah, I've always been in it, and I just love the different lens now of, you know, from a workplace communication perspective. It's, you know, allowing me to learn new things myself and bring. Bring value on a different level. So it's.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: It's funny that you say that, because my wife has said to me, your kids say, stop collaborating on us. My wife says to me, stop, you know, Hr. Me, stop being HR. Stop being so philosophical sometimes because I process the information and I. Okay, this is what I think here. This is what I agree with this here. So this is what it also. It drives people, her and other people, crazy, because I don't just pick the side automatically. I have to process everything first before. Before anything, for sure.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: I'm like that, too. Yeah, I get you.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: So, Lindsey, in your opinion, how would you describe trust and respect?
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Hmm.
Well, so I think they're probably, you know, concepts that everyone defines differently.
[00:07:43] Speaker C: Right?
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Like, everyone has their own definition of them, I would think so. I think of myself, for instance. You know, I know people who feel highly disrespected if, you know, somebody isn't on time. And myself personally, that's not something that.
That bothers me, actually. In fact. And I'm not intentionally trying to plug my podcast here, but I had somebody named Julie Pham on my podcast who talked about the differences in respect. And so I won't steal her limelight there.
But for me, I think respect is, like, mutually built across relationships, right? And so it's both being able to express what one needs to feel respected and to respect when somebody else's needs are a bit different and to be able to stay in relationship with that person and work through those differences. And I think that's just highly connected to trust in the sense that the more that you can do that, the more you build trust. Like, it's kind of a circle, right?
I think. Yeah. And I think there's, like, a sense, like, a felt sense to it, right? When I think we all know, you know, on a non cerebral level, when we don't feel trust is present, whether or not we're, you know, aware of that in the moment, I think it's a very instinctual feeling.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Mm hmm. No, I definitely agree with you, and I actually love what you, everything that you just said there, that's, that's awesome.
What would. So with that being said, how would you go about building trust and respect in an organization?
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Hmm.
Yeah. So I think, I mean, okay, listen, I'm really not a, like a prescriptive thinker, so I will couch my answer with that. But because my answer is almost, I should have been a lawyer. My answer is almost always, it depends, but because I think it truly does depend. Right. So I've worked with organizations where, you know, when I've been hired, the, I don't want to use titles. I don't, I don't want to give too many, you know, details for people to be recognizable. But anyhow, whoever was in charge was, from the stories I was told, seemed to, frankly, be verbally abusive with the team. And so when you're walking into that kind of a situation as a new leader, how are you going to be building trust is probably very different than when you're walking into an organization where there was really solid and firm trust in the leader you're replacing.
[00:10:27] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Because I think it's important to recognize that when there hasn't been trust, it's going to, or, you know, whether it's trust within the organization or it's even just an individual who has a life history of not having good experience, like good trusting relationships, it's going to take a lot, lot longer to build that solid trust. And so I guess one of the big things in that is, you know, recognizing where the person you're interacting with, like, what they need to.
To trust you.
[00:11:03] Speaker C: Right?
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Do they, do they, is it accountability for them that, like, makes you a trusted individual? Is it feeling heard? Is it giving them time and mentorship? You know? So I think it's, it needs to be individualized to each situation.
But I think the biggest key is really putting that at the foundation of everything. Right? So rather than like, yes, we need to figure out how to build that trust, but even more than that, we need to recognize the signs that it's not being built or it's being broken and identify that early and focus on that as the foundation to everything else working.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Well, that totally makes sense. It makes me think. You said earlier communication.
Just earlier you had mentioned that you said that somebody coming into a situation. Well, I think communication would probably come in, or I would think that communication would come in handy at this stage or that stage to communicate with the individuals, to see how, you know, what's going on, what's happening, try to get some feedback from them and just be kind of, like, there for them just to kind of see how things are going. Do they need any assistance? So, again, I think communication would probably fit in there, in my, my mind, hugely.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: I mean, I think it's the way we build trust, right. Whether it's communication with our words or not. I think we're constantly communicating through our actions also. And I think, you know, I've seen situations where leaders have come in. You know, sometimes it's.
I get the sense that, you know, they, they feel they need to prove themselves right? Like, prove that they are capable of the role they've hired for and competent. And so they'll come into an organization with, you know, a larger role and come in with, you know, little time, little experience in what the organization does and what that department, let's say, what the goals have been, what's in the strat plan and sort of head off on this whole, like, we're going to revamp everything.
And it doesn't necessarily build trust because people feel, you know, like, oh, God, here we go again.
[00:13:39] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: It's a, someone who's not really familiar with how we do things around here is coming in with all these brilliant ideas of where to go and not to say that there's, I mean, that's part of what people are hired for, of course. But I think what you said about spending some time getting to, like, talk to people and understanding, like, reading the temperature of where things are at first and really getting a good read on that, I think is key to being able to be effective in the kind of change that you're trying to affect as a leader. And I'll also add that when I say leader, I don't even just mean somebody in a hierarchically assigned leadership position. Like, I think that's true of anyone trying to lead any sort of initiative or have influence.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you also mentioned before that you were saying, you know, somebody coming in or for, you know, replacing somebody that was, you know, not pleasant with their, you know, co workers. I always say to people, it's not the words, it's the tone. So I think, you know, coming in and changing your, you know, somebody coming in with a different tone might be hard for people to kind of catch right away. So it might take people time to get used to your way because they're so used to being led in another in a different way.
[00:15:10] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And I, you know, I think there's responsibility on both parts.
[00:15:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:15:15] Speaker B: Like, so when we look at tone, for instance, you know, there's a responsibility on the part of the person communicating to be conscious of the impact that their tone or their words are having on others. But they don't. You don't 100% own that responsibility, but there is a responsibility to be at least aware of that. And then there's a responsibility on the behalf of the receiver to verbalize, you know, if somebody is saying something in a tone that I. That is hitting me a certain way, I think I have a responsibility to say, hey, you know, I'm just noticing in the way you said that. Like, I'm sensing that you are annoyed with me. Am I misreading that? Right. And I think that's where the communication and the trust. Right. Builds, because it's said in a non accusational way.
[00:16:10] Speaker C: Right.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: We're not saying, hey, the tone. You said that, you know, blah, blah, blah. We're simply verbalizing what we've observed and then clarifying, you know? And it also opens. So it opens the door to either, oh, actually, no, that's not how I meant it. I'm just tired today. Or actually, yeah, I am annoyed. And then you can have a conversation around it because it's been. It's been brought up, you know? So I think that that communication piece around it is that there's the safety felt safety for someone to have a conversation like that and bring, you know, bring that up.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. No, I totally, totally agree with you. So. So, Lindsey, I kind of took a peek at your website, and something on your website caught my attention, and it was that you were raised in a military influenced home. And it goes on to say that if you wanted to earn someone's trust and respect, that meant meeting expectations and performing well.
So now that. Now that you are in a business, leadership training business, on a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest, how important is trust and respect in the work environment?
[00:17:35] Speaker B: Well, I think I'd be a fraud if I said anything less than ten, because.
And I say that, you know, I don't mean that you have to grant trust to everyone or you have to grant respect to everyone immediately.
But when I look at. So, you know, I guess going back to my speech therapy days. Right. So, as a speech therapist, we learn that there are hierarchies of developmental skills.
[00:18:01] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: In kids. So kids learn to understand language before they start to use it. And so you can't. Well, you can, but it's not effective to work on getting a child to use sentences if they don't understand sentences, because you haven't built the foundation. And lower than that is emotional regulation.
[00:18:21] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: So if a child is having a hard time. So emotional regulation is basically our ability to adapt our, like, our emotional and energy state to the activity at hand.
[00:18:36] Speaker C: Right.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: So when I'm inside at a board meeting, my energy level is going to be different than if I'm, you know, on the Champs Elysees just after, you know, France has won the World cup. Both states are appropriate to each setting, but they're not necessarily appropriate in the other. So it's the ability to sort of fluctuate amongst those states as needed. So that skill. I will get to a business related point in 1 second.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Oh, no, keep going.
[00:19:03] Speaker B: So that skilled needs to be masked. There is a foundation to being able to understand and use language even below that, as a therapist, was my ability to get that kid to trust me.
[00:19:15] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:15] Speaker B: Because if I could not get that child to really trust me, I couldn't get them to do any of the activities I wanted. And I learned that the hard way by really struggling with some clients. And I learned that I had to back off on demands to rebuild trust when the child started to withdraw or feel overwhelmed or whatnot. And so the reason I say I rated a ten is that I just gave you an example from speech therapy. But it's physiological wiring of human beings, right? And so that hierarchy is no different in business adults than it is in kids. It just presents differently. The kids give off really clear signs when you're breaking trust, it's much harder to discern as an adult. But that's why I say it's the foundation to everything. Because on a nervous system level, when our nervous system is perceiving signs of lack of safety, we can't access all the skills of the frontal lobe, which are reasoning and problem solving and impulse control and organization and planning and all the things we need to do to be effective at work. So hence why I conclude that, in my opinion, it's the most. It's a ten.
I'm sold. I've sold myself.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I definitely agree with you. I think it's on a 1010 as well. We spoke earlier about trust and respect, and I don't even think it's with leadership. I think it's with co workers, too.
You're gonna have, you know, if you're not trusting your, your co worker with certain things or somebody might feel, oh, well, they, you know, they have trouble doing this and it's not going to get done properly. So, you know, it's going to be extra work for me, but I'm just going to do it. So it kind of affects both part, both people, because the person that they're doing work for is kind of, you know, hurt and feels bad because they are not, you know, nobody thought that they could do it, and it's extra work for the other person. So we're, now we're getting into extra work, mental health issues, tired, fatigued, frustrated, and then they're taking it out on everybody else. So I definitely think it goes on and on with that as well.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Well, and you know what? So, like, I talk a lot of my work about shared control and shared power and shared decision making, which doesn't mean that, you know, every decision needs to be a, you know, an organization wide vote, but, but in order to, like, truly collaborate with someone, you need to have that trust because, like, I think of, for me, in business, in my business deals, right? So I guess I've learned to apply what I know from my field to my sales process over the years in that a lot of the deals or conversations I have with, with prospects, they, I can sense they are people who, that reciprocal trust is quite strong. And so I, I don't have a difficult time once I've submitted a proposal, if the person doesn't quite. If I didn't exactly hit the mark on what they want. I mean, I've let them know in advance, this is open to discussion. I have quite a high percentage of people coming back to say, okay, yes, like, this part's great. This is great. You know, this part here, we realized, XYZ, can we change that? Because that relationship or that trust piece is strong. And so for that shared power to exist, you need to be able to, I guess, be somewhat vulnerable to some of the decision making powers in the other person's hands.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: Right?
[00:23:18] Speaker B: And so where I see this go wrong in sales, for instance, is when there's a lot of, like, influencing, manipulative language used to kind of, you know, convince the other person or there's, you know, a desire to quick proposal from everyone, and then I won't even send back an email to say, hey, thanks, but no thanks. Right? So there's, there's like a bit of a my needs over your needs on one side or the other. Whereas when it's not like that, when it's more, hey, both of our needs matters. And that doesn't mean we'll necessarily work together, but we'll stay in relationship even if it doesn't work. Out.
[00:23:54] Speaker C: Right.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: There'll be at least an email or a call to say, hey, thanks, but no thanks. So I think that's, know, in the workplace, it's the same. It's the same principles.
[00:24:03] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: It's just not in a sales context.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: No, I totally, totally agree with you. So one of the things I feel is important when it comes to building trust and respect is that most people just want to be seen, heard, valued, and understood. So in your opinion, Lindsey, how do we teach leaders how to. How important it is for these people to be seen, heard, valued, and understood?
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Yeah. How do we teach them the importance of it? So, you know, like myself, I really only learned those lessons through experiential moments where it was causing problems for me in my life.
[00:24:48] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Whether on a business level or on a personal level. And so I don't know. Part of me wonders, can you teach someone to value something they can't, they don't value?
I don't know. You know, and I will tell you that in my business, I learned through, you know, from when I started my business to now that rather than trying to align myself with people who don't value it and convince them that they should, perhaps I should just align myself with people who actually value it. So I think there's, like, people in the middle who value it but are not necessarily living that through their actions. Right. And so I think those people are the best.
Like, when I think on an organizational level.
[00:25:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: If you're leading within your organization, let's say there's, like, there's. There's culture problems, which, frankly, post Covid, I mean, a lot of organizations are dealing with.
[00:25:44] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: And then I'll get calls that people want training for leadership on the communication skills because they're really wanting to sort of focus on building a better culture and authentic communication and building trust and all that. So the people who are.
I talk about, you know, your internal champions, the people who are already on board and how they can have influence. And then there's those next ones down. And I think, I don't mean down in, like, a lesser than, but just, you know, the group of people who. Whose values are aligned but aren't necessarily acting consistently in that way. I think the way to catch them, build trust with them is through relationship and listening. Right. And asking questions, you know, not being as directive and figuring out, like, why. What's going on, you know, why.
Why are you not feeling heard in what we're doing and really listening.
[00:26:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:26:49] Speaker B: Not listening to explain why they're wrong.
Listening with the intent to really reflect on what can be done.
[00:26:57] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
So I'll tell you a little story. This goes back probably, I'm gonna probably age myself here, but this probably goes about 15 years ago. I was working for a small, little. It was like a company, and I was always staying late after, after hours, staying a half hour, whatever, 45 minutes, finishing up something. So my boss kind of came over to me one day and said, hey, I noticed that you are staying late. Have you been staying late the last, you know, couple of weeks? You know, is there everything? Is everything okay or what have you? And I said, oh, yeah. I said, I just, you know, like to finish stuff up. Sometimes. I, you know, don't want to come in the next day and forget to do something. So if I have it on my mind, I just, you know, I rather stay for a few minutes and finish it off and, and go from, you know, and then go home and I'll feel better about it. I won't be thinking about it when I get home.
So he said something to me that kind of resonate with me and still resonates with me to this day. And he said, you know, just because you stay late doesn't necessarily mean that you're showing a positive look on things. So. So I said, well, what do you mean? So? He says, well, if you're staying late all the time, I don't think that. But he says, maybe somebody that you're working for might look at it in a different manner and say, hey, how come Andrew is always staying late all the time? Can he not finish his work on time?
You know, why is he always having to stay late to finish his work? So he says, I don't see it that way. But he says, just for your future. He says, I hope you stay here forever. But, you know, if you do go on somewhere, just keep that in mind that not everybody's gonna look at staying late after work as a positive. More is that, you know, why are they staying or why do they have to stay late and, and look at it that way?
[00:29:20] Speaker B: Yeah, totally. It's all perception, right? And. And that's the tricky part with communication, right, is we think we see our actions one way and someone else sees them completely differently, and then nobody sort of takes the time to check in with one or, I don't even want to say takes the time. Sometimes it just doesn't even cross your mind, right. That you, you should check in on that. But, I mean, the number of times just within my household that, you know, somebody says, something. And someone's like, hey. And the other person's like, well, that's not what I meant, or that's not what I was doing. Right. And it takes a split second, but I think that what he did was allow you the insight to put yourself in someone else's shoes.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Right.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: And how that might be perceived.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: And to make an informed decision.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. And, you know, I was. For me, I was, you know, I felt like I was seen, I was heard. He valued me. And when I explained to him why I was staying late, he understood, but he just took the time to explain to me something that could be perceived, like you said earlier, from somebody else, from another manager or supervisor. So it was. Yeah, it's still something that I. It feels like it was just yesterday, but it's something that I'll remember probably for as long as I live. I think it was very interesting.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: Well, and it's even just somebody taking the time out of their day. Right. To be like, hey, you know, FYI, I noticed something, and I think the other piece there is how that is communicated.
[00:30:59] Speaker C: Right.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: Like, if he were to come and say, andrew, you're making yourself look ridiculous by staying late, everyone thinks that you can't get your work done. Right. My guess is that your experience of feeling heard and seen might not have been quite the same, but it's taking the time to do that in a way that maintains relationship.
[00:31:19] Speaker C: Right.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: And gives you some information without necessarily shoving his perspective down your throat either, for sure.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Like I said earlier, was. It's the, you know, it's the not. What he, you know, was his tone. So his tone, along with what he said was. Was awesome. So I'll never forget. I'll remember it forever.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I've had some great advice over the years, too.
That's the great leaders, right, who will take some time and help share some of the wisdoms and bumps that they've learned from over the years.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. For sure. So if I were to use. If you were to use one word to describe yourself to our listeners today, Lindsey, what would. What would you. What would it be?
[00:32:07] Speaker B: Oh, I'm not a person of one word.
Maybe the word would be wordy, but so probably the word that, like, truly describes me best would be goofy. Although I don't know if on a business front, that is how people would necessarily perceive me. But, gosh, talk to my kids. They always say to me, why are you so weird? And I just break out into dance and say, because I was born that way.
But yeah, I just like to, I don't know, keep it real and have fun and, like, not take myself or life too seriously. So goofy. There you go.
[00:32:50] Speaker A: Goofy would be it. Yeah. No, I definitely see you as a person talking to you as often as I have to be a fun person as well.
I have a word that I would use myself to describe you.
[00:33:10] Speaker B: All right.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: And my word is intuitive.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: Oh, well, you know what's really interesting about that? I'm, like, incredibly flattered by that discretion because I, so I guess I've probably always been intuitive, but I tuned it out for, like, huge part of my life. I was, I mean, I guess it goes back to what you were talking earlier about, military raised family.
I was very much like mind over matter, you know, just grinded out. And I experienced, like, a significant injury when I was, like, 20, I don't know, 20 something, early twenties. I was on disability for two years, I think, in part because I wasn't listening to myself. And so I, through some life events, realized, oh, there's some wisdom in that, right? Like, that's there for a reason, and balance it with your, like, the cerebral part. And it has served me well. So I appreciate you sharing that because it's something I've had to work to really refine and to trust to let go of, you know, if someone has a different path, but it feels right for me to just let go of it and trust my gut and, yeah. So thank you.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: Oh, you're very, very welcome. Yeah, no, I chose intuitive because I find youre, you're a very deep thinker.
I find that you're very empathetic, and I always find you're always self, very self aware, so you're always self aware of the, of what's going on, what's happening. So that's why I took some time, and that's, that's the word I came up for with free.
[00:35:01] Speaker B: I like it. And you know what I think? I think actually, like, that's what I love the most in my work. Like, I really like complex projects, complex situations. I don't know why I'm always drawn to them, but I think it's because it really lets me lean into that. Like, I, you know, I have them, the sort of theoretical knowledge around communication, but it lets me sort of lean into that intuitive side to sort of weave through the complexity to figure out what is the, you know, which way to go. And actually, funny enough, as I said to you when we got on, I'm just working on a proposal now, and it's a client who wants. They, you know, we chatted for a bunch and they want a whole bunch of options. And I normally don't give, you know, as many options as I'm giving now because I know in sales, I know it's hard if you. The more options you give, the harder it is to decide. And I was kind of thinking on, you know, my knowledge of that, that don't give too many options. But the client clearly said to me, I want a whole bunch of variety. Like, I really need to sit down with my leadership team and talk this through. And I thought, you know, just give her what she asked for. Right? Like, who cares about. I don't normally do that, but it's true. So I'm leaning into my intuition of just, this is what she wanted, give her what she asked for. Let go of the sort of the models or paths that, you know, and just trust that if it doesn't hit the mark, she'll come back to you and you'll chat it out and you'll, you know, you'll figure out what she does want. So, yeah, it's been valuable to learn to just lean into that.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: Yeah, you were, you were, you were observant and you understood what she was looking for. It would be like showing somebody the gym they want to become a member, and you ask them what they want to do and they say, oh, I'm looking for cardio. Well, you're not going to take them over to the weightlifting area where all the big bodybuilders are working out. You're not going to go there. You're going to take them to the cardio area and show them that there's 55 cardio machines, treadmills, bicycles. So you want to show them that there's enough there that when they come, they're not going to have to wait for anything. So, yeah, you were intuitive there. That just makes me think of that.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And you know what? That's how I like to buy, too. So then I remind myself it's meeting each individual's different needs.
[00:37:26] Speaker C: Right.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: And I think that's why, you know, when earlier I said, well, the answer depends. It's because it, like, I can't ethically say to you unless I know, like, really, the details of a situation, I can't ethically say to you, well, Andrew, if you do these two things, it's gonna totally resolve it, because I know darn well, like, communication and organizational development is way more complex than that. And so I do think there's a piece of leaning into that intuition in terms of what the client says to sort of customize what you're doing or the solution to actually meet their needs. So I guess that's why I still really love what I do, having switched fields, because it lets me practice those skills similarly.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. For sure.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: That's interesting.
[00:38:12] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Any final thoughts today?
[00:38:16] Speaker B: You know what? I always have final thoughts, but I have none.
This is like, this is a. Okay, folks listening, jot this down. This is a unique occurrence. I have no additional thoughts. You're correct, Andrew. I am a deep thinker. But no, it's been great chatting with you, and I appreciate you reaching out and having me on.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: Well, it was great to have you. Like I said earlier, you know, we've been talking for a while, and I had you on my mind to come on and just with schedules, whatever. It didn't pan out. But it was my, my goal to get you on here, and I was thrilled to death, like I said earlier, that you had said yes. So.
[00:38:59] Speaker B: Yep. No, absolutely. And thank you for keeping on it. I appreciate it.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: No problem.
If any of our listeners want to get a hold of you, Lindsay, how might they do so, sure.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Well, so I'm being a little negligent with social media these days, but I do have the goal to get back on it. But LinkedIn is the best place to find me. Lindsay la Paquette. That's where I am most active. And I actually also have, if people are interested, I have a little video course on my website. It's on, you know, dealing with conflict and confrontation in the workplace and all that kind of stuff. It's really short videos because I know no one has time and that can be
[email protected].
conflict. And then all my contact info is on my website there, too, if, if people want to reach me directly.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: Wonderful. Well, on behalf of myself and my guest, Lindsay Lapquette, I would like to thank you all for listening today. And until next time, be safe. And remember, if we all work together, we can accomplish anything.
