Amy Lynn Durham is a former corporate sales manager turned Executive Coach and Leadership Development Coach. As a sales manager, she managed $38 million in operating income with 400 employees from the Bay Area to central California.
Her company, Create Magic at Work, focuses on emotional and spiritual intelligence training for leaders and their teams. She's also the author of Create Magic at Work.
On this episode of the Strategy & Leadership Podcast, Amy joins us to discuss why employees leave, how leaders can create magic at work, connection activities for you and your team, and much more.
Listen to the audio version here, or watch the video at the bottom of the page:
We can help you align your team around a clear vision, mission, values, goals and action plans, so you can lead your organization more effectively and get better results.
Here's a breakdown of the conversation:
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Why employees leave and become burnt out (and what to do)
Amy talks about the number one reason why employees leave: They don't feel appreciated in the workplace. Even before the pandemic, Harvard Business review did a study to conclude that loneliness and isolation at work contributes more to employee burnout than actual workload.
This creates a win-win opportunity. You can take the time to develop connections with your employees and make them feel valued and appreciated, while at the same time improving the productivity and profitability of your business. Amy's book, Create Magic at Work, is full of exercises and connection activities to help leaders do just that.
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Tips for creating magic at work
Amy explains how often, leaders call in consultants and coaches to fix problems with their team and culture. Although there is always room for improvement with the team, the real challenge is getting that CEO or leader to take a look in the mirror. That's the first step.
Skill building is a big piece of creating magic at work. Amy talks about the value of emotional intelligence skills (EQ), and how the route to strong EQ requires lesser known SQ - spiritual intelligence.
The other big piece is related to team building and connection activities. Amy's book is full of them, an they're a great way to learn more your team - their values, their 'why', their plans, etc. On top of that, you'll be helping create real connections, making people feel valued, and decreasing the chances of disengagement and loneliness.
Amy even shares an example connection activity (a journaling exercise) from the book.
Be sure to check out Amy's book, Create Magic at Work.
