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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that if you are managing a lot of people,

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Speaker 1: or for that matter, raising multiple kids, be sure to

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Speaker 1: check in with and think about the easy ones. Just

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Speaker 1: because things are going fine doesn't mean they couldn't go better.

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Speaker 1: So I have five kids, and at any given point,

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Speaker 1: one or two of them can be way more challenging

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Speaker 1: than the others. Now, it varies who the challenging kid

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Speaker 1: or situation might be, but any particular crisis can consume

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Speaker 1: a ton of energy. So if everything seems to be

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Speaker 1: going all right for another kid, good great aids, no

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Speaker 1: real complaints, it can be tempting to just feel grateful

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Speaker 1: I can let that chunk of parenting go on autopilot.

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Speaker 1: But just because someone is doing okay doesn't mean they

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Speaker 1: don't benefit from engagement with someone who is looking out

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Speaker 1: for their interests. Even if a kid is being pretty easy,

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Speaker 1: that doesn't mean he or she wouldn't like to think

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Speaker 1: about doing different activities, or that he or she has

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Speaker 1: some ideas for summer camps or would like to host

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Speaker 1: a more elaborate friend get together, or could even use

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Speaker 1: some new books from the library. So as I think

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Speaker 1: about my relationship priorities for each week, I think about

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Speaker 1: what is going on in each kid's life and what

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Speaker 1: might be worth discussing. Similarly, anyone who is managing a

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Speaker 1: crew of employees knows that some are more low maintenance

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Speaker 1: than others. Sometimes people are underperforming, which you definitely have

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Speaker 1: to manage, but sometimes people are constantly asking for new

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Speaker 1: things or suggesting new ideas, all of which can be great,

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Speaker 1: but also fits into the squeaky wheel getting the grease category.

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Speaker 1: You don't necessarily think as much about the employees who

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Speaker 1: quietly but competently do their jobs, so best to nudge

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Speaker 1: yourself to think about them. Is there anything else the

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Speaker 1: person could take on? Where do you see him or

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Speaker 1: her in a year? Where do they see themselves? Are

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Speaker 1: they happy? What would they like to spend an hour

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Speaker 1: or two more per week doing? Are there things they

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Speaker 1: would like to do less of? Now? I am not

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Speaker 1: saying this has to translate into specif weekly meeting times,

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Speaker 1: though I do know a lot of managers swear by these,

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Speaker 1: But either way, it is worth checking in with the

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Speaker 1: quiet ones occasionally. Certainly things can take a turn for

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Speaker 1: the worse. An employee you thought was happy might walk

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Speaker 1: out the door suddenly. It's good to know if you

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Speaker 1: could have stopped it. But even without that, quietly competent

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Speaker 1: folks deserve to have someone thinking about their career trajectories

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Speaker 1: and their happiness too. Just like the low maintenance kids

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Speaker 1: also deserve attention. Wise management means looking beyond the squeaky

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Speaker 1: wheel to make sure everything is well greased. That's how

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Speaker 1: we move beyond managing crises and toward getting more done.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.