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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovaledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode seven point eighty one. Today's episode is called

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<v Speaker 2>Tools Employees hate using and every workplace has them. That

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<v Speaker 2>software program everyone complains about, the reporting system that takes

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<v Speaker 2>six clicks to complete one task. The scheduling app that crashes,

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<v Speaker 2>the customer relationship management platform that requires employees to enter

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<v Speaker 2>the same information three different times. The equipment that works

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<v Speaker 2>only when you hold it a certain way. Leadership often

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<v Speaker 2>looks at these things as operational inconveniences, and employees experience

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<v Speaker 2>them very differently. To an employee, a bad tool is

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<v Speaker 2>something they wrestle with dozens of times every day. It

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<v Speaker 2>slowly chips away at motivation, It creates frustration. It wastes

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<v Speaker 2>energy that could have been spent serving customers, solving problems,

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<v Speaker 2>or even helping teammates. And here's the mistake many leaders

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<v Speaker 2>make when employees complain about a tool. Leaders here complaining.

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<v Speaker 2>What employees are actually saying is something much bigger. They're saying,

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<v Speaker 2>you're making my job harder than it needs to be.

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<v Speaker 2>Think about that for a second. Leadership exists to remove barriers,

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<v Speaker 2>not accidentally create them. One of the biggest disconnects between

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<v Speaker 2>executives and frontline employees is exc exposure. The farther you

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<v Speaker 2>move up in leadership, the less time you spend using

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<v Speaker 2>the tools your employees rely on every hour, and eventually

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<v Speaker 2>you stop seeing the friction. You approve software because it

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<v Speaker 2>saves money. You approve policies because they make reporting easier.

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<v Speaker 2>You purchase equipment because it looked impressive during the demonstration.

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<v Speaker 2>Six months later, your employees are living with those decisions

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<v Speaker 2>every single shift. And here's something that I've learned in EMS.

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<v Speaker 2>If you hand a paramedic equipment that is difficult to

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<v Speaker 2>operate during an emergency, that frustration doesn't appear during the emergency.

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<v Speaker 2>It begins during training. Every awkward button, every confusing menu,

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<v Speaker 2>every unnecessary step, Those frustrations accumulate long before someone calls

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<v Speaker 2>nine to one one. The same thing happens inside every organization.

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<v Speaker 2>Technology should remove work, it should not become the work.

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<v Speaker 2>And I've watched organizations spend millions of dollars implementing software

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<v Speaker 2>that nobody wanted. Training sessions become damage control. Employees create

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<v Speaker 2>unofficial shortcuts, sticky notes appear on computer monitors explaining the workarounds,

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<v Speaker 2>and veteran employees spend half their day teaching new employees

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<v Speaker 2>how to trick the software into working correctly. That's not efficiency,

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<v Speaker 2>that's organizational survival. And here's an exercise. Every leader should try.

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<v Speaker 2>Spend one full day doing your employees' jobs exactly the

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<v Speaker 2>way they do them. No executive shortcuts, no administrator permissions.

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<v Speaker 2>Use the same software, fill out the same forms, use

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<v Speaker 2>the same equipment, answer the same phone, and you'll discover

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<v Speaker 2>things no survey will ever reveal. You may find that

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<v Speaker 2>a process you believe took five minutes actually takes twenty.

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<v Speaker 2>You may discover employees have invented their own systems because

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<v Speaker 2>yours don't work. And you may realize that your highest

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<v Speaker 2>performers are not more productive because they're smarter, they're more

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<v Speaker 2>productive because they figured out how to navigate broken systems.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a leadership problem. And one question I love asking

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<v Speaker 2>employees is this, if you could eliminate one piece of equipment,

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<v Speaker 2>one form, one software program, or one process tomorrow morning,

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<v Speaker 2>what would it be. Pay attention to how quickly they

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<v Speaker 2>answer that question. Many people don't hesitate. They've been carrying

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<v Speaker 2>that frustration for months, sometimes even years. And here's where

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<v Speaker 2>leadership earns credibility. Don't defend the tool. Investigate the problem.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes the tool isn't broken, the training is. Times the

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<v Speaker 2>software isn't bad, the workflow around it is. Sometimes nobody

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<v Speaker 2>has challenged the process in ten years because everyone assumed

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<v Speaker 2>that's simply how it's done. Leadership isn't about protecting yesterday's decisions.

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<v Speaker 2>It's about improving tomorrow's experience. And there is another hidden cost.

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<v Speaker 2>Bad tools increase turnover. People rarely quit because of software alone.

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<v Speaker 2>They quit because every day feels unnecessarily difficult. Imagine driving

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<v Speaker 2>a car with square tires. Eventually you stop complaining. You

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<v Speaker 2>simply just become exhausted. The same thing happens at work.

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<v Speaker 2>Every inefficient process quietly drains enthusiasm, and eventually people stop

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<v Speaker 2>suggesting improvements, they stop raising concerns, they stop believing anything

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<v Speaker 2>will change, and then they leave. And leaders often ask,

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<v Speaker 2>why didn't anyone tell me? They did? They mentioned it

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<v Speaker 2>during meetings, they joked about it in the break room.

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<v Speaker 2>They rolled their eyes every time the system froze. Those

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<v Speaker 2>weren't jokes, Those were warning signs. One of the smartest

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<v Speaker 2>investments any leader can make isn't another motivational speaker. It

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<v Speaker 2>isn't another team building exercise. It isn't another inspirational poster.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just making work easier. Remove one unnecessary click, Simplify

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<v Speaker 2>one approval process, replace one outdated piece of equipment, eliminate

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<v Speaker 2>one pointless report. Small leadership improvements compound every single day.

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<v Speaker 2>That's leadership, because every minute you give back to your

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<v Speaker 2>employees becomes time they can invest somewhere that actually matters.

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<v Speaker 2>The goal isn't flashy technology. The goal is invisible technology.

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<v Speaker 2>The best tools should disappear into the work people stop

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<v Speaker 2>talking about them because they're focused on serving customers, caring

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<v Speaker 2>for patients, building products, or helping teammates. That's exactly where

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<v Speaker 2>their attention belongs. So here's today's leadership challenge. Walk through

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<v Speaker 2>your organization this week and ask one simple question, what

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<v Speaker 2>tool do you hate using the most? And then stay

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<v Speaker 2>quiet listen carefully. You may discover that fixing one frustrating

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<v Speaker 2>tool improves morale more than ten motivational speeches ever could

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<v Speaker 2>that's leadership, that's influence, and that's how great organizations quietly

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<v Speaker 2>become great places to work. So before we wrap up

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<v Speaker 2>for today, I want you to just remember this. Employees

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<v Speaker 2>don't judge leadership only by this beaches you give or

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<v Speaker 2>the vision that you share. They judge leadership by the

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<v Speaker 2>experience you create. Every single day. Every frustrating system, every

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<v Speaker 2>outdated process, and every unnecessary obstacle sends a message. Make

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<v Speaker 2>sure your messages were making your job easier, not harder.

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<v Speaker 2>This has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I

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<v Speaker 2>thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.