The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
This podcast is about the changing organization and our relationship to it -- how we enter, thrive and exit. Each episode is meant to be thoughtful, funny, and applicable. Stories, insight, and "words to say" come from Dr. Celina's experience with over two and a half decades of listening, learning from and leading conversations in hundreds of companies. Each episode will explore a new theme about life arriving in, interacting with and leaving the workplace.
The Workplace Chameleon with Dr. Celina
Episode 94: Make Priorities Visible
Priorities only matter if people can see and understand them. In this episode of The Workplace Chameleon, Dr. Celina Peerman explores how priorities that feel crystal clear to a leader can remain completely invisible to everyone else — and why that invisibility comes at such a high cost. She explains the common ways priorities fade into the background, from assumptions that “everyone already knows” to noise from urgent tasks and shifting focus when leaders themselves drift. Through stories and reflections, Dr. Celina highlights the real consequences of hidden priorities, including misaligned work, scattered energy, missed deadlines, frustration, and even erosion of trust. You’ll learn practical ways to make priorities visible — by saying them out loud, writing them down, repeating them often, and connecting them to the “why” behind the work — as well as how leaders must model alignment with their own calendars and actions if they want their teams to believe it. This week’s challenge: take one priority that’s been living in your head, share it out loud, and make it visible enough that your team can see, repeat, and act on it. Because priorities only do their job when they’re clear to everyone, not just you.
For more leadership tools and resources, visit www.drcelinapeerman.com
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Welcome back to the Workplace Chameleon where, I don't know, we keep trying right to adapt, align and lead with intention. It's a work in progress, especially when this workplace feels a little wild. Progress, especially when this workplace feels a little wild. Today. I want to talk about priorities that feel crystal clear in your head but are not completely visible to everyone else. My name's Dr Selina and I think one of the challenges we've got is that when priorities stay in your head, you can't guide your team, they can't influence decisions, they can't protect time, they can't align effort not your team, but because the priorities are in your head and that really means that they aren't really priorities, they're just ideas. I use the phrase with my own team. I got to get it out of my head. I got to tell you what I'm thinking. It's in my brain, but those aren't priorities, they're simply just, in my case, 300 squirrels with ideas. Today, in this episode, let's look at why priorities so often go invisible, what it costs and, most importantly, how to make them visible so everyone is moving in the same direction. First, let's define it. Let's define it Invisible.
Speaker 1:Priorities are the goals, tasks or values that matter the most to you but aren't communicated, reinforced or shared in a way that others can act on. There are a few common ways this seems to happen. More Number one assumption we assume people already know what matters most. Maybe you've mentioned it once in a meeting or you think it's obvious. But people are busy, they're juggling a dozen things and if you don't repeat and reinforce it, it does not stick. Noise Priorities get buried under urgent tasks, side projects or the classic well you're at it requests Pretty soon. The true priorities are hidden under a mountain of busy work, leader drift. Sometimes we forget our own declared priorities. No-transcript. It might be like a fire drill that demands attention and suddenly we're chasing something else without realizing it.
Speaker 1:I think about examples, and one that comes to mind is a team that I'm familiar with where they had a top priority as customer retention, but because it just wasn't consistently communicated, they focused more on sales numbers. The results sales grew, but at the same time, customer churn spiked. Everyone was working really hard, just not on the same stated thing. Consider this what's one priority that's crystal clear to you right now, but you haven't said it out loud to your team this week? This might be the episode when my team listens they go Selena, this one. Why? Well, there are a lot of whys to this, but let me start with the cost of hidden priorities.
Speaker 1:When priorities aren't visible, the costs stack up quickly. Misaligned focus People put energy into the wrong work. I don't know about your team, but I don't have any spare time. My team needs to be working on the right stuff. So does yours. Scattered energy also comes to mind.
Speaker 1:Efforts get diluted across too many things. Missed deadlines, clarity isn't there, so no one really knows what projects matter most. Frustration and burnout. People feel like they're working hard, but their efforts aren't recognized or rewarded. Hard, but their efforts aren't recognized or rewarded. It's like trying to win a relay race when half the team doesn't know where the finish line is. They're running, but not together.
Speaker 1:Another cost, one of our hardest ones to fix trust when priorities aren't visible, people start to second-guess leadership. They wonder do they actually know where we're headed? That kind of doubt spreads fast. Here's a difference. A goal is an aspiration, something you want to achieve. My goal is dot dot dot. A priority is a choice, something you actively elevate above other options. If no one can see it, it's not guiding choices, and without choices, it is just wishful thinking. Squirrel alert. An invisible priority is just a wish. Visible priorities drive action. Consider this If someone asked three people on your team to list the top priorities, would their answers match or would you hear three different lists?
Speaker 1:I think that speaks volumes. It doesn't mean it's going to be all the time, but I think we could do this better. So how do you make priorities visible? The good news is it doesn't have to be complicated. I really think the key issue is to be consistent. I'm going to note four ways you could start right now.
Speaker 1:Number one say them out loud. Don't assume people remember. Start meetings with here's what's most important this week. Say it often. I like to point out repetition is not nagging, it's clarity. Number two write them down. Post them somewhere everyone can see In a shared doc, a project dashboard, a team whiteboard. If it's not written, it's too easy to forget. Number three repeat them often. Mention priorities in check-ins, email updates and one-on-ones. People need reminders in different formats. Number four explain the why. Don't just say what the priority is. Explain why it matters. People commit more deeply when they understand the reasoning. This is like a scoreboard.
Speaker 1:Many of you have key performance indicators and metrics and dashboards and all sorts of trackers In a game. If you can't see the score, you don't know how you're doing. Priorities work the same way. They must be visible and updated. I can have 20 things on my dashboard, on my key performance indicators, on my scorecard, but if I don't know which ones to pursue that are most important, I'm going to have a lot of data and not information. I'm converting to make great decisions.
Speaker 1:A leader I was coaching started ending every Monday meeting with a one-minute recap. Our top three priorities for this week are X, y, z. Here's why At first I know he would say it just feels like I'm saying the same thing, but after a few weeks here's what I love His team began quoting those priorities back, and when they do, they start making better decisions and faster ones, because they knew what mattered most. How often do you assume your team knows the priorities versus how often do they actually say them out loud because you did? Okay, here's the hardest part, and let's go with the most important part on this one you, your behavior, is the cle clear signal of all.
Speaker 1:If you say something as a priority but your calendar, your emails or your actions do not reflect it, people won't believe you. They'll follow what you do, not what you say. Ask yourself am I spending my time in a way that matches the priorities I have named? Do my emails and my meetings and my decision point towards those priorities? If someone shadowed me for a week, would they know what matters most by observing me? If not, it's time to realign and let people see you make that adjustment. When a leader says I'm rescheduling this meeting so I can focus on our top priority, it sends a powerful message. Remember we're going to reinforce alignment when effort, resources and attention consistently point towards declared priorities and they can be acted upon less guessing.
Speaker 1:Here's a couple team reflection questions you can take with you. What's one priority that's clear to me but maybe not to others? How could I share it more visibly this week? How can we make visibility a team habit? Priorities at work have to be seen, shared and understood if we want to be more effective. If they only live in your head, those priorities cannot do their job. So here's your challenge from me to you this week Pick one key priority, say it out loud, write it where people can see it, repeat it until it sticks, keep doing it and you will be amazed at how quickly alignment and progress follow.
Speaker 1:Thank you for your trust, your energy and your intention about tuning into the Workplace, chameleon. If this episode gave you new ideas for bringing clarity to your work, I really appreciate you sharing it with someone else. I'm excited to see what we can do next together. If you have a suggestion for a future episode topic, I would love to hear from you. Please take care of yourself. Your health, including your physical health and your mental health, are so important because we need you here and others are counting on us to keep learning something new today. Take care, be well. I hope that this time and investment that you've given to me, you can feel filled and take it out to someone else.
