Misti Burmeister works to empower employees

Years ago, an eager, young Misti Burmeister presented a host of productive ideas for improvement to the CEO of her workplace.

In response, the executive asked Burmeister how her parents were able to handle her and whether she was taking anti-anxiety medication. 

Burmeister resigned the next day, and the experience led her to develop a philosophy on work culture that also transformed her into an award-winning author, executive coach and motivational speaker. 

For 20 years, she has helped global organizations facilitate difficult conversations and initiate cultural shifts that lead to increased employee engagement as well as better communication, company productivity and profitability.

Burmeister has been an executive coach for businesses including Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, Marriott, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T, and is now offering services in the Cape Region.

During a Nov. 16 interview, Burmeister explained that employees become mentally resigned when they work in a toxic environment where there is a lack of resources and recognition.

A critical component of employee engagement is psychological safety, Burmeister said, and employers can move their employees from resignation to engagement by empowering them with the authority, encouragement and resources they need.

“Nothing motivates people more than extending trust to them,” she said.

By helping employees discover and express their strengths, the focus shifts away from weaknesses, she said. “We need help seeing our strengths, as we all have self-limiting beliefs that stop us,” she said. 

Another facet of Burmeister’s work involves solving generational conflicts between novice and seasoned employees, which she says is a symptom of a greater conflict. 

People will always be in conflict if they don’t know what they’re trying to do and why it matters, she said. It’s important that employees understand the company’s vision so they can work collaboratively, and not competitively among themselves, to reach solutions, she said.

“I did a bunch of work around how do you help people step up into their potential in cross generations, and then the pandemic started,” she said, which shifted the workplace conversation into how to give feedback and build trust in a virtual environment. 

With an election year coming up, Burmeister said there is bound to be a lot of strife regarding different beliefs.

“I would love to help facilitate some of these conversations,” she said. “That’s very important to me.”

Burmeister said she also does one-on-one empowerment coaching with individuals who want to focus on the actions and activities that are important to them.

“Part of being peaceful is finding the thing inside you and helping it to manifest,” she said.

Contact Burmeister at misti@mistiburmeister.com or 240-401-4397. For more information, go to mistiburmeister.com.