When Charles was promoted into a leadership role, he was not at all prepared for the ‘people’ challenges he faced. Every direction he turned – upwards to management, downwards with his team or sideways to his peers and suppliers, he needed to navigate personalities and people dynamics. This hadn’t been the case when he was … Read more
Andre wished he could be like a leader he worked with in the early part of his career. This was a charismatic leader he admired who could inspire and motivate people around him. He gave rousing presentations and knew how to work the room. Andre noticed people would walk over hot coals for this leader. … Read more
Peter* stepped up and took responsibility when his boss abruptly left under a cloud. The leadership team had lost focus. The business was not performing well and staff morale was at an all-time low. Everyone was waiting for someone else to do something. Peter took on being ‘the one’ to challenge the leadership team to … Read more
Kathy’s boss gave her his empathy and listened to her concerns about teamwork in their group and her request to change their meeting structure. He played back what she said, and she came away from the meeting satisfied he gave her a good hearing. But in her mind, he created an expectation he would respond … Read more
Brilliant problem solvers often go straight to the problem. The project is off the rails, so let’s get the team member responsible to explain what went wrong. But it would help to do some listening and take an interest in the team member before launching into problem-solving mode. Steven Covey said, “Seek first to understand, … Read more