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The Leadership Behaviors That Make Your Team Feel Safe Enough to Tell You the Truth
Your team just left the leadership meeting, and you asked if anyone had concerns about the new strategy. Silence. You asked if anyone saw potential problems with the timeline. More silence. You said, “I really want your honest feedback.” Still nothing. Later that afternoon, you overhear two team members in the hallway discussing exactly the…
The Cost of Staying Silent: What Happens When Abrasive Behavior Goes Unchecked
There’s a moment most leaders know well. You’ve just heard again… that a high-performing employee crossed a line. Maybe they humiliated someone in a meeting. Maybe they snapped at a colleague in front of the team. Maybe the complaints landing on your desk have quietly multiplied over the past several months. And you’ve done what…
Choose a Team Rallying Cry: How One Powerful Phrase Can Transform Your Team in 2026
What is your team’s focus for 2026? Many teams enter a new year with good intentions but without a clear sense of direction that creates a shared purpose. This turns into misalignment, conflicting priorities, and tensions that drain energy and productivity. Team members end up operating in silos rather than moving together toward a common…
Choose Your Mindset Before Addressing Employee Behavior: An Emotional Intelligence Approach
Before having a candid conversation with a difficult employee, choose your mindset to optimize the likelihood of a positive outcome.
How Leaders Can Defuse Gossip Before It Spreads
We’ve all seen it happen. A comment that starts out as a genuine concern about a co-worker quickly turns into whispers, assumptions, and half-truths. Gossip may feel harmless in the moment, but over time it quietly erodes trust and chips away at your team’s culture. As a leader, your role isn’t just to keep projects…
Why Empathy is the Leadership Skill that Motivates Change
Hank was angry. He couldn’t get his employees on board with the new computer system. From his perspective, he did all the “right” things. He provided reasons for the upgrade and training to enhance efficiency, but employee resistance persisted. What you resist, persists The more you push for change without understanding what’s behind it, the…
Avoid power struggles with your employees like you would with a teenager
What can leaders learn from parenting a defiant teenager? How to avoid power struggles with your employees. Ever been caught in a power struggle, whether at home or in the workplace? I recently witnessed a moment between a parent and their teenager that was a masterclass in emotional regulation. The teen was refusing to get…
How to Walk Your Talk to Be Both a Smart and Healthy Leader
Walk your talk is one of my core values. It is a privilege to work with executive leaders, helping them lead themselves effectively so they can, in turn, lead their teams and organizations with excellence. I hold this responsibility in high regard. That’s why having an inner circle of like-minded colleagues who also value “Walking…
5 Steps to motivating abrasive leaders to change
If you are on the verge of losing valued employees because of a top-performing leader’s abrasive behavior, you’ll appreciate the following 5 steps to motivating abrasive leaders to change. Perhaps you’ve heard complaints from employees as they head for the door: TEAM MEMBER A tells you she’s leaving because of repeatedly being yelled at in…
Does the look on your face create psychological safety with your employees?
Most leaders don’t learn how to create psychological safety until it’s too late. The skillset necessary to strategize your business plan, create systems, and monitor metrics is not the same skillset necessary to retain employees to run your day-to-day operations. That’s why having interpersonal skills that create psychological safety with your employees is so important.…