An employee may arrive in a new role with habits that made perfect sense in their last environment. They might ask for approval before making small decisions because mistakes used to be punished, overprepare before bringing bad news because surprises were dangerous, or stay quiet in meetings because speaking up used to cost them. In…
There’s a game people play called “Why Don’t You–Yes, But” (YDYB). It’s prevalent when people gather in groups, and I’ll bet you’ll see people playing it within the next few days. Here’s an example of YDYB in the workplace. Player 1: “She’s done it again! It’s two days until the presentation, and now she wants…
A manager’s favorite escape hatch is the word “unmanageable.” It sounds like a conclusion earned through patience and wisdom, but it usually describes the manager’s frustration, inflexibility, or lack of range. I have seen this happen dozens of times. An employee asks too many questions, pushes back on vague instructions, or needs more structure than…
Sometimes managers call it resistance when what really failed was the way they tried to create change. The employees push back, barely comply, or don’t move the way leadership expected. Leadership looks at that and reaches for the usual diagnosis: not ready, lacks buy-in, unwilling to change. That explanation is plausible, but it also protects…
Some managers interpret resistance as a lack of buy-in when it’s really a sign they moved too fast. The issue may be real, and the feedback may be accurate, but leadership sometimes makes this mistake: they assume that because the insight is right, the timing must be right too. So they push it hard, name…
Many managers waste employees’ time by pretending every answer has to be discovered rather than taught. There’s a version of leadership that sounds thoughtful, empowering, and sophisticated on the surface, but in practice, it often amounts to a slower way of withholding useful judgment. The employee brings a problem, the manager clearly sees the answer,…
A practical, step-by-step guide for managers who want to help employees change recurring unproductive behaviors through a structured, compassionate coaching process that keeps the employee in the driver’s seat. This process works best when an employee comes to you for help with an issue they want to improve. For this example, I’ll use an employee…
A marketing professional came into coaching after her second layoff in 12 months, carrying the kind of discouragement that hits hard when the interviews keep happening and the feedback keeps disappearing. She had 10 years of solid experience in analytics, customer experience, and product marketing. She had plenty of knowledge, but what she lacked was…
