We work with senior leadership teams a lot, and sometimes, they are hesitant to bring in an outside consultant to support them in reaching their next level of effectiveness. The thinking is, we are smart, ambitious, successful people, so why can’t we do it ourselves? Sometimes, you can.

Right after I finished filming today’s Sage Tidbit video, I received an email from a colleague: “I just wanted to check in to see if we needed to clean up from the way we left things.” I so appreciated this reach out—that they did it and the way in which they did it. I interpreted this as their being sensitive to the possibility that their words or tone may not have landed with me in the way intended.

Words, Thoughts and Feelings Matter.

Today, I’m sharing a story about one of my clients, Mark (name changed), and how he was able to honor his late father's advice while he was meeting some leadership challenges in terms of how he developed the leaders who reported to him. In Mark’s story, he was protecting a leader who he perceived to be weak, but in doing so, he was allowing harm to come to other employees. Sometimes we can do harm by not doing anything.

How you balance cultivating a culture of care while holding your people accountable for their performance?