Managing a Team You Inherited, Not Built
An inherited team comes with existing dynamics, habits, and history a manager didn’t create. Here’s how to lead it well rather than fight against it.
Management Skills
leadership
Management Skills
Managing Someone Who’s About to Resign
The period between a resignation announcement and departure deserves genuine care, not disengagement. Here’s how to manage it well.
Leadership
Building Followership Without Formal Authority
Genuine influence without a formal title requires a different skill set than positional authority. Here’s how to build real followership without it.
Leadership
Leading a Team Through a Merger or Acquisition
A merger or acquisition tests a leader’s ability to hold a team together through genuine uncertainty. Here’s how to lead through it well.
Leadership
The Leader’s Role in Onboarding a New Executive Peer
A new executive peer’s success depends partly on how existing leaders welcome them in. Here’s how to help a new peer succeed rather than struggle unnecessarily.
Leadership
Knowing When to Override Your Own Team’s Recommendation
Overriding a team’s genuine recommendation is sometimes the right call, and it carries real costs worth understanding before you do it.
Leadership
Leading When You Disagree With a Decision From Above
Disagreeing privately with a decision while leading your team through it well is a genuine skill. Here’s how to do it with integrity.
Leadership
The First Ninety Days in a New Leadership Role
The first ninety days in a new leadership role disproportionately shape everything that follows. Here’s how to approach this window deliberately.
Leadership
Leading a Team Smaller Than It Used to Be
A team that’s shrunk, through layoffs or attrition, needs a genuinely different kind of leadership than it did before. Here’s how to lead it well.
Leadership
The Leader’s Own Learning Curve With New Technology
A leader who’s genuinely behind on new technology their team uses daily faces a specific credibility challenge. Here’s how to navigate it well.
Leadership
When a Leadership Team Itself Is Dysfunctional
A dysfunctional leadership team creates ripple effects throughout an entire organisation. Here’s how to recognise and genuinely help address it.
Leadership
Leading Through a Product Failure or Public Misstep
A visible product failure or public misstep tests a leader’s genuine composure and accountability. Here’s how to lead through it well.
Management Skills
Handling a Direct Report Who Goes Over Your Head
A direct report bypassing you to your own manager stings, and how you respond matters more than the incident itself. Here’s how to handle it well.
Communication
Communicating Bad News Up the Chain, Not Just Down
Delivering difficult news to a manager or executive requires a genuinely different approach than delivering it to a team. Here’s how to do it well.
Communication
Communicating When You Don’t Have All the Answers Yet
Pressure to sound certain, even before you genuinely are, produces communication that erodes trust once the gaps eventually show. Here’s a better approach.