The WildHER Way
Reflections on Leadership, Life, and Everything In Between
When Everyone Agrees, What Aren't You Hearing?
What has their experience taught them about what happens when they disagree? Most leaders want people to bring ideas, think critically, and flag concerns. Hearing that our own idea might have a problem, though, can feel a little different from welcoming feedback in theory.
You Don't Get to Decide Whether You're Trustworthy
You tell people your door is always open. But what happens when they walk through it with something you don’t want to hear? You might leave the conversation believing you cleared things up, while they leave wondering whether they’ll speak up again. The gap between how we see our leadership and how others experience it can be wider than we realize.
What Happens After the Leadership Workshop?
A team explores workplace civility, then sees disrespectful behavior overlooked because the person responsible delivers strong results. Each experience sends a message about how people are expected to operate.
Emotional Intelligence Doesn’t Mean Lowering the Bar
Emotional intelligence doesn’t require us to take responsibility for everyone else’s emotions. It does require us to take responsibility for our own behavior and to be aware of the impact that behavior can reasonably have on other people. That distinction matters, especially when we talk about accountability.
Trust Doesn't Mean Agreement
Leaders sometimes try to build trust at the same moment they need people to accept a difficult decision. By then, it may be too late. Trust is usually built much earlier, through the ordinary ways a leader shows up when no major decision is on the table.
When the "Small" Things Keep Happening
The person observing an interaction sees one moment, while the person experiencing it may be carrying every similar moment that came before it. What appears minor from the outside can feel very different when it is part of a pattern.
Your Culture Is Teaching People How to Behave
An organization can say it values teamwork while consistently making excuses for a perceived high performer who operates almost entirely as an individual contributor. Their results may look good on paper, but the rest of the team learns something from the exceptions made for them.
Before You Call Them Resistant
Before calling someone resistant, it may be worth getting closer to what they believe is at stake. Are they reacting to this decision, or to what earlier decisions have taught them to expect?
The More Technology Can Do, the More Human Skills Matter
We hire people because they know how to do the job, then expect them to know how to read a room, navigate tension, receive feedback, communicate with different audiences, and understand the impact they are having on other people.
The Cost of Friction
The work continues, so it can seem like the team has learned to manage the situation when, in reality, people may have learned to work around it. Working around an unresolved issue takes effort, and even when it doesn’t bring the work to a complete stop, it makes the work heavier.