Win the respect you deserve

Nitsa had been promoted to manage the team she had previously been part of. But two team members weren’t happy – they’d also applied for the management role.

Nitsa was younger than the two men – Phillip and Li – who had applied for the position. And she had only worked in the team for 18 months before she was promoted. Phillip and Li had been quite vocal in expressing their resentment that a younger, ‘less experienced’ woman had been promoted over them.

The task of trying to win Phillip and Li over was exhausting Nitsa. She came to me for leadership coaching. Here are the steps we helped her take.

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Kiera and Jason didn’t get on. Annette, their supervisor, tried to sort things out. But Kiera insisted it was all Jason’s fault.

Kiera refused to acknowledge her own part in the conflict. In desperation, Annette enrolled in my course on Dealing with Difficult People. During a break, I talked to Annette about how to set boundaries and limits on poor behaviour in the team. You might find these tips useful, too.

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How to make change positive

Sean was preparing to announce the relocation of the company’s head office. Some staff might react badly to this change. How could he get everyone onside?

Sean needed to prepare his presentation very carefully. I helped him use NLP framing techniques to build a positive message. You can use the same techniques whenever you need to announce a change or introduce challenging news.

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Detox your team

Zeb was enthusiastic about stepping into his first team leader role. Little did he know that he was ‘inheriting’ a toxic team.

Sarcasm and catty remarks were abundant. Positive remarks and respectful interactions were rare. Conflicts from years ago were still reverberating. Here’s how I helped build a healthier dynamic in this team. You can use the same strategies to set your team up for success.

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Leading with empathy

Want to increase ‘followership’ in your team? Let people know you empathise with their needs and concerns.

Empathy is the ability to spot, understand and acknowledge someone else’s feelings. When you empathise with someone, you tune into their reality. Doing this helps you connect and build rapport – so people will listen to you.

Try these steps for showing empathy – even in response to irrational behaviour.

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Case study: Making positive change

Sean was preparing to announce the relocation of the company’s head office. Some staff might react badly to this change. How could he get everyone onside? Sean needed to prepare his presentation very carefully. I helped him use NLP framing techniques to build a positive message. You can use the same techniques whenever you need to announce a change or introduce challenging news.

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