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I’ve worked with over 500 leaders across 40 years. And I’ve watched the same pattern quietly dismantle them again and again.
A team member underperforms. The leader sees it. She knows the standard isn’t being met. But instead of addressing it directly, she manages feelings—hers and theirs. She rationalizes the gap. Lowers the bar. Picks up the slack.
And then finds herself working alone at 10 PM on a Saturday… resentful, exhausted, and wondering how she got here.
I know this pattern intimately because I lived it.
Here’s what most leadership coaching gets wrong: It tells you the solution is more empathy, more compassion, more “family culture.” As if caring harder will somehow make people perform better.
It won’t. I know, because I followed that playbook for years.
meet your AUTHOR
Debbie
lawrence
I’ve worked with over 500 leaders across 40 years. And I’ve watched the same pattern quietly dismantle them again and again.
A team member underperforms. The leader sees it. She knows the standard isn’t being met. But instead of addressing it directly, she manages feelings—hers and theirs. She rationalizes the gap. Lowers the bar. Picks up the slack.
And then finds herself working alone at 10 PM on a Saturday… resentful, exhausted, and wondering how she got here.
I know this pattern intimately because I lived it.
Here’s what most leadership coaching gets wrong: It tells you the solution is more empathy, more compassion, more “family culture.” As if caring harder will somehow make people perform better.
It won’t. I know, because I followed that playbook for years.
meet your AUTHOR
