38 connection/sense of belonging/purpose. Frommy experience, people are no longer tolerating leaders who lack integrity, balanced vulnerability and transparency, team focus (not me focus) and those who do not understand what it requires for them to create a safe, inclusive environment. If you are a leader and you are seeing turnover, take it as feedback to your leadership. In this way, you can begin to change it. If you blame everyone else for low morale, lack of safety, and turnover, you will continue to experience the same. So many organisations suffer from a “nice” culture. This is where people say what their listeners want to hear because they are afraid of offending, hurting feelings or jeopardising a promotion. The upside is that people value “peace” so to speak. The downside is that they also avoid conflict or worse; peoplepleasing can lead to passive-aggressive behaviour. I would say people-pleasing and nice cultures go hand in hand and they are at an epidemic level. There is so much turmoil in the world that many are left trying to keep upbeat and either tough conversations or valuable feedback is missed (or both.) Leaders benefit from having the skill set to have tough conversations without awkward energy. The discomfort is what can cause concern. The words leaders use and the energy they bring to the conversations matter. (Energy is created through the thinking they have. If they are afraid of tough conversations then likely the thinking is fear-based, negative. For example, if a leader thinks “what I say is really going to hurt their feelings”, then they will walk into that conversation with the fear energy). People can sense it…theymay not be able to put their finger on it but they walk away from those meetings feeling “bad”. Leaders with clear thinking use words that are impactfocused - so their listener can hear either the message or feedback and apply it. So often leaders have limited time and thus their data gets dumped and the listener is left feeling defensive while application is more difficult to manage. We have more than enough ego, power and self-focus in business. Leaders and their people will benefit from a radical kindness and grace approach. Kindness is different from “nice” in that it is genuine, others’ focus, without a quid pro quo. How can you help leaders with their journey? Now more than ever business is experiencing retention challenges. One reason leaders look to find a new role is due to poor leadership. I have found a niche working with leaders who are interested in changing the negative perceptions people hold of them but just don’t know where to begin. Many of my clients have had 360s, attrition or a combination of the two that indicate to them they need help, and the key is, they are open to it. I am privileged to support their growth as they deepen their awareness and shift their thinking and behaviours to support new, positive impacts and relationships. I have been told by my clients who have all turned around their impact on and with others, say I am a coach whisperer who provides a practical and tactical set of tools and understanding. I had one leader in his darkest time say he felt I was pulling him along when he could not. Creating a safe, judgementfree space for my clients to come with their honest thoughts, feelings and experiences is crucial to this work. I am a direct communicator. One client said, “I am brutally honest with soft edges.” Another said, “I bring honesty to tough and challenging circumstances but do it in a way that makes it easy to be open.” It’s important for me to connect with my clients and really hear them so I can see the dissonance as well as the possibility through their story. For years, before COVID, I would travel all over the world working as a group facilitator with varying sizes of organisation, specifically those who were struggling to achieve results. High visibility/profile leaders could greatly benefit from a Shadow Coach. A shadow coach supports a leader throughout their day-to-day interactions, meetings and events where they may fail to recognise where their impact did not land as intended. The Shadow Coach is observing and relaying those observations to their client. The further up in rank you go the less REAL feedback received. Therefore, this shadow coach can provide timely, honest feedback. One way that I have been able to support my clients is through a unique feedback report I provide them after I have spent time with their peers, directs and stakeholders to collect feedback. This has provided a direction my clients have valued as opposed to guessing where Now more than ever business is experiencing retention challenges. One reason leaders look to find a new role is due to poor leadership. “ “
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