Blog

If Only…” Managers

In my experience as an HR professional, I often encounter “if only” managers—talented individuals with significant potential who are held back by specific gaps in their leadership styles. I’ve outlined two common examples, “Mike” and “Tristan,” to illustrate how targeted support can transform individual contributors into effective leaders.

“Mike”

Mike is a seasoned, hardworking professional with deep institutional knowledge. While he is a dedicated “go-getter,” his “rough around the edges” interpersonal style risks high turnover if he moves into management without intervention. However, his direct and often blunt interpersonal style presents a risk to team morale and retention if he moves into a management role without further development. While his intentions are good, his communication style can be intimidating and may discourage others from speaking openly. Mike likely lacks formal training and relies on outdated leadership models. If only Mike were more polished and better at handling people, he would be a “rock star.”

“Tristan”

Tristan is a newly appointed supervisor who is kind, thoughtful, and charismatic. While he is well-liked by his peers, he faces significant challenges regarding providing accountability and delivering critical feedback. His desire to maintain positive relationships prevents him from addressing underperformance or managing difficult personalities. He often chooses to resolve issues himself rather than holding his team members accountable, largely to avoid conflict or hurting feelings. For him to grow into a stronger leader, it is essential that he develops the confidence to address performance gaps and navigate challenging conversations directly. If only Tristan were a stronger in handling challenging employees and difficult personalities.

Limitations

While both show significant potential, these are specific limitations that hinder their overall effectiveness and impact. If these areas of concern are left unchecked, they will likely lead to long-term setbacks and increased frustration for both individuals. Addressing these issues is essential to prevent future career limitations and ensure their continued growth within the organization.

Recommendations for Development

To bridge these gaps, I recommend a combination of formal and experiential training. Most development occurs through experience and learning from mistakes, but specific skill-building is a necessary foundation. Confidence will come after successful moments.

For Mike: I recommend short, self-paced online leadership training modules focused on people skills, supplemented by a coach to help him navigate interpersonal issues and find the right approach. This allows him to learn at his own speed and apply new techniques incrementally.

For Tristan: Targeted training on feedback techniques and assertiveness to provide the confidence needed to navigate conflict. He would also benefit from coaching on how to lead through challenging conflict scenarios and lead challenging people with both confidence and grace.

Before giving up on an “if only” manager, you should carefully assess their specific strengths and weaknesses. By providing training on the right techniques and affording opportunities to apply them in real-world situations, you can help develop them into the leaders your organization truly needs.

LHR now offers a solution for your “If Only Managers.” Visit us at our online learning shop.

LHR ONLINE COURSE CATALOGE

debblues

Best Practices, Employee Relations

The Fastest Way to “Escalate” a Situation is to By-Pass Structure

I once worked with a manager who frequently bypassed company policies when they became inconvenient. This behavior invariably led to conflict with team members, eroded trust, and left him constantly on the defensive. He learned a difficult lesson: bypassing rules is the fastest way to lose a team’s confidence and escalate conflicts.

This same manager also gained a reputation for constant indecisiveness, frequently changing direction shortly after making a decision. This paralyzed his team, which stopped taking action, anticipating his next pivot. Violating expectations and changing rules “on the fly” triggers distrust and creates negative perceptions that are incredibly difficult to reverse. Consistency is the formula for cultivating credibility.

While leaders must know when to challenge the status quo for innovation, this should be done from a foundation of respecting the existing framework. Demonstrating that rules apply to everyone reinforces discipline and shared values.

Building Trust and Culture

Adhering to rules shows a commitment to shared standards, and when leaders break them, it signals that the rules are unimportant. Exempting yourself from the standards you expect from others creates double standards and disengagement. Even small actions can have enormous influence upon the entire organization’s culture.

Maintaining Order and Fairness

Rules provide the structure necessary for an organization to function smoothly and uphold fairness by being applied equally across all levels, preventing resentment.

Balancing Rules with Innovation

Leaders are paid to solve problems that existing rules may not address. Strategic challenges for growth are necessary, but they must remain grounded in ethics rather than personal convenience.

Ultimately, employees need to see structure and guidelines being followed to maintain their confidence. Bypassing these rules can quickly turn a trusting workforce against you.

Kathleen Lapekas

Best Practices

3 Questions to Ask at an Interview

At the end of a job interview, inevitably, you’ll be asked if you have any questions. The “kiss of death” to a good interview closure is when the candidate with whom I’ve spent 30-60 minutes getting to know has zero questions to ask. To the interviewer, this is equivalent to saying that the interview candidate has lost interest in the opportunity. It’s really impactful, however, when the candidate presents questions that help keep the conversation moving forward.

Questions Tell a Lot

The questions that a person asks indicate their curiosity, their intentions, and to a degree, showcase their intelligence. In fact, it’s well understood that the person who asks questions tends to control the conversation. While there are no “dumb” questions (other than those that aren’t asked), I would like to offer 3 excellent questions to ask at the end of an interview.

Question 1

What did the person who was previously in this position do exceptionally well that you’d like to see the new incumbent continue to do? What would you like to see done differently?

This question demonstrates that you care to be successful and it will also likely get the interviewer thinking about what they’re REALLY looking for in the next incumbent.

Question 2

Would you say that this is the best Company you’ve ever worked for or the best job you’ve ever had?

Essentially this is a question of self-reflection. You, as the interview candidate, get to learn from the interviewer what they’ve learned (the hard way) about the company or about the job. It also shows taking an interest in the interviewer as a person, who probably has the responsibility of interviewing a lot of people for the same position. It may help you to “stand out.”

Question 3

What Company value resonates most with you directly, and what is something that the Company is doing that demonstrates this value?

I really like this question, because it’s reinforcing an interest in the job, as well as an interest in the interviewer as well. This shows a level of thought about personal alignment to the Company’s values, and creates a great conversation about the Company.

Questions are like Coffee and Dessert

Questions asked at the conclusion of an interview are similar to having coffee and dessert at the end of a great meal. They turn an interview around, and show that the candidate would like more information to consider the possibilities. Remember, as a candidate, it’s just as much YOUR interview as it is the Company’s. Both parties want to see the best outcome – the candidate is offered a job that fulfills them; and the Company finds a person that will bring value to the position needing to be filled.

Interested in refining your Interviewing Skills?

Kathleen Lapekas

Leadership

Coaching the Team – Part 5 of a 5 Part Series

Leaders have 5 key roles to play in any business:

Building Bridges

Casting the vision

Humanizing the business

Directing the orchestra

Coaching the Team

Coaching Requires Feedback for Base-Hits

Oftentimes, I see Managers hold back from praising a Team Member for only achieving a base-hit; only providing a level of praise when a homerun is actually made. This is a huge mistake! Feedback gives the Team a “real-time picture” of their performance. Team Members truly need to be recognized for their accomplishments, even if it were just a base-hit. Anyone in baseball understands that it’s the base-hits that give you homeruns. The entire Team watches how performance goes, and how the Leader responds when performance successes are achieved. Coaching a team means when you encourage one…you are single-handedly encouraging them all to perform.

Encourage Learning through Mistakes

A “mistake” is only a problem if the individual who made the mistake didn’t learn from it. In fact, the majority of the best moments of learning occur when we make a mistake. I read about a fascinating Harvard study done years ago to explore the benefits of “encouraging learning from mistakes.”

They split a class of Harvard students into 2 groups (a control group and an experimental group). Both groups were instructed, as a Team, to work on a Team project and provide a final presentation to the class at the end of the semester. The control group was told to “do your very best” (which means it needed to be perfect in the eyes of A-type personalities). The experimental group, however, was instructed that in order to get an “A” on the project, they had to make mistakes along the way, and incorporate in their final presentation the learnings from the mistakes made on the project.

At the conclusion of the semester, both groups presented their project outcomes. The control group did an adequate job, but it was a bit lackluster. The experimental group, on the other hand, reported out their mistakes throughout the project, and shared how much fun they had working together and taking risks. Their objective WASN’T to make it perfect – but to make it inclusive, engaging and interesting. The result of the study suggests that when Teams are permitted (or encouraged) to make low-risk mistakes, they genuinely enjoy their work more, find more creative solutions, and work more interdependently than those Teams who weren’t encouraged to make mistakes.

As a bonus to this point, if, indeed, learning from the mistake had occurred, it means that your company or organization will hopefully not have to pay again for that mistake – provided that it’s encouraged as a, “shared learning opportunity.”

Lead People through Change as a Team

It’s a bit of a fallacy to suggest we “manage change” as Leaders. We don’t actually manage change – we manage people through change when it occurs. One of the best strategies to help coach people through change is encouraging them to share their ideas, concerns, and objections. Almost demanding opposing views, so that they get the chance to offer insights about how they honestly feel about the change.

When I want to rollout a new program or policy to my Team, I realize that in order to get buy-in about the change, I need to ask my Team to help me “poke holes” in the idea. Not to destroy it, but it bolster it; by asking them to help me answer, “How could this go wrong? What are the parts of this change that could create the greatest heartburn? What would be alternative ideas?”

If you don’t have a “critic” within your Team, you may have to arbitrarily hand-pick one. Assign someone who may ordinarily not be vocal about problems or concerns, to the role of being the Team’s “Devil’s Advocate” for this meeting. As such, they are not allowed to say anything positive or encouraging, but their job is to look for the weak spots, the warts and the flaws of the idea. A powerful thing occurs – we get very honest and critical feedback! Interestingly, when people are involved with the change discussion, and their ideas and input were considered, they offer faster buy-in to the change; even if their ideas were not incorporated. You genuinely honor a person’s intelligence and feelings when you consider their opinions. Great team coaching requires that you do.

In Conclusion

Leaders play five essential roles in business: Building Bridges, Casting the Vision, Humanizing the Business, Directing the Orchestra, and lastly, Coaching the Team. Leaders are individuals who make others better as a result of their presence, and ensure that the impact lasts in their absence. There is no greater legacy than to leave others better, because you were there helping them.

Interested in Leadership Training for your company?

Kathleen Lapekas

Leadership

Directing the Orchestra – Part 4 of a 5 Part Series

Leaders have 5 key roles to play in any business:

Building bridges

Casting the vision

Humanizing the business

Directing the orchestra

Coaching the team

The Conductor – Directing from a deeper understanding

As I watch in admiration, the mechanics of an orchestra, I reflect on how many moving parts there are to pull off their performance. While the Conductor doesn’t play any of the instruments, he or she knows the how the musical piece as a whole is affected by each instrument and section. Just as the leader of a company needs a deeper understanding of the company’s values and objectives and how they will be met by each employee and department .

Maximizing the Talent

A Conductor’s prime directive is to guide the musicians in playing together to create the best musical experience possible. They select musicians for their talent and their ability to play within the group. A Leader’s job is similar in that they need to be able to see the big picture and understand the contributions of each employee. A conductor selects the best musicians for their respective talents and then trusts them to perform at the highest level with active direction. It’s the same concept in a company. Each employee must be hired for their strengths and empowered to perform their very best work, utilizing guidance to maximize their performance within the team.

Delegate the Work

Conductors typically delegate some tasks related to a performance, such as setting performance schedules, venue related technicalities and depending on the their leadership style, even selecting music. All this allows them to focus on the things they do best. Likewise, at work, Leaders delegate functions that can be handled by people they trust to get the job done. This allows leadership to stay out in front of the team to provide guidance around a unified mission.

Hold Them Accountable

If each musician isn’t performing to the best of their ability, the music suffers, audibly… Part of the Conductor’s job is to ensure everyone brings their “A Game” to every practice and their “A+ Game” to each performance. If a musician isn’t making the performance great, they’re making it mediocre or worse. To this end, Conductors hold each musician accountable for their individual performances as well as instrumental sections and the greater orchestra. Feedback is swift and precise. It’s imperative for the success of the performance. Likewise leaders need to be able to assess an employee’s output, hold them accountable and provide praise or constructive, actionable feedback.

When all the expert directing reaches the crescendo – Music, Maestro!

An Orchestra Conductor is often compared to a leader because they both guide a group of individuals, setting the pace, direction, and overall vision, ensuring everyone works together harmoniously to achieve a unified outcome. Although the Conductor doesn’t directly perform each task themselves, like a Leader, the Conductor delegates responsibilities within a team while maintaining overall control. A team, like an orchestra, can have multiple facets and a variety of personalities that contribute to the body of work. A Leader is like the Conductor of a passionate and well-prepared orchestra – leading the team to showcase their collective talents.

Interested in Leadership Training for your company?

Kathleen Lapekas

Leadership

Humanizing the Business – Part 3 of a 5 Part Leadership Series

Leaders have 5 key roles to play in any business:

Building bridges

Casting the vision

Humanizing the business

Directing the orchestra

Coaching the team

There are 2 things that really matter when it comes to Leadership:

Ensuring the needs of the business are met
Ensuring the needs to the people are met

Both are important, but not necessarily in that order…

Taking care of the needs that the people have is of utmost importance. When the needs of the people are met (things such as being respected, listened-to, treated fairly, held accountable, given opportunities), people will, in turn, take care of the needs of the business.

Many times we see Managers who will prioritize (at the expense of the people) activities that help make a profit for the Company. While making a profit is important, doing so at the expense of the welfare of the team is extremely short-sighted leadership. Think about it this way…have you ever been too busy driving that you can’t stop to fill up your tank with gas? Neglected long enough, you will find that your car will no longer run. The same is true of people.

The Goose and the Golden Eggs

An old Aesop’s fable tells the story of a poor farmer who had a small farm with only a few animals to tend. The farmer and his wife lived hand-to-mouth, and struggled making a living. One day, as an answer to a prayer, the farmer found a golden egg resting in the nest of his favorite goose. Thinking it was a prank, he was prepared to toss it away; but he decided to take it to market to have it tested. Much to his surprise, it was the real deal – a 14 karat solid gold egg! He immediately cashed it in, and brought home a bag full of coins to show to his wife. They were so grateful for this windfall!

The next day, he checked the nest, and he was delighted to see another gold egg. He immediately rushed to market and cashed it in and brought home another bag of coins. The next day, another egg, and more coins. Day after day, he found a single egg in the nest and every day he took it to market – growing gradually wealthier and wealthier. However, he grew impatient having to wait each day for one egg at a time. His impatience got the better of him, and he took the goose (the producer of the golden eggs) and lopped off its neck and reached inside of the goose to retrieve all of the eggs at one time – only, instead of getting golden eggs, he got goose guts!

Out of greed and avarice, he killed his producer and lost his blessing in the process.

The Lesson

Prioritizing taking care of the needs of the people helps to better serve the organization as a whole. With the right people on the team, fulfilled and contributing at their best, the organization is far more blessed. However, squeezing every little “drop of life” out of them will lead to losing them to better companies.

I once read a dentist marquis that read, “If you ignore your teeth, they’ll go away.” Well, so will your best employees when their needs aren’t prioritized. It’s a Leader’s job to keep “humanity” in the business – and be in the business of taking care of the Company’s “human” resources every day.

Interested in Leadership Training for your company?

Kathleen Lapekas

Leadership

Casting the Vision – Part 2 of a Five Part Leadership Series

Leaders have 5 key roles to play in any business:

Building bridges

Casting the vision

Humanizing the business

Directing the orchestra

Coaching the team

It’s important to realize that Leaders are responsible for focusing upon the “big picture” to make decisions that will impact the team. This means looking ahead down the road at the horizon, and evaluating the change in conditions that may cause changes to be made. If Leaders have a long-range view of the business, they are better able to anticipate changes, and communicate their plan with greater confidence to their team.

Looking at the Horizon

The summer that I turned 15 years old, I was enrolled in the Driver’s Education program through our local high school. Prior to this, for some unknown reason, I had never experienced being behind the wheel of a car. I recall getting into the driver’s seat, buckling up, and following the directives of the instructor sitting beside me in the passenger seat while two of my classmates rode along in the back seat.

I began to drive down the road, and I recall that I was extremely concerned about hitting something. In order to ensure I wouldn’t hit something with the car, I placed my visual focus on the road immediately ahead of me. To be exact, I was focusing on about 10-feet ahead of the vehicle.

The result of looking just ahead of the car was that I began significantly “overcorrecting” with the steering wheel. Noticing that I was significantly overcorrecting, Mr. Klumpp, my instructor, kindly asked, “Kathy, where are you looking?” I responded to him that I was looking directly ahead. Following up on this, he asked me, “Approximately how far ahead, would you guess?” I guessed it to be about 10-feet in front of the vehicle.

He said, “Ah…well, I noticed that you were overcorrecting, which is why I asked. I’ll tell you what, try picking your line of sight up to the horizon, instead. This way, you’ll be better able to anticipate changes in the driving situation. For example, if traffic begins to back up, you’ll see it in plenty of time to be able to adjust your speed to slow down, or to even make a decision to reroute yourself. You always need to keep your focus on the horizon so that you’re able to make decisions ahead of time; rather than slamming on the brakes reacting to a sudden change.” He was an excellent teacher, I must admit.

This situation was a powerful life lesson as well! As a Leader, you’re figuratively in the driver’s seat – with your team serving as your passengers. As the driver, you are responsible for making critical moment-to-moment decisions that affect both you and your passengers.

“Casting the Vision” requires you, as a Leader, to be the one responsible for thinking ahead, looking for possible changes in the conditions of your business, and keeping your view on the “horizon.” In addition, as a Leader, to cast out your vision, you are responsible for forming a plan, communicating your plan, and also explaining when you make decisions to alter that plan

Interested in Leadership Training for your company?

Kathleen Lapekas

Employee Relations, Employee Retention Strategies, Leadership

Leaders Are Bridges Not Fences – Part 1 of a 5 Part Series

The effectiveness of leaders is integral to an Employee’s experience at work. The number one cause of poor morale in a workplace is lack of trust in leadership. This mistrust stems from two sources: 1. Lack of accountability in the workplace and 2. Avoidance behaviors with conflict. Warren Buffet once said, “Trust is like the air that we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices it. However, when it’s absent, everybody notices.”

Leaders have 5 key roles to play in any business:

Building bridges

Casting the vision

Humanizing the business

Directing the orchestra

Coaching the team

Bridges are designed to create a connection between two spaces without blocking the path below. The three main parts of a bridge include the foundation, the sub-structure and the super structure. True leadership builds bridges for people, facilitating “connection.” It removes obstacles that may interfere with the path.

Leaders Begin With The Foundation

It starts by explaining the “whys.” Leaders help people understand why there is a policy, a procedure, or a process in place. Or they may help people understand why changing an existing practice is necessary. Providing Employees with a genuine understanding, promotes genuine trust.

The Sub-Structure

Building “bridges” should create connections for people. That means connecting them to the resources they need. Resources can be tools, technology, or even other people. They also resolve conflicts when they occur. When we’re working with people, we’re working with emotions. The source of most conflicts is likely going to be anger, worry or frustration. Leaders work to help “de-fuse” emotions and address the root causes of conflicts. This is done by acknowledging emotions yet addressing behaviors.

The Super Structure

A quality leader will inspire people to reach out to others to ask for help. They lead by example. Asking for someone’s help is a powerful demonstration that you trust them. It shows vulnerability and humility and encourages others to step up and lend a hand. They work to facilitate collaboration and build on the ideas of others.

Interested in Leadership Training for your company?

Kathleen Lapekas

Employment Law, Independent Contractors

The Work of Independent Contractors

There’s a bit of confusion surrounding the differences between using “Independent Contractors” and W-2 Employees. Businesses cannot afford to make a mistake in this area by misclassifying a person as an Independent Contractor, when the person is actually performing the work as a W-2 Employee.

The biggest problem with misclassifying employment status is how employment taxes are paid and who pays them. Obviously, direct employees (“W-2’s”) are individuals who are paid directly by the employer; and while taxes are withheld from the employee’s paycheck, the employer also pays social security tax, Medicare tax, federal and state payroll taxes. Independent Contractors pay all their own employment-related taxes – as they are their own business.

Let’s use an example of hiring an electrician to rewire your home or business.

There are a few quick questions to help evaluate if the person is truly an independent contractor or if they are an employee:

Does the worker offer services to more than just your firm?

· The electrician is not an employee of yours – they are their own company providing a service to you (as well as to many other home owners).

Do you have to train the worker to do the job in a particular way?

· You would not be responsible for training the electrician how to perform the work (the electrician would have their own expertise).

Do you set the worker’s hours?

· You may be able to ask the electrician to show up at a timeframe that will work for you, but you wouldn’t dictate to the electrician how long they would have to stay, or that they have to begin work exactly at 8am or they’ll be docked pay!

Must the worker spend all of his or her time on your job?

· You also wouldn’t be able to restrict the electrician from doing work for other home owners or businesses.

Do you provide the worker with the tools / equipment to do the work?

· You wouldn’t provide the electrician with the tools (ladders, ammeters, PPE) to be able to do the job – they would have all the required equipment with them on their truck.

There are more questions to help assess the relationship. However, if you answered “yes” to any of the ones listed here, then it’s important to really evaluate whether you’re working with an independent contractor or you should be paying this person as a W-2 employee.

Interested in more information on Independent Contractors?

Kathleen Lapekas

Best Practices, Employee Relations, Employee Retention Strategies

Meaningful Ways of Rewarding Others – Find Your $100 Handshake

What’s a $100 handshake?

Meaningfully rewarding others doesn’t have to be complicated. A while ago, I listened to a podcast called “The Leading Creative.” The author mentioned the importance of rewarding people in ways that actually matter to THEM; as an individual. He told a story about a sales manager who gave “$100 handshakes” to his sales team members for a job well done. Literally… he’d fold up a $100 bill into a small square and place it in the cup of his hand. As the manager shook the salesperson’s hand, the bill would be passed to the salesperson. Now, many sales people are money-minded. Getting a cool, crisp $100 bill might really resonate with them. But, is money equally motivating to everyone?

Rewarding others – How to know what’s meaningful?

Listen to what a person talks about, stories about how they spend their free time. Pay attention to what gets someone excited when they’re speaking. Then, find a creative way of rewarding others with that special “thing!” For example, if someone is always talking about golf, then paying for a round of golf for them might be a “hole in one!” If they’re always talking about coffee, a gift card to a local coffee shop might really “buzz” with them

What is my equivalent “$100 Handshake?”

It got me thinking about what my “$100 Handshake” would be… It quickly came to me: receiving a Disney gift card. My family goes to Disney 2-3 times per year, it’s “our thing.” We’re always talking about Disney trips (past and future) and things that we love about it.

One day, I agreed to be a guest speaker at a business networking meeting. Afterwards, the event coordinator thanked me for my great work and passed along a thank you note. Inside the note I found a Disney gift card enclosed! I was over the moon! The fact that someone had paid attention to my passions and knew how much this gift would mean to me touched my heart.

When rewarding others – small, personalized recognition really matters.

In today’s world, it seems that the details about a person can get overlooked. Take a moment to listen – people will clue you in to what they find meaningful. Successfully rewarding others just takes paying attention and finding a way to personalize the reward. It’s so easy to do, and its impact is longer-lasting than you may realize.

Want help finding creative ways of rewarding others at work? Or help with Employee Retention Strategies in general?

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