Ep. 39: Why Being Direct Is Scaring Your Team (And How to Fix It)

Episode Highlights

• Deliberate Relationship Building at High Speed: When working in fast-paced environments or managing massive projects, leaders should not wait for trust to form naturally over time. Relationships and trust can be actively built through intentional, day-to-day interactions and shared accountability.
• Bidirectional Communication and Openness: Effective working relationships require equal, two-way participation. Leaders should take time to ask team members about themselves, while also being transparent about their own preferences, working styles, and tendencies.
• Setting Clear Behavioral Expectations: Rather than assuming new team members will absorb company culture by observation, leaders need to explicitly state observable performance and behavioral norms.
• Empowering Team-Member-Owned One-on-Ones: Shift the dynamic of one-on-one meetings by having team members own, schedule, and facilitate their performance and growth meetings, moving them from passive receivers to active leaders of their own development.
• Aligning Objectives Across Functions: Asking cross-functional colleagues, “What does success look like for you this year?” or “What are your goals and objectives?” helps uncover differing priorities, resolve friction, and create mutual success.
• Preparing for Conversations: Leaders should prepare intentionally for relationship-building conversations—such as writing down a few key questions in advance—rather than treating them as routine administrative tasks.