PATRICK FIGURES

As a leader, nothing is more important than the relationships you build with your team. So much of your success is determined by the work done by other people, which encourages a close partnership between you and your employees (and vice versa). Employee relationships...

Great leaders cherish their star employees. We spend so much time lamenting the frustrating, angst-inducing employees that it’s a breath of fresh air to have members of your team that are clearly rising stars. In turn, we have an obligation to invest in them. Many...

Image by jamesoladujoye from Pixabay No one likes push-back. As a leader, regardless of “wokeness”, you’re going to bristle when someone digs in and resists your leadership. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for your strongest-willed employees to look you in the face...

Strong leaders focus on the work that adds the most value for their team and company. Working at the top of your abilities is a superpower, delaying burnout and preserving the parts of the job you’re most likely to enjoy. What’s the #1 barrier to consistently working...

Every leader wants employees who are naturally self-motivated. Unfortunately, most of us learn that this isn’t how people work. The nature of professional employment is to be asked to do things you wouldn’t otherwise do (hence the paycheck), and that means a lot of...

As a leader, you won’t always get to control the environments where you’re expected to be successful. Eventually, you’ll be asked to find success in environments where you haven’t had any prior experience, including new departments, areas, or projects, increasing the...

Why is it troublesome employees are especially difficult when they’re older and more experienced? People are people, problem employees are problem employees, but young leaders consistently comment when their problem is with an older employee. When these employees...

Can you tell the difference between someone with strong management skills and strong leadership skills? These skills appear to overlap to the casual observer, often virtually indistinguishable. Too little leadership and you won’t build a strong culture or inspire...

One of the trickiest parts of management is advocating for your employees in critical situations. Employees are rarely in the room when key decisions are made that directly affect them, so your task is to stand-in on their behalf. This responsibility is put to the...

Being a leader means understanding that people are complicated. Many of us get into management thinking that people are either good employees or bad employees and that they’ll do us the courtesy of wearing flashing signs that makes them easy to separate. Instead, we...

Coaching employees is always challenging. We push them to be better and to expect more of themselves. Except it doesn’t always work. For some reason, our employees often don’t take the feedback we’re giving them the way it’s intended. They get defensive or they shut...

You ever work on a group project with someone that isn’t pulling their weight? The sort of person that misses deadlines and doesn’t communicate or volunteer for any work? Of course you have, we all have. I dreaded group projects in school because of these people and I...

Sharing bad news with your employees is always difficult. You care about the people that depend on you, and it’s never easy letting them down or causing them anxiety. This is true whether it’s direct (they’re getting fired or downsized) or indirect (the company is...

Let’s be honest, we all want to be the kind of leader that inspires people. We want our employees to miss us when we’re gone, to aspire to be more like us, and to seek our advice. If you have a calling to guide others, then you want to stand out! You want employees...

Whenever a star employee resigns, you know that you shouldn’t take it personally. People leave jobs, people move on, no big deal. But despite yourself, you often feel like these employees aren’t just leaving the job, they’re leaving you. No surprise, then, that many...