Show Notes
The nicest manager I ever coached had the worst team I'd ever seen. Not because the people were bad — because the leader was so focused on being liked that nobody knew where the line was.
In this episode, I break down the 5 moments where leaders default to "nice" when their team actually needs "clear" — and the exact words to use instead. Clarity is kindness. Ambiguity is cruelty. Get my coaching frameworks behind the scenes. One idea and one small shift to your inbox every week. Start here: https://www.thejohnespinosa.com/start-hereReady to take your leadership to the next level?Join our Coaching Program and start building clarity, focus, and real momentum.👉 Apply here: https://www.thejohnespinosa.com/workwithjohn
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How many people report to you right now? And how many of them did you have a real conversation with last week? Not a hallway hello. Not a status update. A real conversation, about them. If that second number is a lot smaller than the first, you are not a bad manager. Your team got bigger, and nobody gave you more hours.
Two people on your team can't stand each other, and everybody knows it. The short answers in the meeting. The eye roll. The long way around the office. And you are hoping it blows over. It won't. And while you wait, the rest of your team is paying for it.
There is a meeting on your calendar for nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Fifteen minutes. You have already talked to HR, the paperwork is done, and you have been rehearsing the first sentence all night. This is the first time you have to fire someone, and nobody ever showed you how.
You just got put in charge of somebody who has been doing this job longer than you have. Maybe a lot longer. So you rehearse answers in the car, you jump in first in meetings, and you try to sound like you know more than they do. They can tell. Everybody can tell.
You got promoted, and the people you are leading now are the same people you used to grab lunch with, complain about the boss with, and text on the weekends. The group text got quiet. Somebody looked at you a little different halfway through a joke. And you are wondering whether you are still one of them, or the boss now. You are both. That is the hard part.