A leadership class with applicable tools + a leader willing to pull back for a moment to try a new tool = bigger and stronger firefighting tools alongside fewer and smaller fires.

Every workplace has a recognition murder mystery. The body is always the same: a demoralized team, resentment that travels by whisper, and a break room that smells vaguely of cheap pizza and disappointment. The suspects, however, are varied. Let's meet them.

I was promoted in my early twenties to lead a team whose average age was over 45. I did what most new leaders do: I performed my expertise loudly and enthusiastically. It did not go well. Here's what I learned from an ugly cry and a very honest friend.

Unclear, inequitable, or one-directional expectations subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) undermine performance, erode trust, and create the exact problems they were meant to prevent. Here are seven strategies to make sure your expectations actually do what you intend them to do (gasp!)