Happy summer!  While most of us are thinking about our vacation plans, others are looking at their 3rd quarter goals and deciding if the annual goals are going to happen. 
While some businesses are harmonious when it comes to their teams, others are not so fortunate.  Do you think about conflict in the workplace?  Do you accept that it can actually be healthy dialogue?  The two articles I’m sharing this month discuss how to make disagreements productive, and how to make feedback a team habit. How are you at delivering difficult conversations to your team? It’s never easy, but sometimes we make it much worse than it has to be. This month’s second article gives some great examples of what not to do. If you watch the TV show Succession, you’ll definitely recognize some of these tactics. Don’t be like the Roy family!

Are you a good communicator? The truth is that many of us are not. Are you a good listener? Even fewer of us have mastered this skill! As a leader, both are essential tools.

Are you doing regular “check-ins” with your team? Are you leading them through the challenges of the current environment or just going through the motions? I am hopeful that the following articles will be helpful on both fronts.

I recently sat with an executive, we’ll call him Mark, to review his comprehensive feedback report, which comprised nearly 25 interviews with critical stakeholders. While most feedback contains some contradictory data, in his case, the differences were extreme. Some people described him as supportive and kind while others described him as self-serving and mean-spirited.