Blog

• Difficult conversations for new managers: the complete guide

  What to say, when to say it, and how to hold your nerve in the conversations that make or break a new manager's first year.

  skills · 2026-09-05

• How to talk to an employee who is burning out

  How to raise burnout without diagnosing it, what to offer, and why the usual reassurance makes things worse.

  playbooks · 2026-09-05

• Your first 1:1 as a new manager

  What to ask, what to avoid, and how to set up a recurring meeting that stays useful after the first month.

  foundations · 2026-09-05

• The first-time manager's playbook

  What to do in your first ninety days, what to stop doing, and the three mistakes almost every new manager makes in the first month.

  foundations · 2026-09-05

• Managing a high performer who damages the team

  What to say to someone whose results are excellent and whose behaviour is costing you people, and why delaying it is the expensive option.

  playbooks · 2026-09-05

• How to mediate conflict between two team members

  When to step in, how to run the joint conversation, and why hearing both sides separately first is usually a mistake.

  playbooks · 2026-09-05

• How to talk about missed targets without crushing motivation

  Separating the number from the person, working out whether the target or the effort was wrong, and agreeing what changes next quarter.

  playbooks · 2026-09-05

• Performance review conversations that actually land

  How to run a review that changes something: no surprises, a rating said out loud early, and evidence the person can act on.

  feedback · 2026-09-05

• What to do when someone gets defensive

  Defensiveness is a signal, not an obstacle. How to tell which kind you are facing and what to say to each one.

  skills · 2026-09-05

• How to have an underperformance conversation

  A clear structure for telling someone their work is not good enough, without ambushing them and without softening it into nothing.

  playbooks · 2026-09-05

• Why rehearsing a conversation works

  What actually changes when you say the words out loud beforehand, and why thinking it through in your head does not do the same job.

  rehearsal · 2026-09-05

• How to tell someone they are not getting promoted

  A direct, humane script for the promotion conversation, plus what to say when they push back.

  playbooks · 2026-09-03