We often feel that visibly strong leadership looks like the person who is in control of the room and who is the confident voice. A lot of leaders still cling to that model because it feels good, we all love feeling in control, it looks efficient and it feels like the fastest route to a decision. What recent neuroscience has proven is much more fascinating.

Almost every leader I have ever worked with has an employee that they keep when they should either move their role or just let them go. They justify it by saying they don’t want to hurt them or that they are being loyal.

A client said something to me the other day that made me smile. We’d had a very honest conversation where I had to be blunt and tell her that an action she had taken really wasn’t the right one. It’s rare I’ll do this because mostly I leave clients to do what they think is right, but this was an area I have particular expertise in, and I didn’t want her to continue down the wrong path.