cracked concrete wall showing past stresses

The Organizational Scar Tissue Problem

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Every organization carries history.

Hopefully a lot of it is good, sometimes a lot of it is bad. The restructuring that blindsided people. The leader who played favorites. The initiative that consumed enormous energy and went nowhere.

New leaders don’t always know the details. But they feel the effects every day.

Scar tissue is invisible on an org chart but visible everywhere else.

It shows up in the room that goes quiet when a new idea surfaces. In the team that nods enthusiastically and then does nothing differently. In the manager who learned that raising concerns leads nowhere good.

It’s not resistance. It’s memory.

The mistake most leaders make

They treat skepticism as a communication problem. More emails, more town halls, more slides. But scar tissue isn’t a communication problem. It’s a trust problem. And trust isn’t built by talking. It’s built by doing, consistently, in ways people can actually feel.

What actually helps

Name it. Acknowledging that history exists — “I know there have been changes here that didn’t go the way people hoped” — signals that you’re paying attention to something real.

Let actions outpace promises. Make small, visible commitments and keep them. Repeatedly. Until the pattern becomes undeniable.

Give it more time than you think you have. Trust rebuilds on its own timeline, not the leader’s.

An organization’s history doesn’t disappear when new leadership arrives. However, it can be rewritten by what happens next.

The leaders who understand that earn something more valuable than compliance. They earn commitment.

What’s the history on your team that’s still shaping how people show up today? Reply and let me know.

  E.Onderick-Harvey@NextBridgeConsulting.com

What Good Leaders Do When They’re Worried Too.

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Even when they don’t have all the answers.

Let’s be honest—leaders are feeling it, too. The weight of budget pressures. The ambiguity of shifting markets. The quiet wondering: Will this affect my team? My job? And yet, amid all this, employees are looking to leadership for confidence and direction.

This is the moment where the leadership gap either narrows—or widens.

Here are four tips for leading when everything is not alright.

 

Steady Doesn’t Mean Stoic. You don’t have to pretend nothing’s wrong. In fact, that kind of false optimism only creates distrust. Your team wants to see a real person leading them—not a cardboard cutout of “executive confidence.” When someone is feeling uncertain, they often look to see how those around them are showing up. You can’t always provide certainty in a difficult environment, but how you are responding will help quiet some of the concern. For example, a colleague of mine is facing a pending announcement of layoffs at her company.  She’s a seasoned career professional and has been here before. She has as much uncertainty as the rest of her team; however she is showing up for them by sharing her experiences with a previous lay off, what she’s learned about navigating internal resources, and being curious about what her team is feeling and thinking.

Name What’s True (and What’s Not). People fill silence with worst-case scenarios. Don’t let fear metastasize in the absence of communication. Tell your team what you do know, what you don’t know, and what you’re watching. Earlier in my career, I heard a great saying “Like milk, change has an expiration date.”  What’s true today may not be tomorrow. Transparency breeds trust.

Invest in Mid-Level Leaders. Your middle managers are often closest to the emotional pulse of the organization. This is when they need the tools and support to lead through ambiguity. Train them to hold space for uncertainty while keeping teams focused and aligned.

Align on Purpose. When strategy is in flux, purpose becomes your anchor. Reconnect your people to why their work matters—not just to the business, but to your customers and communities. In times of fear, meaning is one of the most powerful antidotes.

Bottom Line:

You don’t have to have all the answers. But you still have to lead. And that’s what people will remember when the crisis passes.

Our Breakthrough Leadership program helps mid-level leaders lead in uncertainty.  Click here to learn more. 

The Unspoken Rules of Communication: What Your Team Isn’t Telling You

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If you think your employees always tell you the truth, you’re incredibly lucky.

Every leader likes to believe they have an “open-door policy,” but let’s be honest—most employees don’t buy it. Too many have had the experience (often with previous bosses) that speaking too freely gets them labeled as difficult, uncooperative, or worse. So instead of telling you what’s wrong, they tell you some variation what they think you want to hear. Meanwhile, real problems fester, and by the time they surface, they’ve turned into full-blown crises.

The Hidden Truth: The Fear of Speaking Up is Costing You

Your team isn’t lying to you—they’re just editing. And the more senior you are, the more filtered your information becomes. Employees at all levels often avoid sharing hard truths with their boss because they’ve seen what too often happens when others do: nothing, or something bad.

The Fix: Make Honesty the Default (Not the Exception)

If you want the truth, you have to earn it. That means:

  • Asking sharper questions

    Replace “Is everything okay?” with “What’s one thing slowing you down that no one’s talking about?” The first few times you may be greeted with silence or be told ‘everything’s fine.’  Keep asking. Someone will finally take the chance and tell you their one thing.

  • Proving you can handle bad news

    Employees won’t be honest if they see leaders shoot the messenger. I was leading a team at a financial institution that was redesigning our performance management process based on employee engagement survey results.  We were a cross-level, cross-functional team. The CEO was our sponsor. During a check-in, a team member who worked in a branch, told the CEO a hard truth. We were a little stunned. The CEO was grateful. So grateful that he invited this person to have lunch with him once a month to share her perspectives.

  • Making feedback safer.

    Create spaces where people can share insights without fear of retribution. These can be formal or informal.  Share stories of people who shared insights, what the benefit was, and the actions taken. Those stories demonstrate that feedback is expected and welcome. I once worked for a large consulting firm that did the exact opposite. In an office-wide meeting, a consultant asked if we would have the opportunity to provide feedback into Partners’ and Managers’ performance reviews.  The answer was an unequivocal ‘no’. That story spread across the office like wildfire. It reinforced what we already implicitly knew – feedback was not welcome and it was not okay to question anything that a Partner or Manager did. This led to everything from bad habits to unethical behavior defining the culture.

When leaders make honesty a habit—not just a slogan—they stop being the last to know and start making better, faster decisions.

You’re Overlooking the Most Important Leadership Skill of 2025

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Hint: It’s Not Strategy, Vision, or Execution

If you had to bet on the most valuable leadership skill in 2025, what would you choose? Strategic thinking? Data-driven decision-making? Change management? All solid bets—but you’d still be missing the one skill that’s about to define leadership success more than any other: the ability to have tough, trust-building conversations.

Provocative Point: AI is replacing routine decision-making, and strategy is becoming more automated. But the human ability to connect, challenge, and align people toward a vision? That’s irreplaceable. Yet, most leaders still struggle to communicate clearly, deliver feedback effectively, and have the tough conversations that create real alignment.

Solution: Make 2025 the year your leaders become exceptional communicators. Train them not just in the mechanics of giving feedback, but in how to build trust, listen deeply, and communicate in a way that strengthens relationships while driving results. The organizations that prioritize this skill will develop leaders who don’t just execute well—they inspire teams to follow them into any challenge.

Giving Constructive Feedback to Leaders

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How to Shape the Leaders Who Shape Your Organization

Giving feedback to leaders is different from giving feedback to employees. Leaders come with a track record of success, authority, and influence and have likely given plenty of feedback themselves. But receiving it? That can be more difficult. Leaders often feel their success ensures their impact, thinking, and self-awareness are well-developed. However, no leader is perfect. Providing feedback requires balancing their reputation, past successes, and sense of control with what they need to hear. If you’re serious about navigating change and building a thriving organization, even top leaders need feedback to keep growing.

The challenge is that giving feedback to leaders isn’t just about correcting behavior or boosting performance; it’s about steering strategic thinking, fostering leadership growth, and fine-tuning their approach to managing others. Here’s how to make it happen effectively:

Focus on Impact, Not Just Performance

Leaders aren’t just executing tasks—they’re driving strategy, setting the tone, and influencing teams. So, when giving feedback to a leader, the conversation needs to center around their broader impact on the organization. It’s not about nitpicking small errors; it’s about helping them understand the ripple effects of their leadership style on the broader organization’s performance and future.

Example: Instead of saying, “Your team missed the deadline,” you could say, “From where I sit, the way you set priorities last quarter impacted the team’s ability to meet deadlines. It seems that goals and strategy weren’t as aligned as they could be. Let’s explore how we can align your strategic focus with operational goals to avoid this in the future. What’s your take on the situation.?”

Frame it as a Partnership in Growth

Leaders are accustomed to being problem solvers, not problem receivers. So, frame your feedback as a collaborative effort to help them grow, rather than a top-down directive. When you position the conversation as mutual exploration of how to improve, it lowers defenses and sets the stage for real growth.

Example: “I’ve noticed cross-functional communication has been challenging for your team.  Let’s work together to identify how you can improve communication channels and support your team in navigating these barriers. What do you think may be contributing to this situation?”

Challenge Strategic Thinking, Not Just Behavior

When giving feedback to leaders, it’s essential to elevate the conversation beyond daily operations. Leaders influence the long-term direction of the company, and your feedback should push them to think more strategically, whether that’s about how they make decisions, allocate resources, or drive change.

Example: Instead of focusing solely on how a leader managed a specific project, you might say, “I see a pattern where you and the team are reacting to issues instead of anticipating them. For example, … How can we shift your team’s focus to be more proactive in identifying potential challenges?

Acknowledge Achievements, But Don’t Sugarcoat Reality

Leaders are often high performers, which can make delivering tough feedback feel uncomfortable. And, in my experience their perceptions suffer from a bit of a halo effect – the individual’s high performance is seen to bleeds over into other areas. However, high performer are not high performers in everything they do. You’re not doing anyone any favors by sugarcoating. Start by recognizing their successes, but be direct and honest about areas where they need to grow—because, frankly, they know when you’re holding back.

Example: “You’ve done an excellent job rallying the team around key initiatives. I’m going to push you to do even better. I’ve noticed you are making some decisions too quickly without getting sufficient input from your stakeholders. That gets in the way of you being even more successful.  Let’s work on finding a balance between quick decision-making and gathering broader input.”

Encourage Leadership Development and Self-Reflection

Great leaders are lifelong learners, but they don’t always have someone pushing them to keep developing. Your role isn’t just to point out what’s wrong—it’s to help them continue their leadership journey by encouraging self-reflection and providing opportunities for growth.

Example: “You’ve accomplished a lot this year and I want to set you up for success next year. I’d like to challenge you to consider how you can strengthen your team’s leadership pipeline so that so much doesn’t fall on you. How can you mentor your direct reports to ensure that they’re developing into future leaders, too?”

Done right, feedback becomes less about correction and more about collaboration—making you, and them, stronger leaders in the process. After all, shaping great leaders is how you shape a great organization.

The Leadership Skills Gap: What’s Missing and How to Fill It

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Future-Proof Your Leadership 

Let’s be real: the leadership skills that got us through the last decade aren’t going to cut it for the next one. The world’s changing too fast, and many of today’s leaders are under-equipped for what’s coming. It’s not just about technical prowess or emotional intelligence—it’s about adapting to a rapidly evolving landscape where leaders need to continuously stretch and grow. So, what’s missing? Let’s dig into the real gaps in leadership and how to fill them.

Gap 1: Adaptive Thinking

The pace of change means leaders can no longer afford to cling to what worked last year (or last week, for that matter). We need leaders who are not just reactive, but proactive—who can anticipate change and pivot before it hits them like a freight train. Adaptive thinking is the ability to solve complex, unpredictable problems on the fly, and it’s one of the most crucial gaps in today’s leadership ranks. Adaptive challenges can’t be solved because you have a particular set of experiences.  Continual learning is key.

How to fill it: Encourage leaders to seek out diverse perspectives regularly—across departments, industries, and markets. Introduce scenario-based planning exercises that require leaders to think several moves ahead, preparing them to react swiftly when the unexpected happens.

Gap 2: Digital Literacy

Yes, your leadership team can probably send an email and hop on a Zoom call, but can they leverage AI to drive decision-making? Do they understand how data analytics can shape strategy? The digital transformation is here, and the leaders who can’t speak the language are going to be left behind. Time to get them up to speed—fast.

How to fill it: Invest in digital upskilling programs for your leaders, whether it’s through external courses or internal workshops. Challenge them to lead data-driven decision-making in their teams by introducing KPIs that are directly tied to digital tools and technologies.

Gap 3: Developing for Growth

Too many leaders are focused on maintaining the status quo or hitting short-term goals, forgetting that leadership is about building for the future. Leaders must not only be good at growing their teams but also at growing themselves. A big gap today is the lack of focus on self-development and mentoring the next generation of leaders.

How to fill it: Role model development for yourself. Let others know how you are continuing to grow and evolve. Implement leadership development plans that include both personal growth and succession planning. Encourage leaders to mentor emerging talent, not just delegate tasks. Track their efforts in developing future leaders as part of their performance metrics.

Gap 4: Real Connection

Building trust and creating a sense of purpose among teams is no longer just a “nice to have.” It’s essential. Leaders today often struggle with truly connecting with their teams in a meaningful way. This is about more than having an “open door policy”; it’s about creating an environment where people feel heard, valued, and inspired by a shared mission.

How to fill it: Train leaders in active listening and emotional intelligence, but go a step further by ensuring they consistently align team objectives with the organization’s broader purpose. Intentionally develop an environment characterized by psychological safety.  Encourage regular one-on-one conversations where leaders focus on understanding their team members’ motivations and personal goals. Building trust is a long game—leaders need to earn it through genuine, consistent engagement.

Gap 5: Performance

It’s easy for leaders to focus on holding their teams accountable, but what about themselves? True leadership isn’t just about managing performance—it’s about creating a culture of mutual accountability where leaders and their teams are aligned on expectations, goals, and progress. A shift in how we lead is holding ourselves accountable to the very people we manage.

How to fill it: Establish regular feedback loops where leaders actively seek input from their teams on their own performance. Encourage leaders to set clear, measurable goals that they are publicly committed to within the team. Create a culture where performance discussions are transparent, and leaders model accountability by owning both successes and areas for improvement.

 

Today’s leadership landscape demands much more than traditional skill sets. Leaders need to think fast, stay digitally savvy, focus on long-term growth, build real connections, and foster a performance-driven culture. By addressing these gaps head-on, we can develop leaders who are not only equipped to navigate change but to thrive in it.

5 Leadership Conversations That Drive Organizational Growth

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If We’re Not Talking About These, What Are We Even Doing?

We all know that leadership isn’t about showing up, issuing a few directives, and hoping for the best. Real leadership? It’s a conversation—one that never ends, especially if you’re serious about growth. But not just any chat will do. We’re talking about powerful, sometimes uncomfortable conversations that push your team and your organization forward. Are you ready for them?

Conversation #1: “Here’s What’s Not Working—Let’s Fix It”
Too many leaders dance around the obvious issues. Growth doesn’t happen when everyone’s patting each other on the back. It happens when you call out what’s broken and actively work to fix it. Whether it’s processes, attitudes, or outdated systems, this conversation might sting a little, but trust us, it’s worth the pain.

Conversation #2: “What’s Our Next Big Move?”
Sitting still isn’t an option. Great leaders are always planning the next step—even if the last one hasn’t finished landing yet. Don’t be afraid to challenge your team with big, bold questions. “What’s next?” keeps everyone sharp and keeps your business ahead of the curve. Plus, it’s more exciting than “Let’s just stay the course,” right?

Conversation #3: “How Can I Help You Grow?”
Shocking news: leadership is about your team, not just you. If you’re not regularly asking how you can support your people in their personal and professional growth, you’re missing the mark. No one wants to feel stagnant, and when your team members grow, so does the organization. Simple math.

Conversation #4: “Let’s Talk About Failure”
Guess what? Everyone’s going to fail at some point. Pretending it won’t happen isn’t leadership—it’s delusion. Real leaders talk about failure before it happens, so when it does, it’s a learning moment, not a catastrophe. This conversation builds resilience, encourages risk-taking, and prevents your team from fearing every mistake.

Conversation #5: “Are We Still Aligned?”
Organizations are like marriages—they need constant check-ins. If your leadership team isn’t aligned on the vision, strategy, and values, you’re going to hit some serious turbulence. Make this conversation a regular part of your leadership cadence to ensure everyone’s on the same page, rowing in the same direction, and ready to adapt as needed.

 

Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. If you’re not having these conversations, it’s time to get talking. Your organization’s growth depends on it—and frankly, so does your own development as a leader.

 

The Case for NOT Being So Busy

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Some people are busy but not productive.  That’s because they’re not the same thing. For that matter, the most productive among us are not always the most effective, which is a higher level of performance than productivity. Here’s the case for not being so busy.

The most recent Harvard Business Review magazine’s cover story is The Busyness Trap.  It warns us to not conflate activity with achievement. Almost simultaneously, Sunday’s Boston Globe featured an article about how family life slowed down during the pandemic – and how many parents hope to maintain that slower pace.  Lately, we’re seeing two ends of the spectrum; one is that feeling that we’re supposed to be busy, all the time, and the other that says, slow down.

I was very lucky early in my career to work at a small firm where our president focused on the results we achieved. He was part of a movement at Ford Motor Company in the 1970’s to share profits based on outcomes. He was very clear that our performance was viewed on the impact we made for our clients, not on working the most hours. After that, I went to a global firm that was all about how many hours you worked. So, you saw a lot of busyness that may or may not have been tied to an outcome that benefitted the client or the person working the long hours. As a matter-of-fact, clients were often suspicious about why we stayed around long after they left for the day. I knew the reasons for this philosophy – increase billable hours and/or impress your boss – but, right or wrong, it seemed ridiculous to me because of my previous experience.

Are you or your team getting caught in the busyness trap?  Are you focusing out activities? Or, are you more focused on outcomes? Obviously, there is frequently a connection between the two. You need a certain level of activity to achieve outcome. But there often isn’t a one-to-one relationship.

Why busyness can be counter-productive.

Busyness has become a badge of honor, a status symbol. Our worth seems to be defined by how busy we are. The problem is that, in today’s complex, rapidly changing world, we really won’t create the innovative breakthroughs by always being so busy that we’re at risk of burnout. Instead of doing a good or okay job on a whole lot of things, it’s usually more effective for the organization if you do fewer things exceptionally well. We need time to think, experiment, and reflect. When I am working with leaders to build resilience, I’ll ask them to be silent for 30 seconds to check in on how they are feeling. Too often they tell me they couldn’t shut off their to do list or the many things ahead of them. My question is then, what if you took one or two things off that list, how would it make you feel? Would you be able to be more productive, efficient, and effective at the other things you’re doing?

The person with the longest list doesn’t win.  Let’s let go of being so in love with busy. Start by setting aside a few minutes each day to slow down – to think, to connect, to invent, or just be quiet and rejuvenate. You’ll be amazed at what a few minutes of unbusy can do.

Does Your Business Discourage Dissent?

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Diversity of experience and ideas, like other types of diversity, are critical to the success of your business. Even with a deep connection to your mission and strong leadership, an insular approach to strategy and decision-making can leave you vulnerable. It can hinder your ability to see early warning signals in the market or changes in customer profiles, and it becomes too easy to believe that past success will almost guarantee future success.
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In her recently published article from Harvard Business Review, Edith Onderick-Harvey provides some practical insights into how to ensure your organization stays resilient. The article was written for the family business audience, but the challenges and solutions are applicable to virtually all organizations.
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By Edith Onderick-Harvey

5 Minutes. 5 Days. (Re)gaining Joy at Work

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Joy and happiness are two different things. Both impact things like creativity, individual productivity, and the company’s bottom line (yes, it’s true). But joy is more sustainable.  Here’s a 5-minute per day, one-week plan for kickstarting your path to getting more joy out of work.

Are you missing joy at work?  Or maybe, you’ve never even put the two words joy and work together in the same sentence.  May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Joy is important to mental health. Finding it at work is very challenging for many of us. However, finding it may be more important than ever.

Isn’t joy just another word for happiness?  Not really. According to Merriam Webster dictionary joy is the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune. Joy comes from being connected to our uniqueness, authenticity, to others and to something meaningful. Joy is something we create and more intrinsic. Happiness is sparked by an external event or situation. Research shows both joy and happiness impact our creativity, energy, productivity, health, ability to handle stress, and the company’s bottom line. Joy is more sustainable.

Interested in (re)gaining joy at work? After all, we do spend most of our days working. Creating joy needs to be an active pursuit made up of small steps we take every day. I challenge you to take the 5-minute, 5-day challenge to (re)gain joy at work. It works best when you implement it over 5 consecutive days and jot your answers down somewhere so you can look back on them.

Day One: 5 minutes:  Reconnect to your North Star.  What is your big why?  Why do you do the work you do? How is it helping you live your values? How does your work connect with other important things in your life? What about it is driving you right now?

Day Two: 5 minutes:  What is one thing you can influence or change at work that will allow you to align with your North Star more completely – even if it’s a small thing. What is one task you could do? Or stop doing? What is one opportunity you could take to give yourself a few minutes to focus on something more meaningful? Or to laugh? Or to take a deep breath?

Day Three: 5 minutes: What colleague could you help?  Maybe you’re thinking you don’t have time to help a colleague because you have so much on your plate.  What if you grabbed them a cup of coffee when you go to grab one yourself? Could you have a walk and talk to help them think through a challenge while you both go to pick up lunch (that you may be eating at your desk so you can keep working!)

Day Four: 5 minutes: What are your strengths?  What energizes you?  What is one way, in the next week, you could more fully use that strength? How could you craft your job so that you are able to do this more consistently and frequently?

Day Five: 5 minutes.  Reflect and reward yourself.  What accomplishment are you proud of this week? How did you live your big why? What one thing did you influence or change? Who did you lend a hand to? How did you use your strengths more fully? Do you feel more joy today than you did 5 days ago?

Integrate this challenge into your daily routine every week. Assess the impact at the end of 3-weeks and 3 months. Let me know what happens.