Coaching cases · Anonymized actual case · Conversations & trust
A place to begin
A biotechnology and cosmetics manager explored distance in the team through individual perspectives, clearer choices and support.
Biotechnology and cosmetics R&D · team leader · product planning and collaborative work
The starting situation
Trusted for product delivery and scheduling, the leader found team relationships harder to understand. Participation in meetings was low and feedback seemed to create distance. The manager interpreted this partly through differences between generations. Concern about pushing people further away led to inconsistent responses and less clarity about shared responsibilities.
What coaching explored
Coaching explored the wish not to be seen as a bad manager and a concern that discomfort would damage relationships. Trying to understand others sometimes meant leaving the leader’s own expectations unspoken.
An exercise considering what a colleague might want to say opened questions about trust and direction. That imagined perspective was not evidence of what colleagues actually thought; it offered a starting point for what the leader needed to ask and understand directly.
Practices the leader tried
The leader shifted 1on1s from task checking toward listening to the person’s thinking. Asking what support would help became part of the conversation, alongside clarification of responsibility and the areas in which each person could choose.
Feedback focused on important direction and criteria rather than controlling every action. Conversations also considered meaning and development, while the manager tried supporting colleagues without continually pulling the team forward personally.
Changes reflected on in the account
The account describes more voluntary contributions and collaboration, with a shift toward understanding and choosing rather than simply complying. The leader reflected on how shared direction and room to act could support trust. The emphasis moved beyond finding a general explanation for a generation.
A question for HR
HR can examine whether people have a way to describe their own experiences instead of being understood through an age-group label. How do flexibility and common expectations work together? Imagining another perspective can inform reflection, but a conversation is still needed to discover what matters to that individual.
Questions about this topic
What challenge did this leader bring?
A biotechnology and cosmetics manager explored distance in the team through individual perspectives, clearer choices and support.
What practices did the leader explore?
The leader shifted 1on1s from task checking toward listening to the person’s thinking. Asking what support would help became part of the conversation, alongside clarification of responsibility and the areas in which each person could choose.