The Work Bite
What is the way we lead at work and the way we show up at home have more in common than we think?
Most leaders I work with are exceptional at managing complexity.
They can navigate a restructure, hold a difficult conversation with a board, and keep a team moving through uncertainty.
But ask them what their people are actually experiencing day-to-day, and the room goes quiet.
Not because they don’t care.
Because somewhere along the way, we taught leaders to manage outcomes rather than understand humans.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth I see inside organisations regularly: the gap between what leadership intends and what employees experience is almost always wider than anyone realises.
And that gap? It doesn’t just affect culture scores and engagement surveys.
It affects performance, retention, trust, and ultimately, whether your organisation can actually move when it needs to.
The fix isn’t a new framework or a leadership offsite.
It starts with something far simpler — and far more powerful.
It starts with listening before solving.
The organisations I work with that get this right don’t just have better cultures.
They have people who show up differently. People who feel the difference between being managed and being understood.
And here’s the part that always stays with me: the skills that make a great leader at work — curiosity, presence, the willingness to sit in discomfort before rushing to an answer — are the exact same skills that matter most in every other relationship in your life too.
For now, I’d love to ask you: when did you last genuinely listen to what your people are experiencing — not to fix it, but just to understand it? And do you do this intentionally when it comes to connection with your ageing loved ones?
Drop your thoughts in the comments. I read every one.
— Lana
Lana Johnston is the founder of Taking It Forward, working in transformation and connection with leaders, HR professionals, and organisations who are serious about putting people at the centre of how they work. Through her Connection with Lana work, she also shares practical tools and thinking to help people connect more meaningfully with their ageing loved ones – before it’s too late 💚. If this Bite sparked something for you, hit reply — she’d love to hear your thinking. Know someone who’d benefit? They can join the conversation here or connect with Lana on linkedin.com/in/lanajohnston or instagram.com/connectionwithlana/