At Nash Consulting, after partnering with nearly a hundred organizations on leadership development, we’ve seen a clear pattern: What separates engagements that create lasting change from those that don’t is what the organization does before, and especially after, the training.

This article is designed to help managers create that common language. By understanding the full range of decision-making approaches, leaders can intentionally strike the right balance between exercising their authority and inviting meaningful involvement from their teams.

A couple decades ago, the primary issue was simply that many organizations weren’t providing management training at all. People got promoted into leadership with a “Welcome to management, good luck” approach.

"Being listened to feels so much like being loved that people can scarcely tell the difference." ~ David Taylor-Klaus

I believe we shouldn’t be afraid to bring love into our leadership at work.

Especially when we are in positions of power, showing up with love matters a ton.

Being an effective people-manager requires a very specific set of skills and emotional capacities. But if you want to make a difference in people’s lives, being a great manager is one of the most direct, tangible, high-leverage ways to do it.

At Nash Consulting, we believe that understanding the four behavior styles is one of the most powerful tools available to managers. Why? Because in our 30 years of working with leaders, we've consistently seen that managers who understand behavior styles - both their own and their team members' - are simply more effective leaders.

Building trust and respect in the workplace is a layered, complicated, and nuanced process. A great starting point is teaching your team to recognize the differences in the way people show up and the qualities (and otherwise) each behavior style brings to the workplace.