I was leading the staff of a small business through relational leadership training when Bill shared an honest but alarming observation. "Our boss has no idea that he is deeply offensive and constantly damaging the morale in our company because of how he talks to us and how he treats us." The room went silent. 

I asked him to elaborate. He respectfully laid out a list of grievances. I asked the others in the room to raise their hands if they all agreed. Each one raised their hand. I asked them to raise their hands if they all felt threatened by their boss. They all raised their hands. I then asked them to raise their hands if they were thinking of finding another job. They all raised their hands. 

Fortunately, we identified the problem early enough to head off this major storm. I convinced each person that I would do my best to help the owner look inward and change his relational style. Within one month, they all saw dramatic changes in their boss. In one of our meetings Bill raised his hand: "Matt, we all want to know something. What exactly did you say to our boss? He is a completely different person." I just smiled and said, "That is confidential. Your boss deserves all the credit, not me." 

It is possible for good-hearted business owners and leaders to get into a rut and not even know they are there. Maybe that's you or someone you know? Our relational leadership process provides a clear road map on how to identify relational weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Sometimes it only requires a few little tweaks. 

Healthy relationships at work result in greater productivity, higher sales, better margins and long-term employee satisfaction. Learn more about our process for rectifying relational weaknesses here.