On The Ground-2

Great leaders don’t just know when to take control, they know when to release it. In leadership, letting go is one of the hardest and most misunderstood skills. We equate control with competence and oversight with accountability. Yet, in reality, constant control suffocates growth. It prevents leaders from thinking strategically and keeps teams dependent instead of capable. The truth is, leadership isn’t about holding every lever. It’s about knowing which ones to pass on. Let

Every leader wants performance, loyalty, respect, and results, yet few stop to ask the most important question: What kind of relationship do I actually have with my people? Leadership is not a transaction. It is a relationship built on the same foundations that hold together families and friendships — trust, respect, and consistency. Without these, the results eventually erode. Teams don’t leave organisations, they disconnect from leaders who stop showing up with genuine comm

At some point, email stopped being a tool and became a hiding place. What was meant to clarify has turned into a barrier to real communication. Leaders are buried in reply-all loops, CC chains, and digital noise, mistaking volume for value. Here’s the truth: email is not for conversations. It’s for confirmation. It should capture facts, decisions, and outcomes, not debates, emotion, or alignment. Those things only happen when people talk. Real conversations, the uncomfortable

Every culture is built one conversation at a time. The tone, trust, and tempo of an organisation’s communication determine whether people speak up or stay silent, collaborate or comply, engage or withdraw. Leaders often underestimate this truth. Communication isn’t a soft skill, it’s a strategic asset. Every meeting, corridor chat, and message shapes the narrative of what’s valued and what isn’t. When conversations are healthy, cultures thrive. When they’re avoided or control

It sounds counterintuitive, even risky. But the most effective leaders aren’t the ones who protect their time with layers of hierarchy, they’re the ones who make themselves available. When staff know they can reach you directly, something powerful happens: they stop needing to. True accessibility isn’t about being constantly on call; it’s about building psychological safety and trust. It sends a clear message, “I’m here, and I want to know what’s really happening.” That singl

Every organisation has them, the givers and the takers. You can spot them quickly when a leader begins to drift. Leadership drift happens quietly. It’s when leaders step down from leading and start doing. They fill the gaps, take on others’ responsibilities, and convince themselves it’s “just helping out.” Over time, what starts as support becomes substitution, and the leader’s role blurs into the team’s work. That’s when the givers and takers emerge. Takers are the ones who

Every organisation has two types of leaders. One quietly accelerates progress and capability across the business. The other quietly drains it. At first glance they can look similar. Both may be competent. Both may have experience. Both may sit at the same table. The defining difference is not intelligence or technical knowledge. It is attitude. Coachable leaders lean in when challenged. They seek clarity, ask questions, and reset quickly after setbacks. They see feedback as f