Lead Like a Human: an interview with Adam Weber

Adam Weber, SVP of Community at 15five

“Chief (stop treating humans like resources) Officer”. This is the tagline for the new ad campaign at 15five where Adam Weber is the Head of Culture. 

And this radical attention to leading other humans like a human is what we are talking about today.  Here are a few of the great topics we cover:  How can you equip newly-minted managers with the necessary people skills to succeed?  How does empathy help during conflict?  And how did early mistakes shape Adam’s career? 

You can find the Handle with Care: Empathy at Work podcast on Google Play, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

For more information on Lead Like a Human, see the link below

Here are three key takeaways from my conversation with Adam…

1.  Leaders, are you aware of and coping with your stress in a healthy way?  Adam talked about how some of his early missteps happened when he was under tremendous stress that he then pushed out onto his people.  Is this happening to you?  Maybe that is through a gratitude walk or writing your feelings down in cursive or taking some purposeful grounding time.

2. Empathy is especially important in times of conflict…which is where it is most likely to go out the window!  Adam found that just giving people the time to talk and express their feelings was really powerful, it made them feel heard and moved the conversation much closer to its eventual resolution

3. So many employees get promoted to management positions without being trained or prepared for what it means to manage and care for people.  They are internalizing stress from above and from their own expectations and that often derails their leadership efforts.  How are your training your managers?  Are you giving them the skills they need to really connect on a human level with the people they are leading:  with their hopes, apprehensions, and challenges?