Most of us don’t want to do a bad job and we have truly good intentions. But sometimes it helps to take a step back.

If you’re doing any of these seven things…… no beating yourself up.

But maybe time to make a few changes?

As always, a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step..

• Keep cancelling those 1-1s because ‘something else came up’ (your team love playing second fiddle to your email list or your unmet deadlines or the latest crisis) whilst spouting those words ‘our people are our greatest asset’;

• Chair meetings with no clear purpose and no clear outcomes. Let the same people speak or just speak yourself, for the whole time, with no input from your team. (They love being talked at). And then arrange another meeting about that meeting. Or ask everyone to share what they are working on this week - why?

• Never explicitly show appreciation - they know you’re pleased with what they do (because mind-reading is one of the behavioural skills you insist on).

• Give va...