Alastair WallaceCEO. Lead Consultant. Trainer. Coach, Brainfood Ltd · Leadership & Management Training for Busy Managers. Helping senior leaders stop handholding | Brain-friendly, diary-friendly | Save 5+ hours a week | 23,500 managers trained | 200% ROI guaranteed. TED

Get off your phone!

14 Oct 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:58

In this brief YouTube monologue, Alastair Wallace challenges managers who react to employee phone use with irritation, likening such reactions to parenting rather than leadership. He argues that managers should shift from emotional responses to discussing the concrete impact of phone use on work outcomes—such as attention, customer service, safety, handovers, and reputation. Wallace provides a ready‑to‑use script for addressing phone use during team briefings, emphasizing specificity, professionalism, and the need for an agreed urgent‑reason exception. He concludes by offering a free “Say This First” guide for handling awkward managerial moments, linking it to the post.

Chapters

Get off your phone, you're supposed to be working! That isn't management, it's parenting with a job title. Phone use winds managers up because it looks disrespectful, but if you lead with irritation, you get defensiveness. The better route is impact. What's the phone use actually affecting? Is it attention, your customers, safety, a handover, team briefing, maybe their reputation? Let's manage that instead. Say this: I've noticed your phone is out during team briefings where we need your full attention. The impact is that you might miss some key details. I really need phones away during those moments unless there's an agreed urgent reason. That works because it's specific, it's grown up, and it's linked to work. Don't try and manage the phone, manage the impact. If you want the words for more awkward manager moments just like this one, Grab my free Say This First guide. I'll put it with the post.