Markus Neukom confronted a manager whose lack of empathy was causing resignations. Over lunch, he mirrored the manager's behavior back to him and warned the job was at risk. The manager transformed into one of the company's best leaders after getting direct feedback and HR support.
He doesn't seem to have empathy at all. Employees are either complaining a lot or they actually have resigned already, either silently, but even worse, the best actually have resigned and left the company. And I was so taken by this opportunity to have actually invited that guy for the lunch because I wanted to experience him, you know, in real life. And it was interesting. I gave him some feedback, let's say mid-lunch. And I said to him, look, you are aware of that if I can't help you and if we can't work together, you will lose your job. And he said, yes, I am. And then I actually started mirroring a little bit what I experienced with him and what I learned before. And after that lunch, I went to the office, called that HR manager and said, Yeah, I actually believe we can bring this guy around. And we did. He became one of the best people leaders this company has ever seen because he realized, gosh, the problem is me. And let's be honest, that is the hardest thing for us managers to admit, look into the mirror and say, it is me. But it's the best news.
