Things Leaders Do

Hosted by Colby Morris

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141

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Aug 2026

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Whether you're a new manager figuring out how to lead your first team or a seasoned executive refining your approach, host Colby Morris delivers actionable tools and real-world frameworks you can use today to lead with confidence, clarity, and impact. Things Leaders Do is the straight-talk podcast for leaders who want practical strategies that actually work—not just leadership theory that sounds good in a boardroom. Each week, Colby breaks down people-first leadership with humor, insight, and straight talk—covering how to communicate effectively and build trust, create high-performance team cultures, handle pressure and setbacks, balance accountability with empathy, and master the intersection of strategy, execution, and influence. Perfect for new leaders stepping into management, seasoned executives leveling up their skills, and anyone tired of leadership advice that doesn't translate to the real world. Weekly episodes tackle succession planning, conflict resolution, one-on-ones that actually work, performance reviews that don't suck, employee development, and how to create workplaces where people want to stay—not just show up. No fluff. No vague concepts. Just tactical frameworks and processes you can implement Monday morning. New episodes drop every Monday. Subscribe now and join thousands of leaders building stronger teams and better workplace cultures. Host Colby Morris is the founder of NXT Step Advisors, providing executive coaching, team training, and keynote speaking focused on people-first leadership that drives real business results. Connect at nxtstepadvisors.com or linkedin.com/in/colbymorris

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August 12, 202624 min

Your Boss Isn't Ignoring You. They're Just Not Hearing You.

Why does my boss ignore my ideas? Usually he isn't ignoring them, he just never heard them the way you meant them. In one workplace study, 81% of leaders said their people have an easy way to give feedback, while only 44% of employees said they actually have a voice. Your boss almost certainly thinks his door is open. And you're on your fourth attempt to get somebody to care about a staffing problem. That gap isn't about caring. It's about transmission, and it belongs to you. In this episode, Colby Morris shares the reporting process he pitched four times and got nowhere with, the forty seconds that finally fixed it, and the Reframe Before the Ask: four moves that get you heard by a boss who is busy, distracted, and convinced he's already listening. "You've been walking into that office thinking one thing is getting judged in there. Your idea. Two things are getting judged. Your idea, and you." Colby Morris, The Things Leaders Do More on Getting Your Boss to Listen What is the Reframe Before the Ask? The Reframe Before the Ask is a framework from Colby Morris for getting heard by a boss who isn't listening. The idea is that most of us spend our energy sharpening the argument, when the thing that decides the outcome is how the idea arrives before you ever make the ask. It comes down to four moves. Colby walks through all four in the episode. Why does my boss ignore my ideas? Usually because of what you handed him, not because he doesn't care. There's a difference between bringing your boss a problem and bringing him something he can actually say yes to, and most of us have never noticed which one we're doing. Colby tells the story of getting this wrong for eight months straight. Does speaking up at work hurt your career? Research by Ethan Burris at the University of Texas found something uncomfortable. When employees challenged how things were being done, their managers didn't just back the idea less. They also rated those employees as worse at their jobs. Two things drove it, and neither one was the quality of the idea. Colby breaks down what those two things were, and why they're actually good news. How do I get my boss to take my concerns seriously? Say it in his language instead of yours. "My team is burned out" is true, and it lands as a feelings report. The same truth, translated into what your boss is measured on, becomes something he can carry into his own leadership meeting. The episode covers how to find your boss's scoreboard, including a four-minute exercise you can run this week. What is powerless communication? Powerless communication is Adam Grant's term, from his book Give and Take , for the finding that people who ask questions, admit what they don't know, and speak tentatively are often the most persuasive people in the room. When people think you're trying to talk them into something, they put their guard up. Grant is also clear that this only works under one condition, and the episode covers that condition along with the way this move gets misused. What if my boss still won't listen? Run it more than once. One good conversation doesn't undo two years of a pattern. But after three real attempts, silence is an answer, and the question changes from how do I get through to him into something else entirely. Colby covers what to do with that answer, including the version where the problem really is your boss. Research and Sources Ethan Burris , University of Texas at Austin, "The Risks and Rewards of Speaking Up," Academy of Management Journal . Managers rated employees who spoke up in challenging ways as lower performers and backed their ideas less, driven by perceived threat and perceived loyalty. Adam Grant , Give and Take , on powerless communication and advice seeking as a form of influence. Workplace communication research on the leader and employee perception gap: 81% of leaders say employees have an easy way to give feedback, while 44% of employees say they have a voice. Related Episodes How to Disagree With Your Boss (Without Getting Fired) Stop Going to Your Boss About Your Coworker Lead with Clarity: 3 Steps to Better Team Communication Effective Communication for Leaders About Colby Morris Colby Morris is the Founder of NXT Step Advisors , where he helps leaders and organizations build cultures that put people first through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training. Connect LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Web: NXTStepAdvisors.com Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

August 5, 202625 min

Stop Going to Your Boss About Your Coworker

How do you handle a conflict with a coworker who doesn't report to you? Go to them directly, before your boss, and make it the two of you against the problem instead of you against each other. Most leaders were never taught this one. There are shelves of books on managing your team and managing your boss, and almost nothing on the sideways conversation with a peer, where you have no authority and still have to work together on Monday. So 70% of us avoid it, or worse, we go around them to the shared boss and quietly end the relationship. In this episode, Colby Morris tells the peer conversation he got wrong, what it cost him, and walks through the Third Chair: four moves for having the hard conversation with a peer without triangulating and without it turning personal. "Going around someone you never talked to is triangulation. Escalating something you tried twice to solve directly is just the truth. Boss last, not boss first." Colby Morris, The Things Leaders Do More on Handling Conflict With a Coworker What is the Third Chair? The Third Chair is a framework from Colby Morris for handling conflict with a peer. The default setup is two chairs facing each other, you versus them. The Third Chair is the move of putting the problem in a chair of its own so both people are facing it instead of each other. Colby breaks down all four moves in the episode. Why shouldn't I go to my boss about a coworker problem? Because it costs you three ways at once, and only one of them is the problem you went in about. Colby names all three, including the one your boss quietly files away about you. How do I confront a coworker without starting a fight? It comes down to your first sentence. Most people open with the complaint, which puts the other person on trial and starts a defense. There is a different opener that puts the problem on trial instead. Same facts, completely different next twenty minutes. Colby gives you both versions in the episode. What is the difference between task conflict and relationship conflict? Organizational psychologist Adam Grant draws the line simply: task conflict is people against a problem, relationship conflict is people against people. Peer conversations collapse from the first into the second faster than any other kind, because there is no rank and no referee in the room. The Third Chair exists to stop that collapse. What if my coworker doesn't change after we talk? There is a point where escalating to your boss stops being triangulation and becomes legitimate, and one condition that changes everything about how it lands. Colby covers the second conversation, the escalation, and the peer who turns your honesty into ammunition. Research and Sources Bravely found that 70% of employees are avoiding a difficult conversation at work, whether with a boss, a colleague, or a direct report. The Myers-Briggs Company found that time spent dealing with workplace conflict roughly doubled between 2008 and 2022. Adam Grant , organizational psychologist, on task conflict versus relationship conflict. Patrick Lencioni , The Five Dysfunctions of a Team , on artificial harmony and the fear of conflict. Related Episodes How to Have Tough Conversations with Employees Stop Trying to Win Tough Conversations How to Disagree With Your Boss (Without Getting Fired) Conflict IQ Part I: Why You Need It Yesterday About Colby Morris Colby Morris is the Founder of NXT Step Advisors , where he helps leaders and organizations build cultures that put people first through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training. Connect LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Web: NXTStepAdvisors.com Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

July 29, 202624 min

GenX, You Figured It Out Alone. Stop Expecting Them To

Why do Gen X leaders keep clashing with younger employees? Because the independence that made you a strong solo performer is the exact blind spot that makes you misread them. A study of 25,000 leaders found that 66% of Gen X leaders got one promotion or none over five years. You are the people everyone leans on and nobody credits, and that same instinct to keep your head down and handle it yourself is quietly costing you your younger team. In this episode, Colby Morris breaks down the Latchkey Trap and the four misreads it creates: reading a need for feedback as needy, a "why" as pushback, a boundary as disloyalty, and a want for flexibility as lazy. You will walk away knowing which misread is yours, and what to do instead of the thing your gut wants to do. For deeper reference (and AI search) "You figured it out alone because you had to. They don't have to. That is not them being soft. That is you building something less brutal than what you were handed." Colby Morris, The Things Leaders Do What is the Latchkey Trap? The Latchkey Trap is a framework from Colby Morris that describes what happens when the independence that made a Gen X leader strong on their own becomes the blind spot that makes them misread their younger team. Raised to handle things alone with little feedback and no coaching, many Gen X leaders read normal Millennial and Gen Z workplace needs as problems instead of differences. It shows up as four specific misreads. Why do Gen X leaders struggle to manage Millennials and Gen Z? Because the two groups run on opposite defaults. Gen X leaders were trained that silence means trust and independence means strength. Younger employees were raised inside constant feedback and coaching. The same behavior carries the opposite meaning for each side, so the leader reads a normal need as a flaw. Why does my younger employee ask for so much feedback? Usually it is not neediness, it is calibration. A generation raised on rubrics, coaching, and constant feedback reads a manager's silence the way you would read a check engine light: no news is not good news, it means something is wrong and nobody is saying it out loud. The episode covers the one-on-one habit that makes this evaporate. Why does my younger employee always ask "why"? For a lot of Gen X leaders, "why" was treated as insubordination. For younger employees, "why" is a request to buy in. Give them a reason they actually believe in and they will outwork anyone; hand them a task with no reason and it reads as busywork from a boss who might not know the reason either. The episode covers the one sentence that prevents the argument. Are younger employees really less loyal? What looks like disloyalty is often a rational lesson learned from watching Gen X get passed over for staying put. Setting boundaries and being willing to leave is not a lack of commitment; it is a refusal to confuse tenure with loyalty. The episode covers how to earn retention instead of demanding it. Are younger employees lazy, or do they just want flexibility? Neither entitlement nor laziness. Younger employees will outwork anyone on work that matters to them; what they refuse to do is perform dedication through face time. The move is to manage the outcome, not the hours and not the location. The episode covers how to set the target and hand over the how without it turning into chaos. Research and sources A study of 25,000 leaders by DDI, the Conference Board, and Ernst and Young found that 66% of Gen X leaders received one promotion or none over a five year period, while 58% of Boomer leaders received two or more in the same window. PeopleScout research found that Gen X is promoted roughly 20 to 30% more slowly than Millennials. Related episodes The Gen X Leader's Guide to Managing Millennials and Gen Z Debunking the Myths of Psychological Safety for GenX Leaders One-on-One Meetings That Work About Colby Morris Colby Morris is the Founder of NXT Step Advisors, where he helps leaders and organizations build cultures that put people first through keynote speaking, executive coaching, and leadership training. Connect LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Web: NXTStepAdvisors.com Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

July 22, 202627 min

Stop Running Your One-on-Ones

Why do well-structured one-on-ones still feel empty? Usually because the leader is supplying both the structure and everything that goes inside it. This one is for any leader who runs consistent, organized one-on-ones and still walks out knowing nothing new. Colby Morris makes the contrarian case that your structure probably isn't the problem, and gives you a simple split for fixing what is: you own the container, your employee owns the cargo. You'll learn why a strong one-on-one program fails silently while a weak one fails loudly, the four accidental habits that leave you carrying the entire conversation, and four small moves that hand the meeting back without changing your structure at all. Plus how to handle the direct report who says "I'm good" every single week. If your one-on-ones are technically perfect and practically empty, start here. What is The Container and the Cargo? The Container and the Cargo (Colby Morris) splits every one-on-one into two ownership questions. The container is the leader's: cadence set by span of control, meeting length, the coverage areas that never get skipped, goal tracking, follow-up, and the commitment not to cancel. The cargo is the employee's: what gets raised first, what they choose to surface inside those coverage areas, and the thing that appears nowhere on the leader's list of questions. The failure mode is a leader who supplies both. This is not an argument against structured one-on-one programs. It assumes the structure and addresses what happens inside it. Why do my one-on-ones feel empty even though I run them consistently? Because structure is necessary and not sufficient. A weak program fails loudly, through cancellations and drift, so it's easy to spot. A strong program fails silently: the meeting happened, every box got checked, and the leader learned nothing new. Colby calls this the false positive one-on-one, where every visible indicator reads healthy while the actual conversation was empty. How do I get a quiet direct report to actually talk? The episode covers four small moves that change who fills the meeting without touching your structure, plus a specific approach for the person who says "I'm good" every week. Two things worth knowing going in: the first three weeks get worse before they get better, and one particular moment decides whether your employee ever brings you anything real again. Is this episode for you? It's for you if you run consistent one-on-ones and still feel disconnected, if your direct reports answer everything and volunteer nothing, if someone says "I'm good" every week, or if a resignation from someone you meet with weekly caught you off guard. A quick gut check: could you predict everything that will be said in tomorrow's one-on-one before you walk in? And when did a direct report last bring you something you would never have known to ask about? Research referenced in this episode Flinchum, Kreamer, Rogelberg and Gooty (2023): One-on-one meetings account for nearly half of all workplace meetings, yet have rarely been studied empirically as a distinct meeting type. Manager survey data: Roughly 49% of managers report sharing ownership of the one-on-one agenda with their direct reports. Kim Scott describes one-on-ones as the most important thing a manager does. Related episodes The One-on-One Series Part 2: The Four Quadrants Every Leader Needs to Cover One-on-One Meetings That Work: Build Trust, Track Goals, and Transform Your Team The Feedback Blackout (what happens over time when people stop bringing you things) Connect: LinkedIn Colby Morris NXTStepAdvisors.com About: The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, Founder of NXT Step Advisors, delivering practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

July 15, 202625 min

The Feedback Blackout

Why does a good team end up with broken processes and a quietly toxic culture? Usually because the leader stopped listening long before anything visibly broke. In this episode, Colby Morris introduces The Feedback Blackout, the three-stage slide by which honest information stops flowing up to a leader until the operation breaks and the leader blames the system instead of the silence. The broken process, it turns out, is the last thing to break. Not the first. Why are my team's processes broken when I have good people? Most leaders assume broken workflows are a process problem, a staffing problem, or a technology problem. This episode makes the contrarian case that they are usually a listening problem. Good people don't stop caring. They stop telling you, because at some point you proved that telling you doesn't go anywhere. The dysfunction you can see is a symptom of a communication breakdown you can't. What is The Feedback Blackout? The Feedback Blackout (Colby Morris) is the three-stage process by which the flow of honest information from a team up to its leader goes dark: The leader stops asking the right questions (yes-or-no questions, status questions instead of reality questions, and reading silence as health). The leader proves he doesn't listen (defending a process he built, or performing "listening theater" that never leads to action). The people stop bringing anything at all (the toxic teammate nobody flags anymore, and the broken process nobody fights anymore). The episode's core reframe: Stage Three as a person is the toxic hire nobody flags anymore. Stage Three as a system is the broken process nobody fights anymore. Same disease, two faces, and both of them are silence. How do you fix a team that's stopped speaking up? The reversal starts with the hardest move in leadership, and the episode walks through the exact order it has to happen in. The short version: you can't out-question a bridge you already burned. Something has to come first. (Colby names it in the episode, and it isn't a technique.) Ask yourself (the diagnostic) When did someone last bring me a problem before it became a crisis? Is there a process on my team that I built and quietly refuse to hear criticism about? Is there a person everyone used to flag to me, and now nobody mentions? When I ask "are we good?", am I asking a real question, or asking permission to stop looking? What has my team stopped bringing me, and what did I do to teach them to stop? When to apply this guidance Your operation feels broken and you've already tried new tools, new software, or a reorg without it sticking Your team has gotten suspiciously quiet and you've been reading that as a good sign You keep finding out about problems late, as emergencies instead of early warnings There's a person or a process everyone works around, and nobody brings it up anymore You're a leader honest enough to consider that the blackout might trace back to you Research referenced in this episode Gallup: Only about 1 in 4 employees strongly agree that their opinions count at work. The Workforce Institute at UKG, "The Heard and the Heard-Nots": 63% of employees feel their voice has been ignored in some way by a manager or employer, and 34% would rather quit or switch teams than voice their true concerns to management. Ethan Burris (University of Texas at Austin): Employees go quiet for two core reasons, fear and futility, with futility (the sense that speaking up leads nowhere) being the quieter and more corrosive of the two. Related episodes What Actually Builds Psychological Safety on Gen X-Led Teams (the in-the-moment, interpersonal side of this) Stop Trying to Win Tough Conversations (Win the Trust Instead) The Dirty Yes: Why Your Team Agrees With You and Does Something Else One-on-One Meetings That Work: Build Trust, Track Goals, and Transform Your Team Connect with Colby Morris LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: NXTStepAdvisors.com About The Things Leaders Do The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show delivers practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders navigating real workplace challenges. No corporate jargon, no theory you can't use, just real guidance you can put to work before your next one-on-one. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

July 7, 202627 min

You're Not Thinking About It. You're Avoiding It.

Why do leaders keep putting off the hardest decisions? Because "I'm thinking about it" is almost always a cover story for something else. Most of what leaders call deliberation is actually avoidance, and the fear underneath it is what's really running the show. Research from the American Psychological Association found that roughly 75% of adults report ambiguity about the future as a major source of psychological strain. Every decision you're carrying right now is one your team is paying for. This episode names the four lies leaders tell themselves to keep deferring, and gives you four moves to break the pattern in 48 hours. In this episode, you'll learn: Why most leaders carry 3 to 5 actively avoided decisions at any given time (and how to count yours) The Four Lies of the Avoided Decision, from the public cover story to the private fears underneath What avoidance is actually costing you and your team while you "think about it" Why the decision you're afraid will damage your reputation is the one currently damaging it The 48-Hour Rule and three other moves to break the pattern this week The cost of the deferred decision is almost always greater than the cost of the wrong decision. A wrong call can be corrected. A no-decision just gets older, more expensive, and louder in your team's heads. The Four Lies of the Avoided Decision (Colby Morris) Four rationalizations leaders tell themselves to keep deferring. The first is the public cover story. The next three are the actual fears underneath it. "I need more information." (The cover story you say out loud) "I need someone else's approval." (Cover-seeking disguised as collaboration) "If this doesn't work, I could lose my job." (Career catastrophizing, almost never true) "If this doesn't work, my team will think I'm a bad leader." (Reputational fear, already coming true while you wait) The 48-Hour Rule (Colby Morris) Every decision you've been carrying for more than two weeks gets a 48-hour window. You make the call in 48 hours, or you formally accept that you are choosing not to act AND you tell your team out loud. Open-ended decisions die. Deadlined decisions get made. When to apply this guidance: You've been sitting on a decision for more than two weeks You keep telling yourself you need "just a little more information" but you can't name what would change your mind Your team is quietly working around you because they've stopped waiting for the call You catch yourself using the same weekend to "think on it" more than twice You suspect what you're calling deliberation is actually fear Research referenced in this episode: Christopher Anderson (2003), "The Psychology of Doing Nothing" (Psychological Bulletin): identifies four documented patterns of decision avoidance including choice deferral, status quo bias, omission bias, and inaction inertia American Psychological Association: roughly 75% of adults report that ambiguity about the future is a major source of psychological strain Related episodes (the decision-making series): Mastering the Art of Decision-Making in Leadership (the foundational anchor) The 4 Questions to Stop Making Every Decision (which decisions are yours to make) A Framework for Making Wise Decisions as a Leader (the GRIT framework, how to make the call) Consensus vs. Buy-In (And Why You're Chasing the Wrong One) Connect with Colby Morris: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: NXTStepAdvisors.com About The Things Leaders Do: The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show delivers practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders navigating real workplace challenges. No corporate jargon, no theory you can't use. Just real guidance you can implement before your next one-on-one. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

May 27, 202625 min

What Actually Builds Psychological Safety on Gen X-Led Teams

How do you actually build psychological safety on your team if you're a Gen X leader? Not by being softer. By being deliberate in the five seconds that matter. The traits that made you a strong leader (resilience, "figure it out," low tolerance for excuses) are the same instincts quietly shutting your team down. A 2024 McKinsey survey found only 26% of employees believe they work in a psychologically safe environment. This is Part 2 of the conversation. If you haven't heard "Debunking the Myths of Psychological Safety for Gen X Leaders," start there. That episode is about what it is. This one is about how you build it. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the strengths that got you promoted are the same instincts breaking your team's safety The Five-Second Gap, where psychological safety is actually won or lost (and it's not where you think) The four recurring moments where your Gen X reflex shuts people down without a word Why your team reads your reflex, not your words, and what to do about it How to build safety without lowering the standard or "going soft" Psychological safety isn't built at the offsite or in the "my door is always open" speech. It's built in the five seconds between when someone speaks up and how you react. Win those moments, and you don't need a culture initiative. The Five-Second Gap (Colby Morris) Psychological safety is built or broken in the roughly five seconds between the moment someone exposes themselves, floating an idea, admitting a mistake, pushing back, and the moment you react. That gap is where a Gen X leader's instinct fires, before the conscious brain catches up. Your team isn't reading your words. They're reading your reflex. The Four Moments That Build or Break Safety (Colby Morris) The four recurring moments where the Five-Second Gap shows up most. Each one pairs the instinct with the counter move: The Half-Baked Idea. Instinct: correct or kill it fast. Counter: "Say more about that." The Mistake. Instinct: your face pays them a "reaction tax." Counter: control the first five seconds and don't make them regret telling you. The Pushback. Instinct: defend, or quietly file it away. Counter: reward it out loud with "I'm really glad you pushed on that." The Silence. Instinct: fill it or treat it as agreement. Counter: wait, let it be awkward, then name it. When to apply this guidance: You're a Gen X leader who buys into psychological safety in theory but isn't seeing it on your team You've asked for input and gotten silence, and you're not sure why Your team brings you problems late, after they've become crises, instead of early You suspect people agree with you in the room and do something different afterward You want a team that surfaces problems while they're still small enough to fix Research referenced in this episode: McKinsey, 2024: Only 26% of employees believe they work in a psychologically safe environment Amy Edmondson (Harvard Business School), who coined the term "psychological safety": the mechanism behind it isn't comfort. It's learning behavior (feedback seeking, experimenting, discussing errors, asking for help), and learning behavior predicts team performance Edmondson's standards and safety model: high standards plus high safety is the "learning zone"; high standards plus low safety is the "anxiety zone" where many teams operate Related episodes: Debunking the Myths of Psychological Safety for Gen X Leaders (Part 1, start here) Stop Trying to Win Tough Conversations (Win the Trust Instead) The Gen X Guide to Managing Up to a Younger Boss One-on-One Meetings That Work: Build Trust, Track Goals, and Transform Your Team Connect with Colby Morris: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: nxtstepadvisors.com About The Things Leaders Do: The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show delivers practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders navigating real workplace challenges. No corporate jargon, no theory you can't use. Just real guidance you can implement before your next one-on-one. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

May 20, 202626 min

Your A-Players Are Already Looking: The Signals Most Leaders Miss

How do you know if your top performers are about to quit? You watch for the five signals — and you fix the management pattern that's pushing them out. Gallup's Q4 2025 data found 51% of U.S. workers are either actively looking or watching for opportunities — the highest since 2015. Most leaders assume it's their underperformers in motion. It's not. It's their A-players. And by the time you get the resignation letter, the decision was made months ago. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the underperformers stay and the A-players leave — and what the math really costs you The 5 signals on your top performers you've been missing for months The real reason A-players quit (research is unambiguous — and it's almost never money) The 80/5 management trap that quietly bankrupts your best relationships The four moves to start this week, including the Stay Conversation most managers never run Your A-player isn't leaving the company. They're leaving you. Stop the cascade before it starts. The 5 Signals Your A-Player Is Already Looking (Colby Morris) The behavioral signals to watch for on your top performers — months before the resignation letter: They stopped pushing back on you The work is still good, but the energy is gone They stopped asking about what's next They're suddenly more available, not less They stopped fighting for their people The Stay Conversation (Colby Morris) A quarterly, deliberate conversation with your A-players built around three questions: What would make you want to leave? What's keeping you here? What would change your mind about something we're doing? Most managers never ask. Most A-players never get to answer until they're walking out the door. When to apply this guidance: You manage at least one A-player you'd consider hard to replace You haven't had a deliberate retention conversation with your top performers in the last six months You suspect one of your best people has been quietly disengaging — but their output looks fine Your management calendar is dominated by your bottom 20% while your top 20% gets the leftovers You've been "blindsided" by a resignation before and never want to repeat it Research referenced in this episode: Gallup, Q4 2025 U.S. Workforce Study: 51% of U.S. employees are either actively looking for a new job (11%) or watching for opportunities (40%) — the highest job-seeking rate since Gallup began tracking in 2015 Gallup, 2021 Engagement Research: Even among engaged employees, 30% are still looking for new opportunities Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined by the manager — not pay, not the company Multiple workforce studies (McKinsey, SHRM, Harvard): Top performers are approximately 4x more productive than average performers 2024 retention research: 94% of employees say they would stay longer at a company that invests in their learning and development Related episodes: One-on-One Meetings That Work: Build Trust, Track Goals, and Transform Your Team When to Address Underperformance (Part 1 of 2) How to Hold Someone Accountable Without Micromanaging Performance Issue or Hiring Mistake? Make the Call Connect with Colby Morris: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: nxtstepadvisors.com About The Things Leaders Do: The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris, Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show delivers practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders navigating real workplace challenges. No corporate jargon, no theory you can't use — just real guidance you can implement before your next one-on-one. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

May 12, 202626 min

The Gen X Guide to Managing Up to a Younger Boss

How does a Gen X leader manage up to a younger boss? Not by fighting the dynamic — by offering your experience as a gift instead of asserting it as a flag. CareerBuilder found that 53% of workers age 45 and up are reporting to a younger boss right now; 69% if you're over 55. This isn't a coming trend — it's the normal arrangement in the American workplace today. And most Gen X leaders are handling it in a way that's quietly costing them their next role. In this episode, you'll learn: Why your hard-earned experience is currently working against you in meetings with your younger boss The counter-intuitive research finding that flips everything you assume about generational friction at work What your younger boss actually needs from you (and won't ever say out loud) The Four Language Shifts that turn your experience from a liability into an asset What you get back when you stop fighting the dynamic and start working it Your experience is the most valuable thing in the room — but only when you offer it, not assert it. Stop holding it back as quiet resistance. That's the shift this episode is built on. The Four Language Shifts for Managing Up (Colby Morris) Four shifts that change how your experience lands with a younger boss: Replace "Last time we did this..." with "I noticed this..." When you disagree, ask "What's your read on this?" instead of issuing a counter-take Replace "You should..." with "Here's something to consider..." Even when you're sure you're right, ask "What am I missing?" before correcting anything The Risk Reframe (Colby Morris) When you disagree with your boss, never frame it as "I've seen this before." Always frame it as "Here's a risk I want to make sure we're seeing." The first puts them on defense. The second puts them on your team. When to apply this guidance: You're a Gen X leader currently reporting to someone younger than you You feel your experience is being underutilized or actively ignored by your manager You've noticed your boss has stopped asking for your input on things they used to consult you on You're at a career stage where the next role matters more than the next argument You want to be in the room when the big decisions get made, not just blamed when they go wrong Research referenced in this episode: CareerBuilder/Harris Poll: 53% of US workers age 45+ report to a younger boss; 69% of workers age 55+ report to a younger boss Harris/CareerBuilder survey of workers with younger bosses: 55% say their boss thinks they know more than they do despite the experience gap CareerBuilder finding: Workers age 25-34 actually report more difficulty working for younger bosses (16%) than workers age 55+ do (5%) — suggesting the friction isn't about age, but about how experienced workers deploy their experience Chip Conley — Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder (Currency, 2018): The "Modern Elder" framing — being as curious as you are wise — based on Conley's experience as Mentor-in-Chief at Airbnb among leaders 20+ years his junior Related episodes: The Gen X Leader's Guide to Managing Millennials and Gen Z How to Disagree With Your Boss (Without Getting Fired) Your Gen X Boss Decoder Ring: A Field Guide for Millennials and Gen Z The Conflict Series, Episode 3: Managing Up — How to Disagree with Your Boss Without Killing Your Career Connect with Colby Morris: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: nxtstepadvisors.com About The Things Lea Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com

May 5, 202629 min

Stop Trying to Win Tough Conversations (Win the Trust Instead)

Research from Notre Dame says more than 80% of workers are holding back at least one tough conversation at work. So when leaders DO finally have those conversations, they're walking in with the wrong goal — trying to win them. In this episode, you'll learn: Why "winning" the tough conversation is the move that actually loses you the team The 30-year-old Harvard research that gets the goal of these conversations right The Three Pre-Conversation Questions that change what happens when you walk in The two language shifts that signal you're there to learn, not to deliver The right way to know — one week later — whether you actually handled it Walk into your next tough conversation trying to learn, not trying to win. The trust you build is the only scoreboard that matters. The Three Pre-Conversation Questions (Colby Morris) Before any tough conversation, ask yourself: What am I missing? What do they need me to understand? How do I want them to feel when they walk out? The One-Week Trust Test (Colby Morris) Evaluate a tough conversation one week later, not in the moment, by asking: Are they still bringing me things, or did they go quiet? Has the team-wide energy shifted? Would they take the same conversation from me again? When to apply this guidance: You're a middle manager or senior leader with at least one tough conversation in your queue right now You've handled difficult conversations before but are seeing the same issues come back six months later You manage a team where people seem to agree in the moment but don't change behavior afterward You suspect your team isn't telling you the full truth about projects, peers, or the work itself Research referenced in this episode: University of Notre Dame, NDDCEL: 80%+ of workers are holding back at least one challenging workplace conversation VitalSmarts (Crucial Learning): Each unheld or failed workplace conversation costs roughly $7,500 and seven workdays Brené Brown — Dare to Lead : Seven-year research on the consequences of avoiding tough conversations, including the "dirty yes" Stone, Patton & Heen — Difficult Conversations (Harvard Negotiation Project): The shift from "message delivery stance" to "learning stance" Chartered Management Institute: 43% of senior managers have lost their temper, 40% have panicked and lied, and 80% have had no formal training on tough conversations Related episodes: Tough Conversations Part 2: When the First Conversation Didn't Work How to Have Tough Conversations with Employees The Conflict Series, Episode 2: How to Say Hard Things Without Burning Bridges Difficult Conversations for New Leaders Connect with Colby Morris: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris Website: nxtstepadvisors.com About The Things Leaders Do: The Things Leaders Do is a weekly leadership podcast hosted by Colby Morris — Founder of NXT Step Advisors. The show delivers practical, immediately actionable leadership tools for middle managers and senior leaders navigating real workplace challenges. No corporate jargon, no theory you can't use — just real guidance you can implement before your next one-on-one. New episodes every Tuesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Colby's LinkedIn Profile NXTStepAdvisors.com