“They’re great in some areas… it’s just this one thing.” Sound familiar? Many managers struggle to hold people accountable when performance is strong but inconsistent. Whether it’s an employee who drags their feet on less interesting tasks or someone who sticks too closely to what’s comfortable, it’s tempting to let things slide. But over time, this can quietly undermine your team’s success.
This article explores why managers hesitate to coach around performance and how to shift from avoidance to effective accountability. Learn how to have the conversations you’ve been putting off, without damaging trust, morale, or your own confidence.

Some employees actively seek out feedback, reflect on it, and grow. Others resist it—either because they lack confidence or because they believe they don’t need to improve. So what's the key to coachability? Getting confidence at the right level. In this article, we explore how confidence and coachability interact, why some employees are in the "I Can’t" (lacking confidence) or the "I Don’t Care" zone (overconfident), and offer practical strategies to guide them into the "Learning" zone, where real growth happens.

Higher education’s relentless pace isn’t slowing down—demands on faculty and staff continue to grow, making it harder to focus and easier to feel drained. When your time and energy are pulled in every direction, how do you regain control and stay engaged? The key isn’t a complete overhaul of your routine but small, intentional shifts that help you prioritize what truly matters.

This month, we present a two-fold approach: first, a mindset shift that refocuses your energy on what you can control, and second, a practical strategy for structuring your week to boost clarity and productivity. By identifying meaningful work and tackling tasks you've been avoiding, these five simple yet powerful actions can help you regain focus, reduce stress, and reignite your motivation.