You have recently noticed that your line manager has been paying more attention than usual to your work, tasks and projects. Up until now Annette, the Country Manager, has always left you largely alone to get on with things. This has not always been the case with your VP colleagues but you assumed that she would leave you alone as long as she trusted you. Having said that, you have just taken on a global initiative that requires you to network with the Main Board and all the other Country Managers. Whilst this is interesting for you, and means a much higher profile across the organisation, you can’t help feeling rather crowded out by your boss’s attentions. What is she up to? Is she jealous? Worried? Has she stopped trusting you? Is she at some point going to start making your life harder locally so that you can’t focus on the global initiative?

What do you do next?

A. “These things happen”, you tell yourself. Annette is bound to feel anxious about being overtaken – it’s quite natural. You are just going to have to tough it out and stay out of her way and hope that she doesn’t overload you with other tasks so that you fail in the global project.
B. You ask for a meeting with Annette to probe her on what has changed in your relationship. This is one opportunity that you can’t afford to have scuppered by a jealous boss. You need to find out what is going on.
C. You decide that Annette needs to be persuaded to trust you with this massively high-profile task. On the basis that she is out to protect her reputation, and maybe even yours, you are going to keep her well fed with information, updates and little bits of HQ gossip and reassurance until she realises that she can loosen her grip on your schedule.
D. You conclude that 1. You really are not prepared to put up with being micromanaged and that 2. You really don’t know what is going on. You decide that you need to have a very frank discussion with Annette about where she is with the project and to find out what she is most worried about. Hopeful you will then be able to sort out a game plan for how to make the most of the opportunity without having to worry about being stabbed in the back.

I’ll publish my chosen option here on Monday afternoon. Let me know yours as soon as you like.

You don’t know it but you have been eagerly awaiting this tool. Don’t choke – yes, I’ve designed a tool.

I know, I’m allergic to measurement but this is not a psychometric. This is not a straight ability or personality test. This is about helping someone to understand to what degree they can notice and name emotions in voices. But unlike with psychometrics, this is definitely a START POINT and not a dead-ended, reductionist, deterministic statement of who someone is what what they are destined to do from here on in. It’s a nudge, if they want it, to remember what it is to pay attention to people’s feelings. A reminder. A wake up call. The start point in a piece of re-learning or remembering.

So give it a go – we go live with the Beta version around the 20th September.

So, where do I find this thing? Here

Listen hard and have fun.