Whether you’re stepping into your first leadership role or refining your approach after years of experience, the way we lead and manage people is constantly evolving. Today’s workplaces are more diverse and complex than ever. Teams often include people from different generations, cultures and backgrounds, each bringing unique perspectives and expectations.

Being a great manager is not just about knowing the job or having authority. It is about creating the right conditions for people to do their best work. That means leading with respect, building resilience – both yours and your team’s – and being reflexive about your approach.

These are not just personal qualities. They are leadership practices that help you improve team performance by building trust, successfully navigating change and identifying assumptions that may be holding you and your team back.

Respect: it isn’t the same for everyone

Respect is more than being polite or professional. It is about recognising the value that others bring, and making sure that everyone feels heard, understood and appreciated. But here’s the challenge: what it means to be respectful is not understood the same way for everyone.

In multicultural and intergenerational teams, the way we show respect can look very different depending on someone’s background, values or lived experience. Have you stopped to ask your team what respect looks like to them? For one person, being addressed formally and acknowledging hierarchy may feel respectful. For another, a more relaxed and informal interaction might signal trust and inclusion. Some may value punctuality and structured communication, where others appreciate flexibility and open-ended dialogue.

To be truly respectful, you need to understand these differences. That means you need to get curious, ask questions and learn to adapt your approach.

Some people may think that spending time focusing on this just slows things down or is too ‘soft’ for a fast-paced workplace. But the evidence shows otherwise. Respect creates psychological safety, which is essential for collaboration and innovation. Team members that feel safe are more likely to speak up, share ideas and take risks. This was found in Google’s Project Aristotle, which identified psychological safety as the top factor in high-performing teams.

Overall, when people feel respected, they work better together, solve problems more quickly and are likely to stay more engaged.

Ask 3 people the following question. You might be surprised by their answer:

• What does respect in the workplace look like to you?

Resilience: building strength through adversity

In this fast-paced world, resilience is becoming one the most essential skills for employees. It’s not just about bouncing back from adversity but also learning from it. Resilience is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, staying focused under pressure, and being willing to step outside your comfort zone to learn and evolve.

When leading teams, resilience also means staying calm during uncertainty and helping others do the same. It’s not about being tough and just pushing through, but being responsive, emotionally aware and open to change.

Resilient leaders create environments where setbacks are reframed as learning opportunities. They model vulnerability and encourage their teams to work through challenges together so they are better prepared for next time – because there will always be a next time

To build your resilience, try this weekly reflection (you could even do it as a team):

• What challenge did you face this week?
• What helped you get through it?
• What did you learn from the experience?

Reflexivity: leading with awareness and adaptability

Reflexivity means regularly examining your own beliefs, behaviours and impact. It’s about being aware of how your background, values and assumptions shape your actions and influence your decisions and being willing to adjust these appropriately.

Taking time out for reflexive practice can help you avoid costly mistakes and lead to better choices. Reflexivity is a process that helps you identify and question your assumptions, as well as identifying any biases or emotions might be shaping your interpretation of a situation.

For managers, this means making space to consider how your leadership style, communication and decisions affect the people you lead, especially those whose perspectives differ from your own. Reflexive leaders are more open to feedback, more willing to challenge their own thinking, and more likely to create inclusive environments where others feel safe to do the same.

How to practice reflexivity:

• Ask yourself questions: what assumptions am I making? Whose voice is missing? How might my background be influencing my perspective?
• Learn from others: use reverse mentoring to gain insights from diverse team members.
• Model reflexivity for your team: introduce reflexive prompts in team discussions, such as ‘What are we not seeing?’, ‘What assumptions are we making?’ or ‘How might others view this?’

Putting the 3 practices together

Respect, resilience and reflexivity are the core of what makes teams thrive. Respect fosters trust, resilience builds confidence, and reflexivity allows us to grow.  Together these 3 practices help minimise conflict, boost morale and foster a culture of learning and adaptability. These are the practices of managers who lead high performing teams.

Whether you’re leading a small team, managing across borders or mentoring the next generation, these 3 practices equip you to lead and manage others in ways that will inspire and motivate them to achieve their best.

Being a great manager is not about having all the answers. It is about creating the conditions for others to thrive and become part of something greater than themselves.