So you've just been elevated to the position of leading a brand new team - congratulations! No matter if this is your first time or you're a seasoned team leader, it's...
Successfully leading teams today is very different to leading a team even a decade ago.
Since COVID, the world of work has undergone a seismic shift. In the past, leadership was often defined by hierarchy, authority, and a "leave your feelings at the door" mentality. But today’s employees bring their whole selves to work—and they expect their leaders to meet them there.
Research from Gallup shows that employees who feel cared for by their managers are 3 times more likely to be engaged at work, and significantly less likely to experience burnout. It’s no longer just about KPIs and quarterly results—it’s about people. Modern leadership practices require emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and an authentic investment in your team's well-being.
Today’s workforce places a premium on leaders who listen deeply, show empathy, and create space for open conversations. That means leadership now often involves being a sounding board for emotional challenges, a coach for personal growth, and a calming presence in the face of stress. Above all, people want to see evidence that you care about them.
This isn’t how your father—or even your grandfather—led . They may have inspired results through command and control. But that model no longer resonates when it comes to leading high-performing teams. The most effective leaders today build influence through connection, not compliance.
Leading Teams
With this shift in mind, let’s take a look at three key modern leadership practices that will help you meet the needs of today’s teams—and lead in a way that fosters resilience, trust, and performance.
1. Slow down to Speed Up
It might seem counter-intuitive, but during times of intense pressure, slowing down to reassess, rethink and regroup is a strategy of leading high-performing teams.
In our constantly active work culture, taking a moment for a tactical pause often feels wrong. Even as a society, we tend to value speed and long working hours.
Yet, successful teams don’t always move at full speed. They know there are times when they need to gather the right information, update their decisions so they can readjust their plans moving forward.
Moving full speed ahead all of the time is exhausting and puts your team at risk of burnout.
Knowing when to pause is key. There are a variety of scenarios:
1. When your team is making poor decisions/numerous mistakes - This often indicates the team need to get into alignment. Taking time to regroup and rethink helps you take control of the situation and minimise reactions that work against you.
2. When your assumptions are incorrect - Leaders are often expected to have the right answers. In a crisis-situation, it's not possible to know what to do.
3. When you or your team are burning out - Top athletes don't push themselves to the limit all the time; they incorporate periods of rest. However, in the business world, there's often an expectation for continuous, relentless effort. Taking a strategic break can help avoid prolonged setbacks.
2. Stop talking so much
In my years of coaching leaders, I often come across leaders who talk way too much. It comes across as narcissistic and quite exhausting for team members. Team meetings go for longer than needed, issues take longer to be sorted, while prioritisation and deep focus is often missing.
When leaders do all of the talking, it stops others from contributing, disempowers employees to think for themselves and employee engagement falls.
Not only that, it reduces a leader's influence when team members tune out during lengthy monologues, missing out on important information. It's no wonder that one of the most highly rated skills for a leader is listening.
In my experience, a lot of leaders might be aware that they talk a lot, but are often unwilling to do anything about it, believing that it is their personality. They are not aware that it signals to a disinterest in others, poor social skills and a big ego. Scratch the surface and it's often due to poor self-awareness, a dislike of silence, the need to appear intelligent and in control or receive validation.
Active listening is an important leadership practice that demonstrates that you believe your employees have something worthy to say. It signals humility, respect and curiosity. Resisting the temptation to dominate conversation helps your people feel seen, valued and heard.
3. Emotional Check-Ins
In high-pressure situations, fear often drives individuals to ensure timely delivery, leading them to work excessively hard. Stress and fatigue amplifies our emotional filters, which can distort professional judgment, resulting in limited, biased and poor-quality decision-making.
However, negative emotions are often perceived as threats and are overlooked by the team, causing individuals to feel more isolated and as though they must handle challenges on their own. Not only that many people feel that if they own up to feeling negative emotions they risk being judged for not being able to cope with pressure.
Leading high-performing teams requires making it safe to express negative emotions.
A valuable leadership practice is to begin team meetings with a gentle emotional check-in. Encourage each person to express a single word that reflects their current state of mind. As you do this, be attentive to warning signs such as brief, abrupt answers, unusual irritability, or typically outspoken team members becoming quiet.
Additionally, pose open-ended questions that can uncover hidden work-related stress, like “What’s occupying most of your thoughts right now?” or “Is there any area where you feel stuck?” When team members respond with “fine” or “okay,” delve deeper beyond these surface-level answers by asking questions like “What does fine mean for you today?”
Pay attention to recurring responses that suggest fatigue or listen for terms like “overwhelmed” or “drained” from several team members. This indicates that it might be time for a tactical pause, a need to step in to make better quality decisions, an afternoon off or fun bonding activity.
Ensure you have direct conversations with individuals who appear overwhelmed after the meeting to discuss their needs and the support they require.
How to Lead a Team More Effectively
Successfully leading teams today looks very different from the leadership models of the past. The days of command-and-control, rigid hierarchies, and emotionally detached management are over. Today’s workforce values psychological safety, genuine care, and leaders who are as emotionally intelligent as they are strategic.
In this new era, leadership is not just about hitting targets—it’s about creating a culture where people feel seen, valued, and supported.
Taking a tactical pause during chaotic moments shows foresight and emotional control. It allows for recalibration and better decision-making. Listening actively, rather than dominating conversations, empowers others and increases trust. And regular emotional check-ins create psychological safety, helping team members manage stress and collaborate more openly.
These aren’t soft skills—they’re survival skills in a work environment where burnout, disengagement, and rapid change are the norm. Teams thrive when leaders embrace humanity, model self-awareness, and prioritise connection as a performance strategy.
Ultimately, the future of leadership belongs to those who can balance strength with softness, clarity with compassion, and direction with deep listening. The leaders who invest in these skills today will not only build stronger teams—they’ll future-proof their leadership.
