How to Stay Calm When Feedback Becomes Emotional

Written by Nicola Richardson, Founder of The People Mentor. Nicola Richardson has over 40 years of experience in people management and leadership. The People Mentor helps small employers, managers and leaders handle difficult conversations, strengthen accountability and lead with calm, practical insights, and confidence. This article explores how to stay calm when feedback becomes emotional … Read more

What Is a Boundary Hangover and How to Recover at Work?

Written by Nicola Richardson, Founder of The People Mentor. The People Mentor helps small employers, managers and leaders handle difficult conversations, strengthen accountability and lead with calm, practical confidence. This article explains what a boundary hangover is, why it happens at work, and what to do when the guilt, second-guessing, and exhaustion hit after you … Read more

Everything You Need to Know About Making Difficult Conversations Easier

This article covers everything inside Making Difficult Conversations Easier — the difficult conversations training programme for UK managers who are ready to handle the conversations they have been putting off., including who it is for, what the training involves, how the surgery sessions work, what frameworks you will learn, and what changes after you complete … Read more

How to Manage Someone Who Acts Superior at Work

Written by Nicola Richardson, Founder of The People Mentor. The People Mentor helps small employers, managers and leaders handle difficult conversations, strengthen accountability and lead with calm, practical confidence. This article explores what acting superior at work actually looks like, why managers avoid addressing it, and how to have a direct, professional conversation that changes … Read more

Why Managing an Underperformer is Exhausting (and What Helps)

Written by Nicola Richardson, The People Mentor. After more than three decades leading teams, Nicola founded The People Mentor to help employers tackle the conversations most managers spend years trying to avoid. Her COMPASS Conversation Model provides leaders with a practical structure that works. This article looks at why underperformance takes such a toll on … Read more