"Every time I go to my boss with a new idea, she interrupts me with a reason why it won't work. She never hears the whole idea. Why bother?" Just about every member of this manager's team relayed some version of the same story. When confronted with the feedback from her team members, she responded that she had heard the same complaint during her last feedback session and had tried really hard to change her behavior. "I don't want to be that kind of boss. I want to listen to my team members. I want to hear their ideas. I know it is frustrating for them but it is frustrating for me too." I believed her.

The issue wasn't that she didn't want to change. She would take another class, hire another coach, start another feedback process but after a few successful weeks, she would be right back into the old habits. Anyone who has tried to stop smoking, exercise more, lose weight, or permanently change any long standing habit, knows how hard it can be. This is the dilemma of New Year's resolutions. No matter how sincere the intention, execution can be excruciatingly difficult.