Over the past few weeks, I have been working extensively with managers and executives who are faced with a common paradox: their teams are working extremely hard, but the results do not always keep pace. In many organisations, the instinctive response is to add more monitoring, more processes, more control. Yet the difficulties observed are rarely purely operational. They often stem from deeper human dynamics: a lack of alignment, a lack of frank conversations, unclear respon

Over the past month, a consistent pattern has emerged across the teams and leaders I have worked with. Many teams are highly committed, busy, and technically capable. Yet despite this, progress often feels slower than expected, and performance requires sustained effort to maintain. What initially appears to be a performance issue is, in many cases, something else. More often than not, the underlying challenge lies in how the team is set up to work together. In this edition, I

March has been a month of clarity. Across the teams I worked with and the conversations I had, one pattern kept coming back: What looks like a performance issue is often a clarity issue. Clarity in roles. Clarity in decisions. Clarity in conversations. When these are missing, organizations tend to react by adding or changing structure. But often, the performance you are looking for is already there. Here are the key ideas I explored this month. Expert Advice Restructuring fee

February confirmed something I see repeatedly in leadership teams. Performance rarely declines because people do not care. It declines because systems quietly reward the wrong things. Across workshops and coaching conversations this month, the same pattern appeared in different forms: collaboration was encouraged verbally, but incentives remained individual. Transparency was requested, but bad news still carried personal risk. Collective goals were mentioned, but rarely opera

New year, new chapter, and a new URL. As we step into 2026, you’ll now find my work at ericfingerhut.ch, a clearer home for my coaching, workshops, and insights for professionals stepping into people manager roles. Same focus, same commitment, just a new address. Introduction January has brought one idea to the surface again and again in my coaching sessions, workshops, and conversations with leaders: in times of uncertainty, clarity is not a nice-to-have, it is leadership. A

Introduction December is often presented as a finish line. This year, for me, it felt more like a pause. Across workshops, coaching sessions, and conversations, I noticed the same underlying need: not to push harder, but to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with what really matters. This month’s posts explored values, balance, trust, emotional awareness, and psychological safety, all essential foundations for sustainable leadership. In this edition, I am bringing those reflec