Understanding the Steady Behavioral Style

Cathie Leimbach • August 31, 2021

Being aware of your and your employees' primary and backup workplace behavior styles will make you a better leader. This self-awareness helps you to:

  • more quickly engage and motivate each of your employees
  • recognize your own strengths and weaknesses
  • communicate more effectively with each employee by tailoring conversations to fit their workplace behavioral style.

 

A Steady behavioral work style combines higher-than-average responsiveness with a comparatively low level of assertiveness. Individuals with this work style value relationships and harmony. They tend to be sympathetic to the needs of others and are very sensitive to what lies below someone's outward behavior. 

 

Members of your team with this primary work style tend to have the following strengths:

  • patience
  • easy-going
  • empathetic
  • loyal
  • dependable
  • sensitive to the feelings of others
  • puts people above tasks and projects

 

They are most likely to use empathy and understanding to solve interpersonal problems. An individual with this work style will work to mediate conflicts between other employees. The trust they show in others often brings out the best in their colleagues.

 

Limitations to this work style include:

  • indecisive at times
  • over-accommodating
  • may sacrifice results for the sake of harmony
  • avoids confrontation even when it is needed
  • resists change
  • remembers hurts caused by others

 

Leaders with a Steady style will benefit from being aware of the constraints of their style and becoming conscious of the need to face confrontations effectively when needed. Their tendency to keep things harmonious can impact their performance and overall effectiveness. Working on being open to change and becoming more flexible will make them stronger leaders. Their empathy and trust in others often brings out the best in their employees. They plan ahead and move steadily towards the completion of projects. However, leaders with a steady style can be over-accommodating and have difficulty making decisions.  This can lead to their employees being unclear about expectations for performance.

 

Coaching employees with a Steady work style will almost always include supporting them in taking initiative and being more comfortable with change. Helping them with the tools to manage conflict effectively will improve their performance within a team. 

 

Make sure that they are in the correct position within the team. These employees are good listeners and have tactful ways of communicating. Relationships are essential to them, and they have a strong inner drive to contribute. Their tendency to take on more and be accommodating can create situations where they are overextended. This will lead to performance issues. 

 

Providing feedback on the quality of their work will be motivating and keep these employees engaged. It is essential to reassure them of their self-worth and recognize their accomplishments. They will react better to input provided empathetically and being allowed to communicate their thoughts and ideas. 

 

Because Steady employees are excellent at working with others, they will thrive when provided with opportunities to demonstrate creativity, work with and mentor others, and communicate.

Speaking Up Is Not Defiance. It's Duty.

By Cathie Leimbach • June 23, 2026
Most leaders say they want employees to speak up. They want people who spot risks, question assumptions, and help the organization make better decisions. Yet many employees hesitate to do exactly that. Why? Because leaders often respond to speaking up as if the speaker is complaining, criticizing or resisting. When people fear being viewed as difficult, they stop sharing what they see. The organization loses valuable information, ideas, and perspectives. A recent McKinsey article found that teams with high psychological safety are two to three times more likely to generate breakthrough ideas. When people feel safe speaking up, better thinking follows. The best leaders understand a simple truth: Speaking up is not defiance. It's duty. When employees question assumptions, raise concerns, or offer a different perspective, they are helping the team avoid blind spots and make stronger decisions. That's why effective leaders don't merely tolerate speaking up—they invite it. They ask: What are we not seeing? What assumptions are we making? Who might see this differently? What information are we missing? Just as importantly, they respond with curiosity instead of defensiveness. They thank people for expressing their perspective. They explain how input influenced decisions. They make speaking up safe. Because organizations don't improve when everyone agrees. They improve when people feel responsible for helping the team see what others may have missed. In healthy organizations, speaking up isn't rebellion. It's responsibility. It's duty. Leadership Reflection Think about your last leadership team meeting. Did people simply agree? Or did someone help the team see something it otherwise would have missed? Download 5 Questions That Surface Better Thinking and make speaking up a productive part of how your team thinks, decides, and performs.

Put Your Brain in Gear When Using AI

By Cathie Leimbach • June 16, 2026
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a powerful workplace tool. It can summarize information, analyze data, draft content, and generate ideas in seconds. But there is a growing risk leaders need to recognize: AI can sound convincing even when it is wrong. In an article by Erica Dhawan, she describes a legal case where attorneys used ChatGPT to help prepare a court filing. The brief looked professional, the reasoning seemed logical, and the citations appeared legitimate. There was only one problem: several of the cited cases did not exist. The AI had fabricated them. The danger wasn't carelessness. It was trust. Because the information was presented clearly, confidently, and professionally, nobody stopped to question it. Psychologists call this the "fluency heuristic"—our tendency to assume information is accurate when it is easy to process and sounds credible. As leaders, we cannot allow polished answers to replace critical thinking. When you find yourself thinking, "This is too good to be true," put your brain in gear. Dig deeper. Investigate. Verify the facts. Ask what assumptions were made, what information might be missing, and what evidence supports the conclusion. AI can be an incredible assistant. It should never become a substitute for judgment. The smooth answer is not always the wrong one—but it is often the one that deserves the most scrutiny. Before You Act, Verify. The biggest risk with AI isn't bad information. It's believable information that's wrong. That's why we created the AI Verification Checklist for Leaders —a simple 5-minute tool designed to help leaders challenge assumptions, identify missing information, verify conclusions, and make better decisions before acting on AI-generated recommendations. Download the free AI Verification Checklist for Leaders and start asking better questions before making important decisions.