Ep 90: Closing the People Skill Gap: Daily Habits for Effective Leaders

Ep 90: Closing the People Skill Gap: Daily Habits for Effective Leaders

From The Unlock Lab by Tosca DiMatteo

March 17, 2026 · 20 min · Season 1 · Episode 90

About this episode

This episode discusses the importance of human skills for effective leadership and team engagement.

Are you an experienced leader who feels like you’re constantly pushing boulders up hills when managing your team? Organizations often prioritize execution and technical expertise over everything else. This leaves many leaders with a significant people skill gap, especially those who have risen in the ranks due to their technical and analytical expertise. If you’ve been told you need to work on your relationships in your job, there’s no shame in that. We all have areas of opportunity.In this episode, we address why human skills are the absolute precursor to developing strong people skills. We explore why Gallup attributes 70% of team engagement directly to the manager, rather than company strategy or compensation. You’ll learn how to tame your inner critic, heal the root wounds causing friction, and make time for people skills on your daily agenda. Episode Highlights: Why 70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager. The critical difference between people skills and the human skills required to build them. A real-world example of a leader who overcame her inner critic to stop freezing in front of her CEO. Six essential questions to ask yourself at the beginning and end of…

People in this episode

Host: Tosca DiMatteo

Topics covered

  • people skills
  • leadership
  • team engagement
  • human skills
  • relationship development

Keywords

  • leadership
  • people skills
  • team engagement
  • human skills
  • relationship development
  • inner critic
  • manager

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gallup

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