Collabbway

Collabbway Brooke, behind collabbWAY, coaches leaders grow the confidence, connection and capability needed to lead well.

12/06/2026

A manager reached out this week in response to my posts about feedback convos.
Every time they try to address a performance issue, the person cries. Big tears, every time and the conversation shuts down.

They felt stuck and felt the way they were communicating was the problem.

It’s not. The emotion is information so get curious.

First — learn to sit in it. Uncomfortable silences, big feelings, tears, they pass. Your job is to stay present, not fix it or flee from it.

Second — don’t ambush. If you know this person responds with big emotion, give them the heads up before you meet. Tell them what you want to talk about and why. Let them come in prepared, not cornered.

Third — when the tears come, notice and name what you’re seeing. “I can see this is bringing up a lot for you.” Then get curious. Not about the tears - about what’s underneath them.

A tip from my social work era here, the first response is rarely the real one. The surface emotion is protecting something. Your job is to stay calm and keep going until you reach what’s actually there.

The performance issue doesn’t go away because the tears made you stop.

Save this if you lead someone who leads with emotion.

11/06/2026

5 things that happen in a high stakes feedback conversation that sound wrong but work

1. You slow down when it gets tense and let the silence sit.
Every instinct tells you to fill the silence or speed through the discomfort. The managers who slow down are the ones the conversation actually moves for.

2. You name what’s in the room.
“I can see this is landing hard for you and these conversations don’t always feel great.”
Saying the obvious thing out loud releases the pressure. It doesn’t make it worse. It makes it safer.

3. You give them a minimum of 30 minutes notice.
Walking someone into a high stakes conversation cold is a setup for defensiveness. Notice gives them time to mentally prepare. The conversation goes further when they’re not in shock.

4. You name the emotion and the tension.
Every textbook will tell you to hold the line, stay boundaried, avoid emotions so it doesn’t escalate. That’s not the full picture. People can stay present in a hard moment when how they’re feeling is acknowledged. Naming it doesn’t escalate things. Ignoring it does.

5. You don’t end with resolution.
The best feedback conversations don’t always close neatly. Sometimes you end with “I’d like you to sit with this and we’ll talk again.”
That’s not unfinished. That’s good leadership.

leadership

We’ve all been there.You go into the conversation prepared and something shifts. Before you’ve caught it you’re defendin...
10/06/2026

We’ve all been there.

You go into the conversation prepared and something shifts. Before you’ve caught it you’re defending yourself instead of leading the moment as planned.

I put together a simple framework for these high conflict moments. Four steps that actually help in that moment.

Comment REAL and I’ll send it to you. 👇

09/06/2026

Here is a lesson I got from the most unexpected person. A direct report.

- Get clear on the relationship.
- Name what matters.
- Own your part first.

That’s it. That’s the lesson.

📷 brooke Baxter talking about a key leadership moment of giving feedback.

08/06/2026

Most managers don’t have a difficult conversation problem. They have a challenge holding the room.
This is the work that matters.

These are their words. Not mine.I asked managers what’s actually hard right now. This is what came back.Stay with it and...
04/06/2026

These are their words. Not mine.

I asked managers what’s actually hard right now. This is what came back.

Stay with it and take in the words. You’ll likely recognise yourself in more than one of these.
And remember…….. you’re not the only one finding this hard.

Full report at the link in my bio.

The hardest performance conversation most managers avoid isn’t with the person causing problems.It’s with the person who...
03/06/2026

The hardest performance conversation most managers avoid isn’t with the person causing problems.

It’s with the person who has been there for years and quietly stopped trying.

Somewhere along the way the role stopped stretching them. Nobody named it, and their silence (and quiet avoidance) became the norm.

This carousel is for that conversation.

📌 Save it for when you need it.

03/06/2026

Today I had lunch with someone I met online for my business.

India Sutherland from .ornot . India is doing incredible work and a big champion for women recreating their way back to work from parental leave.

We’d been circling each other’s content for a while and today we finally sat across a table from each other. Those conversations are something else.

We talked about what it actually takes to build something of your own. To put your name on it. To market yourself when the product is essentially you.

It’s exposing in a way most people don’t talk about honestly.

I shared something with her today that I haven’t spoken about publicly before.

Early on I was connected with a women’s networking group in Geelong. I was excited. I put my hand up to be connected.

But I was told I couldn’t join because of the competitive nature of consultancy work in the region.
A women’s networking group for small business…..

I sat with that hurt for a long time.

Because if there is one space that should hold room for every woman who is brave enough to back herself, build something, and put it out into the world - it’s that one.

So here’s what I want to say to anyone who is showing up online or in person right now. Posting their thinking. Selling something they believe in. Trying to find their people.

Get behind them.
Champion the absolute hell out of them.

Share their stuff. Comment. Tell someone about them.

Because one day it might be you standing at the edge of something you’ve built, needing your network to show up for you.

We rise when we bring people with us. Not when we shut the door.

02/06/2026

Tuesday night thought but loaded with many questions to be answered

Is long-term retention always the win? I’m not sure it is.

Maybe we need to move away from the common question ‘how do we keep people?’. To asking ‘is staying on actually good for them?’

I often remind managers, comfortable isn’t the same as engaged, and a team full of people who are just… well settled, isn’t a thriving team. It’s a team often sitting with lots of tension that is going unnamed.

What if we started asking whether the role is still stretching someone? Still energising them? Still giving them a reason to bring their best?

Hit me with your thoughts on this one.

👋 Stop scrolling for a second.If you’re a manager, this one’s for you.I’ve been collecting what managers are actually ca...
01/06/2026

👋 Stop scrolling for a second.

If you’re a manager, this one’s for you.

I’ve been collecting what managers are actually carrying. The real version, not the censored one. The thoughts we don’t say out loud in team meetings,1:1 meetings with our boss or performance reviews.
40+ managers told me what’s hard right now.

Swipe through. You’ll likely recognise yourself in at least three of these. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the reality of leading people right now.
You’re not the only one finding this hard.

Full report at the link in my bio.

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