A therapy session and a one-on-one with your manager can be eerily similar.

In fact, middle managers are often navigating tough conversations with team members. That is heightened today in this return to work era that puts new dynamics at the forefront like hybrid and remote work.

Those conversations range from figuring out a flexible work schedule so that your team member feels comfortable picking up their child from school instead of attending a 4 o’clock meeting to telling a team member they’re being laid off and will need to turn over their laptop ASAP.

No matter what exactly it might be, these kinds of conversations demand a certain level of grace and understanding by the middle manager. So how do you have those conversations?

To get a better understanding of why the people part of management is so important, we spoke with Julia Toothacre, who has worked with thousands of clients with their career paths in her role as a seasoned career coach and strategist at Ride The Tide Collective.