The Core Four Skills Nobody Teaches New Leaders

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Sue Naughton-Marsh, Organisational Development Strategist, Leadership Coach and Psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience helping organisations build confident, capable leaders.

Sue brings a rare combination of perspectives. As a psychotherapist, she works one-to-one with people experiencing workplace stress. As a leadership coach, she helps organisations figure out why their people are struggling in the first place. Her argument is that most wellbeing initiatives miss the point. Organisations are reaching for sticking plasters when they haven't addressed the basics: do people know what they're here to do, do they have the skills to do it, and do they feel safe enough to grow?

We talk about what Sue calls the "core four" skills that every leader needs but rarely gets taught: prioritisation, delegation, decision-making, and understanding team purpose. She explains why lean organisations are burning out their HR teams, why younger workers are turning away from management roles, and what happens when you strip an organisation back to its simplest structures. Sue also shares her "concertina approach" to HR support, bringing in temporary external expertise to build structures that last, rather than lengthy programmes that don't stick.

This is a conversation about doing less, but doing it properly, and why the simplest changes often have the biggest impact.

🔑 Key Topics

• The "core four" skills every leader needs: prioritisation, delegation, decision-making, and understanding team purpose
• Why wellbeing initiatives fail when organisations skip the basics
• The generational tension between younger employees' expectations and senior leaders' resistance to change
• Running too lean: what happens when organisations cut so deep there's no space for development
• HR burnout and the "concertina approach" to bringing in temporary external support
• Why fewer people want leadership roles, and how to make management less daunting
• Skills matrices and internal academies: focusing on three areas rather than trying to fix everything
• Systems mapping to find bottlenecks and reduce complexity

💡 Did You Know?

Most people struggle to narrow their priorities down to just three, even when they know it would improve their daily working lives. Sue explains this as resistance from our primitive brain, which wants to hold onto everything rather than let go.

📝 Actionable Takeaways

• Audit whether your team has the "core four" skills before layering on wellbeing initiatives
• Set aside time quarterly for leadership teams to assess core skills gaps and succession risks
• Focus skills development on three areas, not everything at once, and make progression visible
• Consider temporary external HR support to build lasting structures rather than committing to lengthy programmes
• Run a systems mapping exercise to identify where bottlenecks and complexity are costing you time
• Ask your team one question: "What one thing would most improve your daily working life?"

🗣️ Join the Conversation

What core skills do you think are missing in your organisation's leadership development? Are you investing in wellbeing initiatives without the basics in place? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media.

Connect with Sue on LinkedIn | Website

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suenaughtonmarshleadershipcoach/

https://www.suenaughtonmarsh.com