Building Better Leaders: How Empathy and Self-Awareness Create Stronger Teams | #22

Team Building & LEGO Serious Play | Build Better Teams

Team Building & LEGO Serious Play | Build Better Teams
Building Better Leaders: How Empathy and Self-Awareness Create Stronger Teams | #22
Aug 24, 2026 Season 1 Episode 22 Shannon Russell | Leadership Facilitator, Team Building Expert, Strategic Planning Consultant & Certified LEGO Serious Play Facilitator

Why do organizations promote great employees into management roles and then expect them to automatically know how to lead?

Being excellent at your job doesn't necessarily mean you know how to manage people, delegate effectively, communicate with empathy, or build an engaged team.

In this episode of Build Better Teams, Shannon Russell sits down with leadership development coach and Lightspark Leadership founder Risa Seelenfreund to discuss the leadership skills managers need to build stronger, more engaged teams.

Risa shares why the traditional command-and-control leadership model no longer works, especially in today's multigenerational workplace, and why empathy, self-awareness, delegation, communication, and relationship-building are essential leadership skills.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why great employees don't automatically become great managers

• The leadership skills new managers need to develop

• Why empathy is essential for employee engagement and retention

• How to hold employees accountable while still leading with empathy

• Why self-awareness is the foundation of effective leadership

• How to delegate without simply handing off work

• Why leaders need to support employees after delegating

• How DISC and team assessments can improve team communication

• Why different working styles can strengthen a team

• How leaders can help employees grow without feeling threatened by their success

Risa also explains why developing your people doesn't diminish your role as a leader. It can make your entire team, and ultimately your organization, stronger.

If you're a new manager, executive, HR professional, nonprofit leader, or business owner looking to improve leadership development, employee engagement, team communication, and workplace culture, this conversation is packed with practical advice you can use.

🔗 Learn more about Build Better Teams Consulting and our LEGO Serious Play workshops and events. 

Watch Shannon's TEDx Talk on The Imagination Recession