--- title: Coming Back Better - Week 5 - More tolerance and humanity and less judgement from our managers and leaders description: Managers and leaders need to be more tolerant, more accepting of individual circumstances as we start to return to work.  image: https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/working-from-home-1.jpg --- [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About Us](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) ### [Our Clients Our clients come from industry, justice, government and not for profit sectors.](https://head-light.co.uk/our-clients/) ### [Case Studies Find out what people have said about Head Light and how we have helped.](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/case-studies) ### [Client Charter We like to be clear and upfront in how we work – and how we won’t work. Our Client Charter sets this out.](https://head-light.co.uk/client-charter/) ### [Consulting Partners When you partner with another organisation to deliver services to your clients, your reputation and future business success rests on your Partner’s ability and commitment to make it happen.](https://head-light.co.uk/consulting-partners/) ### [Our Location Head Light is based in Ascot, if you visit us with an electric vehicle, then you can have a free charge on us!](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) ### [About Head Light Head Light helps public sector and regulated organisations turn workforce signals into intelligence about capability, readiness and risk. We are recognised in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for Talent & People Success and have supported customers for 20 years.](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Workforce Signals Surfacing the evidence layer that turns workforce data into intelligence.  ](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Capability Intelligence Understanding workforce capability across your organisation.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/capability-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Readiness Tracking organisational readiness in real time.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-readiness/) ### [Succession Intelligence Understanding leadership continuity and succession risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/succession-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Risk Identifying workforce capability risk before it becomes operational risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-risk/) ### [Organisational Insight Understanding workforce sentiment and organisational confidence.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### [Talent 360 360-degree feedback software - spot potential, pinpoint development focus, embed recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) ### [Talent Performance Embedding a culture of performance conversation and recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) ### [Talent Navigator Individual career ownership through career path mapping.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) ### [Talent Successor Succession planning software: providing a strategic line of sight.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-successor/) ### [Talent SafeGuard Skills management: by the individual and for the individual.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-safeguard/) ### [Talent En-Gauge Plan and take action to strengthen employee engagement.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-en-gauge/) ### [Talent Advance Keep track of goal planning.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-advance/) - [Consultancy & Training](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) ### [Design a Skills or Competency Framework Get a skills or competency framework right for your organisation and your talent management practices make a real and lasting contribution.](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) ### [360 and Performance Assessment Design We develop, test and validate bespoke assessments across all sectors, at every level of talent and every stage of talent management.](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### [Designing a Talent Management Strategy Do you have a Talent Management strategy? Do all your talent activities integrate, utilise the same language and align with your organisational strategy?](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-strategy/) ### [Talent Management for Managers Talent Management is not the sole domain of the HR or Learning & Development team. delivering your organisation’s people a strategy.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-managers/) ### [Feedback Facilitator Training Investing in 360-degree feedback delivers little benefit if the review and feedback conversation is not handled properly.](https://head-light.co.uk/facilitator-training/) ### [Administrator Training Deploying a talent management software system successfully is not about luck. It requires robust and secure software, solid processes and great administrators.](https://head-light.co.uk/administrator-training/) - [Our Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### [Blue Light User Group Sharing talent management best practice and collaborating on new features to the Talent platform.](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-user-group/) ### [Talent Management for Police 360, PDR and talent and succession planning for police officers and staff.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-police-forces/) ### [Talent Management for Fire and Rescue Services 360, PDR and succession planning for fire and rescue services.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-fire-and-rescue-services/) [TELL ME MORE](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) # Coming Back Better - Week 5 - More tolerance and humanity and less judgement from our managers and leaders --- ### ![working-from-home](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/working-from-home-1.jpg?width=300&name=working-from-home-1.jpg) In March, I was horrified to hear about a friend of a friend who - when she asked her manager if she could work from home just before lockdown fully kicked in - was effectively sent to Coventry for two weeks, with her boss refusing to speak to her.  OK, so this is an extreme example, but others we’ve spoken to have reported feeling “judged” in some way for what they are and are not able to do whilst working from home. A particular challenge for all managers will be managing the array of emotions emerging as lockdown eases.  For some people, a return to work will spark joy, elation, excitement.  For others it will bring on guilt – at spending less time with children, sending them back to day care and not being able to look after vulnerable relatives.  Or a mix of both.  Some will experience fear, resentment, even anger.  We may see more recklessness and risk-taking which will need to be managed.  Others may respond by being even more cautious and risk-averse.  To managers, some of these emotional responses will seem irrational and at odds with their own feelings.  We’ve talked about the importance of [emotional intelligence](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2020/02/wk1-mobilising-messy-analogue-moving-parts-emotional-intelligence) before, but it will become even more critical in the weeks and months to come.  Managers need to be able to recognise, understand and manage their own affect, whilst concurrently identify and empathise with the different emotional states of others.  And then there’s the added challenge of managing ‘survivor syndrome’.  Not an easy task…. Managers will need to behave differently: a key area being **trust**.  The good news is that most have had a lot of practice at being more trusting recently.  The importance of goal-setting, clarity with regards to objectives, expectations and deliverables have been underlined during our enforced period of remote working.  Affording people the autonomy and latitude to determine the working patterns that suit them, reinforcing that they are responsible for their own output and how they go about delivering against their objectives is something that we should seek to do better, or more of, when back in the office and other workplaces.  Managers who are inclined towards micro-management will need to take a step back and shift their mind set; just because you have people in your line of sight again doesn’t mean that they are suddenly less capable of working without close supervision. And we would all benefit – once we’re back in shared workspaces again – from asking ourselves “How can I be more human, a better human being?”  What could I do to make my colleagues’ day more pleasant, easier, better?”  There have been so many stories about acts of kindness in our communities, and we should all consider how we can be kinder at work in the wake of this crisis. At the risk of sounding like a movie musicals bore (and yes, it is completely the wrong time of year for this, but at least it was The Muppets’ version), in A Christmas Carol, Marley (and Marley) warn Scrooge that without kindness and compassion he is doomed to walk among his fellow men after death, “to witness what he cannot share, but might have shared and turned to happiness”.  At the end, all chorus “**CHANGE**!”.  Which is what we all need to do, to ensure that ‘coming back better’ is an enduring phenomenon and that modern-day Marleyism is a thing of the past. For a look back at the complete Come Back Better series [visit our blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/) or if you have any questions do please [get in touch](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/), and pass this along to a colleague so that they can sign up too! [![Get in touch](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8)   [Trends in Talent Management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/trends-in-talent-management) [covid19](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/covid19) [trends](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/trends) [coming back better](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/coming-back-better) ## Related posts ### [The Police Leadership Commission Report: What It Means for Your Force](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/police-leadership-commission-report-what-it-means-for-your-force) The Police Leadership Commission report sets a clear direction for policing - and it has immediate i... 23 Jul 2026 ### [Organisational Insight: evidence that organisations fail to use](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/organisational-insight-evidence-not-used) Organisational insight is one of the most underestimated assets available to HR and business leaders... 13 Jul 2026 ### [How your Workforce Intelligence platform turns data into signals](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform-turns-data-into-signals) Every organisation generates data about its people continuously. Performance ratings, development ac... 13 Jul 2026 [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) [![Fosway-2025](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg?width=150&height=150&name=Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg)](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news/head-light-fosway-grid-2025)   ### Useful Links - [Home](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Signals](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### Workforce Signals - [Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-mobility/) - [Organisational Insight](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Succession Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### Our Products - [Talent 360](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) - [Talent Performance](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) - [Talent Navigator](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### Consultancy & Training - [Consultancy & Training Services](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) - [Designing your competency framework](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) - [360 and performance assessment design](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### Support - [Contact](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) - [Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [FAQs](https://head-light.co.uk/faqs/) - [Resources](https://head-light.co.uk/resources/) - [News](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news)   Copyright © Head Light Ltd. All rights reserved. Company Number 05087004. **[ISMS Statement](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news/head-light-retains-iso-27001-certification-audit-for-2025)** | [**Privacy Policy**](https://head-light.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PV01-HL-Privacy-Policy-v4.5-Website.pdf) | **[Terms](https://head-light.co.uk/stage/?page_id=253)** | [**ISMS Policy**](https://head-light.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ISMS-SIgned-2020.pdf)   Search Head Light This is a search field with an autosuggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Head Light", "url" : "https://blog.head-light.co.uk/author/head-light" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-03T10:08:35.360Z", "datePublished" : "2020-07-13T23:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Coming Back Better - Week 5 - More tolerance and humanity and less judgement from our managers and leaders", "image" : [ "https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/working-from-home-1.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/wk5-coming-back-better", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/Version%202%20(text%20without%20shadow)-%203x%20300.png" }, "name" : "Head Light" } } ```