Suzanne Frawley is a senior leader in leadership and organizational development, with more than twenty years of experience in human resources, learning, and talent management. In her current role at JB Poindexter & Co., she leads initiatives in leadership development, employee engagement, and manager capability building across the organization.

Throughout her career, she has designed and implemented development journeys for managers and high-potential leaders, combining coaching, change support, and a strong focus on sustainable performance. Her work centers on building high-performing teams, strengthening “people leaders,” and aligning strategy, culture, and everyday leadership behaviors.

On LinkedIn, Suzanne regularly shares insights, tools, and practical reflections on leadership, team cohesion, and the responsibility of managers to create environments where people can learn, grow, and contribute at their best.

The article below highlights the key points from the interview we conducted together in December 2025, and the summary of our conversation was prepared with the assistance of Perplexity.

What turns a group into a coherent "herd?

• A coherent "herd" or team is built on clarity: everyone knows their role, what is expected of them, and the shared goals they are working toward. The leader makes explicit the behaviours, skills, and competencies expected, checks understanding by having people "play it back" in their own words, and integrates their additions or nuances.

  
  

• Cohesion is reinforced when people enjoy their work, share a common purpose, and feel passion for what they do, while giving each other grace on bad days and offering mutual support. Regular team time (conversations, sharing what each is working on, brainstorming) strengthens the herd and keeps it moving forward.

Balance between empathy and "parenting"

• A leader must avoid slipping into a parental role where team members become "children". A key principle is sometimes to let people "crash" safely: allow them to make non-critical mistakes, then debrief on what worked, where they got stuck, and what they will do differently next time.

  
  

• The leader’s role is not to say "you failed", but to frame everything as learning, and to let people fix their own errors when possible, which protects credibility and ownership.

  
  

• The limit is clear: you do not let people crash on unethical, non-compliant, or high-risk issues; in those cases, intervention is necessary.

Creating an environment where people can thrive

• The first move is simple but essential: ask them what makes them want to come to work, what they like about the environment, and what conditions help them thrive. The leader then, within reason, tries to provide or enable those conditions.

  
  

• Suzanne took the example with a team member who wanted to be a high-school softball coach; together they designed a work schedule that allowed him to do it while meeting work commitments. This challenge made him stronger at work and reinforced his sense that the organization and his leader made this possible, which in turn supported retention and engagement. For people unsure of “what they want to do”, the focus shifts from roles to skills and learning goals, sometimes leading them to design their own "learning curriculum" over time.