Professional Closeness
Distance doesn’t make you more objective.
Most professionals are taught to keep their distance: stay objective, keep yourself out of it. I think that costs more than it delivers. Professional Closeness is the idea behind all my work: getting close enough to see what really goes on between people, and being sharp enough to name it.
Where it comes from
In 1997 I assessed suspects for the court system. I had been trained to stay fully objective and keep my own reactions out of it. It made my work worse, not better.
Over the next twenty years, in assessments and with leadership teams in more than 40 countries, I kept seeing the same thing. When people feel judged from a distance, they protect themselves. When they feel understood, they say what they actually think. In 2019 I put that into a book.
What it isn’t
It isn’t about being friends. Closeness means respect and understanding, not agreeing with each other or liking everyone.
It isn’t soft. Once you’re close enough to see what’s going on, you can’t pretend you didn’t. Candor becomes an asset instead of a risk.
What it looks like in practice
01
Both sides of the story
Nothing gets done with only one side of the story. I work with what’s said at the table and with what happens under it: the tension, the hesitation, the silence.
02
Fewer walls
Reorganizing often just creates different silos. Those walls come down when the people on either side understand each other. That’s why I put them together for one conversation.
03
Influence made visible
Who speaks, who goes quiet, and what makes the mood shift. Once a team sees its own patterns, it can change them. How I map it ↗
The book
Why distance fails
What happens when people feel judged, and why ‘objectivity’ often means biases nobody has questioned.
Why silos stay
Why reorganizing rarely helps, and what connects people across departments instead.
How teams get smarter
Collective intelligence, the laws of influence, and combining analytical with design thinking.
What would closeness change in your team?
Bring me your question. 30 minutes, no pitch. Or message me; I always reply within a day.