Andreoli Strategies LLC

08/20/2026

The Indicator for Planet Money podcast recently did an episode about bad managers.

David Deming, a Labor Economist and Dean at Harvard College, said this:

"I think that emotional intelligence-- what I would call social skills, like, ability to work well on a team and work well with others-- is the most underpriced skill in the entire world, basically. I think it really matters for being a good worker, being a good manager, being a good leader, being a good person."

We still tend to treat the ability to work well with other people as something you either naturally have or you don’t. Or as a nice addition to the “real” skills required to do a job.

Yet, so many of the problems organizations are trying to solve come back to exactly these skills: people who don’t communicate well, managers who don’t know how to build trust or have hard conversations, good ideas that never make it across silos, employees who don’t feel heard or valued.

We spend a lot of money developing technical capability while assuming people will somehow figure out the human part on their own. They usually don’t.

The more sophisticated our tools become, the less sense it makes to keep underinvesting in the skills required to work well with the humans using them.

08/17/2026

Workplace gossip is easy to dismiss as petty behavior, but I think it points to something bigger: distraction.

We spend a remarkable amount of time talking about people who aren’t in the room and keeping track of workplace drama.
Meanwhile, the problem hasn’t changed and neither have we.

This week I wrote about gossip as an attention problem: what it costs us, what it keeps us from doing, and why the more important question may be what we’re choosing to build with the limited attention we have.

Read the article on Substack:

How gossip keeps us focused on everyone but ourselves

08/13/2026

I did my first webinar today and I was nervous.

I’m much more comfortable in a room where I can read people, change direction based on the energy, and make the whole thing feel like a conversation.

A screen is obviously different. But I did it.

We spent the hour talking about the idea that relationships are part of the infrastructure of work and that, just like any other infrastructure, they have to be built, maintained, and repaired.
We mapped the human infrastructure underneath real projects. We talked about where work gets stuck. And we looked at Relational Intelligence as a management capability, not just a “people skill.”

This is the work I do with teams: helping people strengthen both the interpersonal skills and the group dynamics that make it easier to work well together.

A big thank you to Alexis Gosik for inviting me and making my first virtual workshop such an easy one to step into, and to Technology Council of Pennsylvania for supporting the program.
First webinar: done. ☑️

08/03/2026

"Mr. X applied to almost 200 I.T. jobs without any luck, then finally found a role through a former boss."

WHAT??!! Almost 200 applications. One person who already knew him.
We spend years preparing people to prove they're qualified through degrees, résumé workshops, interview coaching, now AI tools to polish it all further. We spend almost no time teaching people how to build the relationships that actually move opportunities.
Depending on the source, somewhere between 70 and 85 percent of jobs are filled through personal or professional connections. And yet when someone starts a job search, we hand them a template and tell them to "network", as if that's an instruction instead of a skill.

Read the article here:

AI can polish a résumé. It can't introduce you to anyone.

07/28/2026

I thought I was asking a few straightforward questions about a project. The person on the other end thought I was attacking her and questioning whether she knew what she was talking about.

Neither of us realized we were having two completely different conversations until I received a text that said, “You’re really pi***ng me off.”

Digital communication gives us speed and convenience, but it also removes many of the cues that help us understand one another. Without tone of voice, facial expressions, or immediate feedback, our brains are left to interpret what the other person meant and they often use assumptions, past experiences, and current emotions to do it.

This week’s Better at People explores how texting, email, and Slack can widen the perception gap, and why sending a clear message does not always mean it will be received the way we intended.

Read the article here:

The other day I was texting someone about a project we were working on together.

07/22/2026

Almost every relationship gets better when people feel...
Seen
Heard
Valuable

If people are the hard part...
start here.

Read this week's Better at People article for the deeper explanation.

07/20/2026

What is actually happening underneath human interactions?
After weeks of writing (and deleting...and rewriting), I keep seeing these three questions that are being asked in every interaction between humans:
• Do you see me?
• Do you hear me?
• Do I bring value?
Whether it's a disagreement with a coworker, a struggling friendship, a difficult conversation at home, or a new person at a networking event, these questions are always operating beneath the surface.
Most communication advice teaches what to say.
I'm becoming more interested in teaching people what to notice.
Because once you notice what someone is really asking, your response changes.
This week's essay explores why these three questions may be the foundation of how we become better at people.
Read the full article:

For the last few weeks, I have been trying to put into words the patterns that I see working behind the scenes of human interactions.

07/14/2026

After thousands of conversations, I finally found the words.
For 23 years, I stood behind a barber chair.
People came in for haircuts, but they also brought their stories about work, relationships, conflict, decisions, frustrations, and the moments when they felt stuck. Over time, I started noticing patterns. I’d find myself listening for something underneath:
What wasn’t being said?
What was each person missing?

The hard part was putting it into words.
For the past several months, I’ve been trying to turn something I’ve done instinctively for years into a framework other people can use.
The one thing I keep coming back to is that we all want to be seen.
But not in the same way.

Some people want their thinking understood.
Some want their effort recognized.
Some want to be trusted.
Some want their choices respected.
Some want their knowledge valued.
Some want to know their contribution matters.

When we miss what someone is actually asking us to see, we end up responding to the wrong problem.

This week, I launched the beta version of the Relational Pattern Assessment. It's my first attempt to put language around the invisible patterns I’ve been noticing for years and it’s a starting point.
I’m looking for people willing to take it, provide me with feedback, and help me refine the language. I’d love for you to try it. Here's the link: https://form.typeform.com/to/DeR7SeAQ

I’m nauseously excited to finally share something that has been living in my head for a long time.

07/06/2026

Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is leave.
But what happens when leaving becomes our default response to discomfort?

Relational intelligence isn't built in smooth interactions. It's built in the moments after something is misunderstood. Those are also the moments when we're most tempted to disengage.

In this week's Better at People, I explore why staying engaged may be one of the most overlooked relational skills we have.

When have you discovered that your first interpretation of a situation wasn't the whole story?

Read the full article:

The skills that make us better at people only develop if we stay engaged long enough to use them.