Article by Aytekin Tank It was a sunny day in April. The air was crisp and the walk ahead of us enjoyable. I stared at the beautiful Embarcadero situated near our San Francisco office, feeling grateful for working close to such a stunning view. Then I shifted my gaze over to Tim, my walking mate for the afternoon. We were on one of many walking meetings we’d shared over the past year. But this time was different. Tim, a normally talkative employee, was dragging his heels and appeared disgruntled whenever I asked for status updates. He kept his head down, answering only in curt replies. Something was off. As his supervisor, I could have easily approached his behavior with a stern stance, by grilling him, or asserting my authority. But 14-plus years of entrepreneurship have taught me one thing: A harsh, adversarial response is never the answer. Instead, I slowed my pace and asked him how things were going at …