Last week, I had the privilege of spending three days training an awesome group of managers. I posed something like this to the group:
Let's say you have a top performer - someone who consistently exceeds sales goals. This person, however, is a nightmare of a team member. He/she often displays his/her "bad attitude", is terrible with change, and is flat out just unbearable to work with. But remember, this is your best sales person. What do you do?
Hopefully you can't relate to this example, but based on the smiles and nods of the managers in the room, unfortunately many of them could. A VERY interesting discussion ensued. Performance tends to hide a variety of other sins, doesn't it?
For you leaders out there, a few things to keep in mind:
(1) What you permit, you promote. If you don't address the behaviors of your top performers, it will make it difficult for you to address those behaviors with anyone. True leaders hold people accountable for morale and don't allow people an excuse for their bad behavior. Can you imagine the work environment you'll create if you never address inappropriate behaviors?
(2) When you say nothing, you are doing something. Your employees are waiting and watching - they want, need, and expect you to step up. Will your team ever truly achieve greatness if they aren't able to work together? Doubt it. Will other top performers and key team members leave because they don't want to work with the "bad apple"? You bet. Will your team trust and respect you as their leader? Absolutely not.
(3) You aren't doing this "top performer" any favors by not pointing out to them how they are stalling their own career by their inattention to how they do their job (not just what they are accomplishing). You owe it to them to help them see the impact of their behavior, not just on others, but on themselves as well.
(4) Build accountability by giving feedback frequently to ALL your employees. Don't just make a list of things each employee is doing and address it in a staff meeting by saying you need to remind everyone about a few things. (Yep, I've seen that happen a lot.) The person at the meeting you are hoping gets the message never thinks its them you're talking to. Besides, who does that hold accountable? NO ONE. Accountability can only happen if people know and understand your expectations. Have the employee determine a plan of action to meet those expectations. Then (and only then) you can hold them accountable for making the necessary changes.
SHINE ON!
