“I will speak ill of no man…and speak all the good I know of everybody.” – Ben Franklin
Several years ago a client of mine asked me to coach one of his sales team leaders. His name was Carl, and his production was below expectations. Even though Carl worked as hard as any team leader, he just kept coming up short. John, his boss, knew the problem. Carl was in the habit of saying negative things about other team members behind their back. We don’t have to be a genius to figure out the repercussions of this habit: Carl’s people were tentative around him because they assumed he talked about them when they weren’t in the room. We all know that good leaders are good communicators. Carl’s habit of talking behind people’s back cost his both the respect and the full engagement of his team.
The good news is that Carl was smart enough to admit the problem. He said he would do whatever it took to re-gain the respect of his team. We began working in this area. It took a while, but in time, he was able to restore the lost trust. When that happened, the engagement and performance of his team shot up, and a year later Carl’s team was on top.
The best thing I know about Carl is his willingness to take stock in himself, and commit to owning and solving his problem. He had to correct a lifetime habit, and it wasn’t easy, but he did it. He learned the fundamental that Dale Carnegie stated nearly 8 decades ago: “Any fool can find fault…and most fools do!”
