Superb leaders are good “pruners”

Posted: July 6, 2017 | Categories: Leadership, Management

We have all heard that time-worn line from so many commercials:  “My only regret is that I did not do it (buy it) sooner”.  If your goal is to lead a #1 team, you may want to incorporate this concept also.

For many years, I had worked with a client to bring his company up to the level of growth he envisioned.  We stayed with the fundamentals, and his team kept getting stronger.  That means each team member had to challenge themselves to do better – all except one.  This person kept doing things the same way, and it was throwing a monkey wrench into the teamwork.  We’ll call him Bob.  When things didn’t go Bob’s way, he did as he always had done:  He whined, complained, and blamed others.  These behaviors have no place on a top-notch team.

One day, the boss called me and said, “I used to put up with this guy, but our team has come too far.  He is disruptive, negative, and brings the team spirit and engagement down.  The boss and Bob had a talk.  I am talking about a “Yikes” talk, not the “yea, yea, yea” one.  The boss gave examples of the unacceptable behavior, and got Bob’s commitment to correct the behavior. Everything was fine…for about a week.  Soon after that, Bob defaulted back to his old behavior.  Now it was time for another talk.  This one was different:

Once again the boss laid out the examples of unacceptable behavior, and this time he suspended Bob for a week without pay.  The boss said, “Bob, I am insisting you take this time off decide if you still want to work for this company.  If you want to stay, you must know that we cannot have any more of this type of behavior.  If you are not willing to commit to that, you should find another place to work.”

Bob came back a week later and agreed to the terms.  To this day, he has stayed on course. It was tough for the boss to address this problem.  He did, and he could immediately feel the productivity and rhythm of his team improve.  If there anyone on your team who needs re-directing?  If so, it may be time for you to have “the conversation”