Years ago a colleague and I were facilitating a session in management training. We were working on accountability, and my partner made a statement to the class that I have never forgotten:
“It’s like being a good parent: If we are too strict and allow no latitude, we often find that the child can be rebellious and resentful. If, on the other hand, we are too lax, and have no rules, we end up raising a child that no one wants to be around”
So how do we find a happy medium? Assuming we have clearly defined roles and expectations, we will eventually come to a point where we have to re-direct a team member who has strayed from the standard. How rigid should we be? It can depend on the situation, the severity of the error, and many times the temperament and track record of the person we are addressing.
Just recently, a manager I know had to fire an office assistant. He and his partner had hired Sue. His partner, Jim, was like a drill sergeant, and one day Sue came in one minute late. He approached her about it, and she became very defensive. From that point on, things were not the same. Sue’s work began to suffer, and the on-time conversation seemed to mark the beginning of the decline. Should Jim have spoken up? How did he approach her? Should he have let it go? I wish I could give you a “silver-bullet” answer. Instead, I will leave you with another favorite quote from an old mentor of mine from many years back:
“Better to let a little wrong live than a lot of love die”
