The Do’s and Don’ts of Terminating an Employee

I’ve been blogging for nearly six years now, and I don’t think I’ve ever directly covered the topic of termination. I’d rather focus on how we can help struggling employees improve. However, when you have done what you can and the teammate has done what they can and it still just doesn’t work out, I am in favor of moving along. It’s never fun, but when done properly it is healthy. (more…)

I had a great conversation with a colleague the other day, and like many coaching moments, it began with a great question:

When you’re fed up leading a “problem” employee, how do you not let your frustrations impact the way you lead that person as well as the other people on your team?

The truth is that a teammate’s bad attitude can make us dread interacting with them, and we can find that when we’re around a negative person our own attitude gets worse over time. So what should we do? Here are a few actions: (more…)

Often times you’ll hear a company owner or leader say of a non-performing, long-time employee, “He’s so loyal. I’m loyal to him, and he’s loyal to me. I’m not going to let him go after all these years.”

Yet, is it really loyalty when the teammate isn’t striving to perform in their current role? (more…)

The willingness to make the tough call is one characteristic that separates those who like to talk about leadership from those who take it one step further and live it out. It may sound harsh, but it’s true.

It’s a leader’s job to steward what’s best for the organization. And what’s best for the organization isn’t always what’s easiest. Or what’s most comfortable. Or even what makes you the most likable, at times.

The reality is that the one thing worse than making the tough call is not making it. To carry on like nothing’s wrong, ignoring the problem and the likely repercussions from it. (more…)

How humble is too humble? How much encouragement is too much, and can you actually be too accommodating as a leader?

My career has allowed me to work and consult within a lot of companies and with a lot of leaders. Most of the time I’m consulting on how to improve employee engagement by creating a culture of development, encouragement, and servant mindedness. However, there are times where I run into a company culture or a leader that exaggerates and over embellishes these very talents many are trying to acquire.

Like most things in life, too much of one thing leads to a lopsided outcome. You might find this post a bit awkward, but I feel compelled to address it. This past month I’ve been exposed to too much humility, encouragement, and accommodation within company walls. How can this be? Seriously, even putting those words on paper makes me feel like Satan himself! How in the world can these great attributes that we usually strive to acquire cause havoc? Three examples: (more…)