Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 03

Y our team probably includes some difficult people. You may not have chosen them – they could have been inherited – but they are your responsibility, even if at times you don’t know what to do. Should you shunt them off onto a project? Chastise them in public? Ignore the situation and hope the team handles it? Minimize their responsibilities? Put them on a performance improvement plan? Or try to move them into another group so they become some- body else’s headache? “Too often, leaders ignore their people problems for too long because they are afraid of conflict or, if they do act, handle the situations poorly because of inexperi- ence or not knowing what to do. Complicating matters, the difficult people may be even more difficult to re- place or the leader could have a close relationship with them,” leadership development consultant AlanWillett writes in Leading the Unleadable, stressing that how you handle themwill define you as a leader. He continues: “Not acting can damage everyone around the difficult people, leading others to leave before the difficult people themselves quit. The re- verse can be just as bad. Sometimes leaders termi- nate difficult people too quickly, which harms the group by giving it no chance to change the difficult people and reclaim them.” They come in many flavours. He offers these four as a sample: • The cynic: Everything you and the organization do is wrong. Sarcasm, cynicism, pessimism, whin- ing, and general negativity can be acceptable, even helpful, in small doses but with these folks it’s a constant, disturbing drumbeat. • The slacker: The individual is not living up to the team’s standards. There can be many reasons for this – perhaps a competence problem, perhaps a bad fit of skill to task, and sometimes an attitude problem, for example. But as a leader you have to face up to the fact the contribution from the indi- vidual is not sufficient. • The diva: This person craves the spotlight and dislikes anything that distracts from them being at center stage. “This is often a difficult leadership challenge, as most people develop their diva per- sonalities because they are actually very good at what they do,” he notes. • The pebble in the shoe: These people are a con- stant annoyance to teammates. It may be they have ready excuses for everything, even if sometimes those are plausible, or they are too critical of oth- ers. Willett refers to their actions as “bug bites” that have a cumulative negative effect. And those are just subordinates! Perhaps other leaders alongside you are just as difficult to deal with. Some may be too ambitious, resulting in constant clashes, are mavericks, or are plagued by a leadership crisis in their own team. Beyond that, you may have too many bosses with conflicting priorities, a superior who wants to mi- cromanage you, or irrational pressure from above. Whatever the issue, he says you need to take out of it this vital message: “The trouble is your fault, even when it’s not.” Too often leaders try to downplay the problem or lay responsibility or blame elsewhere. They moan about needing a lot of time (or a new set of tools) to deal with the difficulty. But you must accept that the troubles are your responsibility, and adopt a mindset to lead the unleadable. That mindset will require these key features: • Appreciate the diversity of every leaf: Manag- ers can be preoccupied and miss things. So before you get outraged, consider that when you encoun- ter some behaviour or action that appears unaccept- able perhaps there is something you don’t under- stand and can learn. • Start with the belief that everyone has good intentions: In that vein, curb your suspicion. Most people have good intentions and are working toward what they believe is the better good of the organiza- tion and your specific department. “Even if they are annoying, or doing things that you believe are coun- ter to the good of the organization, it is unlikely that they are damaged, stupid, or evil,” he says. • Accept reality but don’t let reality define you: Steve Jobs set a high bar, asking people to do things they considered unrealistic. But he didn’t let so- called reality hold him – or his people – back. If you want to be an exceptional leader, you should see re- ality, accept reality, and then move on to deal with reality in a manner that sets a high bar of achieve- ment for your team members, troublesome or not. Keep in mind most people prefer a high bar of ex- cellence in their workplace – they are achievement- oriented. • Understand the power of gelled teams: Your role is to create a culture where people accomplish extraordinary things. And that happens by letting them gel in a team – solve issues themselves and take the organization further. When they come to you with problems, try to hold back and let them find the solution themselves. “As you grow as a lead- er, the troubles you and your organization encoun- ter will not diminish, but as your skills grow at cre- ating the desired culture, the number of times you must personally get involved will greatly diminish,” he advises. • Treat trouble as information-rich data: When trouble occurs it provides important information about the specific incident but also the process, people involved, the culture you are creating The Leader’s Bookshelf Harvey Schachter Managing the Jerks Leading the Unleadable By Alan Willett Amacom, 225 pages, $22.50 24 / Canadian Government Executive // March/April 2017