How do you handle things when a team member disappoints you? - SmartBrief

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How do you handle things when a team member disappoints you?

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By Mike Figliuolo 05/26/16

Leadership

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.

Last week, we asked: How do you handle things when a team member disappoints you?

  • I provide pointed feedback: 83.77%
  • I avoid the conflict and keep it to myself: 3.51%
  • I withdraw from working with them: 6.36%
  • I ignore it and give them another chance: 6.36%

Tackle issues head-on. Feedback is a gift.  Delivering clear messages when things go off-track is the key to preventing future issues.  While it’s hard to deal with being disappointed by a team member and it’s uncomfortable to let them know they’ve done so, avoiding the issue just sets you up for future problems.  There are huge benefits to providing prompt feedback.  It’s encouraging to see such a large percentage of you subscribe to that line of thinking.

Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”