Recommendations for Dealing with Challenging Staff

You may find that you have a staff member that is a challege to work with. The following are recommendation to help you manage through the challenge.

1. First keep in mind that a good leader will have challenges. The universe often provides us with challenges to help us realize our weaknesses and help us evolve.

2. We can never control another person. Most conflicts arise due to ego. Ego meaning the perception of our self that we hold in our mind and how we think the world should respond to us. You will find that when you let go of any ideas of self and not take things personally, that you will more accurately see the situation and be able to respond to it rather than react to it. Reacting often results in an unbalanced state of mind, lack of mental clarity, and state of emotional weakness. When we stop thinking of our self and perceive the situation as it is, then we can respond in a clear state of mind to the challenge at hand.

From my experience, the best way to deal with negative people is to be kind, polite, and professional. Usually if they cannot get a reaction from you then they back off.

3. Speak to the person and communicate your concern. If that does not resolve the situation then escalate to your manage for recommendations. During this process be kind, polite, professional, and keep in mind that all things will pass. The one constant in this world is change.

4. Another strategy is to go to lunch or do some off site activity and try to get to know the person better. You can build a relationship this way that will impact your work life.

Finally, keep in mind that a good leader is a good follower. It is not necessary to assert ourselves on others nor require them to respond to us in a specific way in order to be an excellent leader.

What additional questions or comments do you have?

Project Management - The Art of Getting Things Done

In a nut shell, project management is the art of getting things done. There are various tools and techniques available to help you get things done, but ultimately if you do not deliver (on time, within budget, and meet or exceed expectations) then you fail to manage successfully.

If you manage a person who can never deliver, where years pass and nothing of real value is accomplished, then that person needs an education in project management best practices or a career change.

Management should evaluate accomplishments in order to determine the level of productivity. Management should survey direct reports to a manager to determine if the manager is effective or dysfunctional. An organization's success is dependent it's level of productivity. So if someone in your organization cannot get things done and re-education is not changing their ability get things done, then it is time to find a new resource.

Learn the art of getting things done. It is easy if you simply take action!