What happens when you have a team member come up to you and place their concerns with a leader on your team?

You have started to see some odd behavior in this leader, but nothing worth bringing up in conversation. You trust them and know they get the work done! You know their weakness could be playing the victim, blameshifting, or not taking full responsibility for their actions.

So, here you are- listening to a team member talk about their concerns and she tells you she doesn’t feel comfortable talking to that person. As a leader, it is your responsibility to discuss the problems and concerns that arose in your conversation about the leader.

 

Think about how you would handle that conversation with the leader… I am not talking about how you should talk to them, but what you honestly would respond with.

Your first responses might be to:

• Attack the leader.
• Ignore the problem in hopes that the team member can figure it out.
• Stress out for days over the conversation you need to be having
• Talk to other leaders about it.

Before you do something you might regret later, we wanted to give you some guidance on just exactly how to lead during this exact situation! Joel Fortner (VP of Leadership Development) and I acted out this scene so there can be more understanding of how navigating tough conversations can be beneficial for both sides!