Leaders should strive to empower their teams – but need to know when and how to intervene if problems emerge, as Mahesh Guruswamy explains

Delivering bad news is an inevitable challenge for leaders. Whether it’s addressing performance issues, navigating project delays or handling dissatisfied customers, effectively communicating difficult information is a critical skill.

Over the last two decades, the realities of what a manager is and does have dramatically changed. Long gone are the days of loud, Type A, suit-wearing and cigar-smoking men barking orders to perpetually overworked and scared employees. They have been replaced with leaders who encourage bottom-up thinking, and use empathy and empowerment to motivate employees. 

Being all-empathetic, all-empowering and all-caring may be the ideal for the 21st century leader. Yet, at the end of the day, leaders are also responsible for getting the most out of their teams and delivering a positive return on investment for the business. As managers, we have undoubtedly all had moments when we think, “I’m not sure my team is doing the right thing here. Should I intervene or should I let them figure this out?” 

As a manager, the reality is that you’re underwriting the decisions your team is making – and if you constantly overlook bad decisions, you will be the one held responsible. Knowing when to step in effectively to deal with a problem – and how – is critical. And effective action begins with recognizing where action is most often required: to deal with people and project challenges.

People red flags

Employee issues are often the most difficult problems to fix – but cause huge damage if left unchecked. There are two broad categories: individual performance issues, and personnel conflicts. When performance concerns emerge, it is obviously imperative to act – and most organizations are well-equipped with tools and processes for dealing with performance issues. 

They tend to have less-well developed models for handling personal conflicts, however, even though they are equally important. I have found that trying to convince people to do something they ultimately don’t want to do is a fool’s errand. I have tried cajoling employees, using authority, using their bosses’ authority, hardball tactics, softball tactics, and a million other things. None are a sure-shot way of resolving conflicts.

Instead, I have found that the most effective mechanism for managing conflict lies in what you do before it emerges. Create a set of behavioral tenets or values that clearly describe how employees should resolve conflicts – on their own. This way you are not trying to change people’s behaviors every time there is a conflict, but are preemptively setting the expectations for acceptable behavior and outcomes, even before people are hired. 

The sort of blueprint I have created for my teams includes six key steps. 

  • Never shy away from conflicts. Yes, it will be uncomfortable, but as a leader, you are obligated to lean in and find a path forward
  • Display a high level of emotional intelligence. Never become aggressive or passive-aggressive
  • Have a cause and conviction
  • Base your arguments on sound business judgment, not your personal opinion
  • Validate your assumptions with your peers, your manager, other teams, and against industry standards
  • Be ready to compromise: there are no absolutes in life or business

With those tenets in place, a leader’s job becomes less about resolving a conflict themselves, but one of holding people to account for how they themselves manage their conflicts. 

Project red flags

Project management issues also typically fall into two buckets – those that crop up during planning and those that show up during execution. Both can involve communication issues, as well. 

The biggest planning-related complications occur when the team is planning large projects that span multiple months, or even years. In general, I have found that if your team can’t scope down projects to, at the most, one-month customer-facing milestones, it’s time for the project leader to intervene. It’s time to work with your team to get things on track – and if they are absolutely unable to figure it out, even after a lot of hand-holding, you probably have the wrong people on the team.

Be ready to deliver bad news

If you want to build trust with your team and create an environment of two-way communication, you have to know how to deliver the same message at different temperatures, tailoring the tone of your communication based on the situation. 

Most people don’t respond well to disagreements or conflict situations (especially if they end up on the losing side). The stronger and longer a disagreement goes on, the more difficult the outcome may be for some to swallow, even when it is a compromise that benefits all involved. People tend to remember the emotional toll of the conflict more than the relief of the outcome – so leaders should raise the temperature only slowly. The aim is to avoid putting people on their heels, so they stay open to sharing what they are actually feeling and are more open to compromise – and, hopefully, won’t resent you if they end up losing the argument.

Raising the temperature slowly means first listening, to fully understand the options on the table. Then present an alternative hypothesis, avoiding downright dismissal of the views put forward by the other person or team. Take care not to elicit a strong emotional reaction. It may be possible to reach agreement quickly. 

If not, however, then it’s time to raise the temperature. More direct words may be needed. But be aware that even saying the words “I disagree” can elicit a strong emotional reaction; do not cross the line between directness and rudeness. 

You may aim to be a bottom-up, empathetic, empowering leader – but that does not mean standing by as problems emerge. Leaders have to know how to detect problems and be ready to address them quickly, using the most suitable communication possible.