The Power of Owning the Problem

Hello and welcome to Episode 267 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I am sharing a conversation I had with Juliet Robinson over on our Grow Your Influence podcast about the power of owning the problem as a leader in our business.

We’ve all had that feeling when someone behaves badly: maybe if I just leave it, they will sort themselves out/the problem will just go away…

Juliet and I talk about an example of a client who knew they needed to deal with a toxic person in their team but had been avoiding the issue. As soon as they decided to deal with the person, they felt so much better about themselves. The team’s morale was almost instantly improved and the manager gained so much confidence from realising their response didn’t need to be perfect, they just needed to need to do it.

We talk about the importance of leaders being aware of boundaries, both personally and within the team, and tackling issues directly when people are pushing those boundaries.

As managers we can feel overwhelmed when someone on our team is behaving badly and their negativity starts to infect the team. It can be tempting to hope that they will realise they are being unreasonable and start behaving better. The reality we talk about in this episode is that our team is watching to see how we deal with these things and whatever we do gives them signals about what’s ok. We will also feel better about ourselves when we deal the situation.

If you find yourself in this situation, remember you just need to take small steps. Plan a first conversations and be clear about what you want to change. It is your role as a leader to deal with difficult people, both within and beyond your team, and you will feel better when you do this.

An Invitation

Would you like to connect with other like-minded business owners, leaders and managers experiencing similar situations with their team? Join the discussion inside our free Facebook Group – The People Powered Business Community. Click here to join us.