A Kick In The Career: Hold All My Tough Calls

One of the hardest leadership qualities to develop is making the really tough calls.

Firing somebody, for example: “You’re just not working out. I don’t know what else to say except that your sucky qualities have begun to outweigh your non-sucky ones.”

Or telling someone that the heartfelt idea for improving workplace productivity is just not going to fly: “It’s great that you brought this to the table, but I’ve seen more fully-developed strategies on an ant farm.”

Or letting people know to leave their attitudes at the door: “In a perfect world, scumbags like you would not be allowed to keep their parking card.”

Those are the kind of extreme cases that develop when we’re called upon to convey difficult truths. But every day we have to face minor versions of these same situations in our daily lives. Ever had to inform a friend that he hurt your feelings? (I know, guys, the very idea is frightening. After all, it’s why men always slap each other’s backs when they hug rather than cope with the emotional vulnerability of an honest-to-goodness hug.) 

Ever had to tell kids that their plan for building the fort out of matchsticks is not quite the best-engineered idea in the world? (Or worse, watch the “waterworks” when they have to find it out for themselves?) 

What did you do in these cases? Chances are, you either found the most tactful way to express yourself, or you blew it and learned from it. Either way, interpersonal relationships are no different from work relationships. In fact, work relationships are interpersonal relationships.

 Steve Vamos is a board member and a former executive of both Apple and Microsoft. He says the best way to make the tough calls is to “take it personally.” In an interview with Smart Company, Vamos describes how he fires people himself instead of referring it to Human Resources. He goes straight into an honest explanation of what is going on. One in five employees, he says, are still upset, but the other four are grateful.

Imagine not deferring to the big anonymous corporate entity that cuts the paychecks and instead going one on one with the person most impacted by the bad news? Dang, if that catches on we’ll all be respecting each other and bringing new levels of understanding into the volatile dynamic of workplace hierarchy.

I wonder if we have the guts it takes to do that? Tough call.

Here’s a link to the interview:

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/leadership/29775-why-good-leaders-need-to-be-able-to-make-the-tough-calls-vamos.html#