Hey there. Welcome back to the
channel. If you are new around here, my name is Mak and I'm a
leadership in some building coach, but I work specifically with first
time team managers. So here's the deal. And you'll have to let me know in the
comment section below what you think. But I'm, thinking that, you know, the best aspect of leadership
is also in a lot of cases, the most difficult aspect of leadership,
which is dealing with people. It really is. It really, really is. And I would argue that in order to be
truly effective in a leadership position, you've got to love people. Because
it's like John Maxwell says, right, leadership is influence. And we all know you can't influence
things it's all about influencing people. So you got to love people in order
to be able to navigate, you know, the different personality styles on the
team and the different strengths on the team and the difficult
personality styles on the team. That's really important too. So today what I wanted to do was talk
about how to manage difficult employees on the team, because it is a
reality that we all have to face. And we need to know how to do it if we
want to be effective and we want our teams to achieve the results that
we want them to achieve, right? So what I'm going to do in this video
is kind of just break down the difficult employee types into buckets, because
obviously in a 10 minute video, I can't go into detail on every
difficult personality style out there. But I'm going to talk about kind of the
most common ones and then share with you some tips in terms of
how to navigate okay. So that's what we're going
to be diving into today. Now I want to encourage you to stick
with me until the end of the video, because I actually have a really
special announcement for you at the end. So don't give up on me in
the middle of the video, make sure you stick with it to the end.
Alright. So let's get started. Okay, so let's talk about the first
difficult employee type, which is the complainer or the person
that tends to make an issue out of everything, right? I think we've all
worked with someone like this who, you know, no matter how
positive something is, they see the negative and then they
proceed to complain and complain about it. This is really bad for a team
because of course, as a manager, you already know that you need
the buy-in and enthusiasm of everybody on that team in order to achieve
the results you're trying to achieve. But you're never going to be able to
do that if you have someone on the team that is so negative and is pointing
out all the challenges rather than solutions, and as a result, they're dragging everybody down because
it does tend to rub off. So of course, we already know you got
to deal with it. Now, before I get into talking about what
specifically you have to do to deal with it, I want to call out something that
is very important with all the difficult employee types, which is that the difficulty that you're
experiencing is simply a symptom of a deeper issue. So for example, in
this case with the complainer, the deeper issue usually
falls under three buckets. So number one could be that they feel
that they are overloaded and they have way too much on their plate
when really, and truly, they just, they're just not good at managing
their time or prioritizing properly. Number two could be that they really do
have too much on their plate and they don't feel supported by people
around them or number three, they do not feel confident in figuring
out how to do what you're asking them to do. And so their default
is procrastination, which
comes off as complaining. You see, knowing the root cause really helps
you to better navigate the situation. So you, as their manager can really
approach this in two different ways. First of all, you want to literally approach them about
their workload and how they can better prioritize and better manage their time
so that they're getting more done and not feeling so flustered and overwhelmed. Or you can talk to them about giving
you, giving them some extra support. Or you can help clarify things for them
if they're feeling kind of lost in terms of what steps to take, right? So that's the first thing you can do
is have that discussion with them, with those things in mind. The second thing you want to
do is shift their perspective. So when they come to you with a
complaint, um, shift shifted to solutions. So instead of having them
complain, have them, you know, use that beautiful juice of theirs
to come up with solutions. So, uh, right away, like I said, you know, if they're bringing it to your
desk or if it's an, a team meeting, stop them immediately and
be like, listen, Hey Sally, thanks so much for bringing
this to the forefront. What do you think is a better
way to handle this situation? That way you're helping them shift into
thinking in a more solutions oriented way rather than being bogged down in
their overwhelm and then, you know, complaining the next difficult
employee type is the yes person. Now this individual on the surface might
seem great because they're saying yes to every task, every project,
every favor that you ask of them. But then when you step back and you
like, take a look at things, you realize, wait, they're not actually following through
on the things that they said they would do. Which leaves you feeling like, well,
I can't trust this individual. Now, obviously yeah this is
frustrating for you, but I'm sure it's also frustrating for
this team member because they're not like saying yes to let you down,
right. They have good intentions. It's just that they over
committed themselves. And they're finding themselves in a
situation where they're not able to follow through on their commitments. Now,
again, this is merely a symptom. And oftentimes this is a symptom of
someone who perhaps just has poor planning or it could be fear. Sometimes fear causes them to say yes or
it could be the people pleasing aspect of them coming out and wanting to say yes, even though they know within themselves
that they can't do what you're asking them to do. Now with this individual, it's incredibly important to take that
step back and to really think about what their root cause is because of course
that will affect the education that you provide them around planning
and around saying no, right. But on a more tactical
level with this person, I believe it is really important to
provide very clear expectations with this person from the very, very
beginning. Now, of course, I preach all day long about setting clear
expectations with all your employees, but I think it's very important with
this person because they need it. And when I say clear expectations, I don't mean stop at just what
they got to do and by when. You got to take it a step further and let
them know what the consequences are of not following through
on their commitments. And I think that sometimes as
managers, we tend to stop here. Like we don't tend to do this
part, but this is really important. Someone needs to know the
impact of their actions, particularly if they are that type
of person that tends to over-commit themselves. So you want to make sure that when you
are asking them to do something and when they say yes, that you are
letting them know, Hey, if this isn't done by this time
or whatever the case might be, this is the impact of that. So you want to make sure that
you are sharing with them, the consequences of not following
through on their commitments. So the next difficult employee
type is the know-it-all. And I don't think we could have a
video talking about managing difficult employees without talking
about the know-it-all. I
mean, it's just not possible. So I used to work with someone like this
who thank God, like was not on my team. This was someone laterally, but
she was like always doing this, always adding in her 2 cents about topics
that she was very knowledgeable about and topics that she was not
knowledgeable about. If I'm being honest. Always doing this. And it was
so annoying and so frustrating. And I talked to clients today and they
have employees like this on their team. And yeah, they're feeling the frustration
and the annoyance too with this. So I totally understand. This
is a difficult person to manage. But something that I noticed
about her and I'm sure, you know, you'll notice it too about, um, the people on your team like this is
that their incessant need to talk about everything that they know is really
just a symptom. Okay. It's a symptom. And the deeper root cause of
this symptom is insecurity. Insecurity is at the
heart of what is going on. So for whatever reason,
right? At home or at work, they are not getting the
validation that they need. And so they feel like they've got to
speak up and say what they got to say and add in their 2 cents all the time so that
they can get that validation that they need. So for you, one of the best things that you can do
when it comes to leading an individual like this is, you got to learn how
to balance the beam of recognition, as well as firmness. Okay. You really do. Yes you want to lean into those moments
where you can recognize this individual for the great work that they do
because they deserve it, right. They absolutely deserve being
appreciated for their fine efforts. But at the same time, you don't
want to overindulge because again, you're training them to do a lot of
this because that's what gets them the reaction. So you really got to make
sure that, of course, yes like I said, that you're recognizing them, but also
that you're not feeding their craving. The other thing that is incredibly
important with this personality type is that you got to just address it, right? You got to have the conversation with
them and let them know that it's just this, isn't just not working. That,
that that's not acceptable behavior. Because well, think about it. Number one, if it's annoying for you
and frustrating for you, can you imagine how frustrating
it is for your team members? This type of individual is not
someone that is great to be around. And so it causes a divide. And of
course, where there is a divide, then work is not done properly.
It just can't be right. There's no way your team is gelling. Well, if there's someone like this on the team, the second thing is that
not everybody is self-aware, I'll tell you that. And so this person might just not have
the self-awareness or the emotional intelligence to know
how they're coming off. And so if you don't address
it with them, they won't know, and they'll just continue to do it. So you gotta address the elephant in
the room and let them know, you know, what's going on, tell
them the truth about how, what they're doing is coming off. Now I
know that this might be really awkward. That's why in the accelerator program, I teach my students a framework for
having a sensitive conversation like this, because it can be awkward.
But I can tell you this, having the conversation
is better than not. Just make sure that it is
direct and that it's respectful because at least if it's direct, they
get the point. And if it's respectful, then you're not the straw that
breaks their back. Because again, we're dealing with insecurity. So we do have to be very gentle
in the way that we handle it. But it doesn't need, it doesn't mean that we don't
want to have the conversation. We absolutely need to have
that conversation with them. The next difficult employee type is a
person that always comes to you to solve their problems. So I'm talking,
they're always in your office, or they're always sending you an email, or they're always double checking with
you before making any sort of decision or taking any sort of action step, because they're not solving the
problems on their own. Now, again, this is merely a symptom.
And oftentimes with this one, it falls into a couple of different
categories. So number one, they might just not have, they might not have the critical
thinking skills to solve the problem. Number two, they maybe have
the critical thinking skills, but they don't have the confidence
to solve the problem on their own. Number three, they just might not have the training
or the skills required to do what you're asking them to do. Number four,
they're being micromanaged by you. So they feel like they have
to come to you for everything. Or number five in their past,
they've had a poor manager, which there are a lot of who
basically said to them, Hey, you have to come to me for everything.
And so they were trained, um, to do exactly that. And that's why with
you, they're doing the exact same thing. Lots of reasons as to why this
might be. So many years ago, I went to this leadership conference
where the speaker at the conference was talking about this concept of the monkey, which is something that he had actually
learned from another leadership expert. And essentially this concept of the
monkey is when someone comes to you with their problems, you want to automatically like visualize
that they literally have a monkey on their shoulder that jumps
off and lands on you, okay? Lands on your desk. It lands on you, it lands in your vicinity and that your
job as their leader is to ensure that when they leave your office, that they
take their monkey with them. Essentially, the concept is just that, Hey, when
someone's coming to you with your, with their problems or when your team
members are coming to you with problems, yes, you want to support them. But you also want to make sure that you're
not taking it on yourself because you will never make progress that way. Now, my mentor used to say something
that is very much aligned with that. He would say, listen, Mak people
get paid to solve problems. And if I am solving
their problems for them, then what are they getting paid for?
And, you know, I got to tell you, I, 100% agree with that and have
adopted that mentality myself. I mean, yes, I want to create a positive
and collaborative environment
where I am supporting you as your leader, but at the same time,
if I'm solving your problems for you, then that problem has
a very high price tag. And that is just not good
economics. It's really, really not. And so I have to make sure that you're
equipped to solve those issues and that you feel like you are empowered to solve
those issues. So how do you do that? Right? How do you deal with somebody who seems
to always want to bring their problems to you and how do you like maintain
that balance of supporting them, but not doing it for them? Well, the first thing you have to do is put
it back on them the very first time. So something you can
say is, listen, Sally, thank you so much for bringing that
to my attention, but here's the deal. I am very confident in your ability to
be able to come up with a solution to this. So how about we do this? How
about you go off and come up with, let's say three solutions to this issue. And then come back to me when you have
three solutions and we will work it out together. That way, what you're doing
when they come to you with their, with their monkey, right, is you are
giving it back to them. You're saying, figure it out and come back to me. I will support you once
you've thought it through, but first you have to think it through. So the next difficult
employee type is the gossiper. And this is the person that just loves
their tea and loves spreading it just as much. Now this is a difficult one because
oftentimes the gossiper is just such a friendly person. They're super
lovable, super personable. That's why everyone tells them their tea. But the thing is them
spreading this is very, very cancerous and toxic to
the team. And so it is very, very dangerous to the productivity
and trust levels of the team. So what do you do even though
this person is extremely lovable? What do you do if you have
a gossiper on your team? Well there are two antidotes, when it comes to dealing
with the gossip on the team, and one is steeped in the culture and
the standards that you have set forth for the team. You know, if you on any level have kind of
allowed gossip to spread on the team, then you're basically
saying that it is okay. So what you want to do is take a
step back and like ask yourself, Hey, at any point, have I allowed gossip to spread on
my team or have I participated in it myself? Because I know for me,
I've done both of those things. Like I've on many occasions, allowed things to spread and I've
been the one involved in it as well, because it is so easy to get sucked in
once you hear a story, but you can't. Especially if you're the one
that's saying, listen, like gossip, gossip is toxic and we don't want this
on a team. Then you can't be the one, you know, participating in it because you have
to lead by example because they're obviously going to follow your example. The second antidote is to make sure that
you're being very transparent with your team. You know, when people
don't have that full picture, it's so easy for them to, you know,
come up with their own narrative. And the gossip loves
that they love, you know, inserting their story into a
narrative that is kind of empty. And so you got to make sure that you have
a really solid communication plan for when things are changing or when an
incident happens so that you can get in front of it and make sure that everybody
truly understands what's going on. And that they're not like, you
know, uh, tempted to go into this, this gossip mill that often happens
when they feel like they're not entirely sure what's happening. Okay so that's
it. In terms of my suggestions, when it comes to managing difficult
employees. Listen, I know it's tough. I know it's not easy, but I also know that you can absolutely
do this because I have that kind of faith in you, my friend. Okay so now let's move on to the mini
surprise that I had for you that I mentioned at the very
beginning of this video. So here's the deal over
the past couple of months, I had been getting inundated with
questions from you guys. I mean, it's great to hear from you.
I love hearing from you guys, but it's a lot of questions and I'm
finding it kind of like hard to keep up, especially on the YouTube
channel, because I mean, I can only do a topic once a
week or maybe every other week, depending on the season
of my business. Right? Like if I'm helping a lot of clients and
I can't come out with as many videos as I would like, so here's my
solution or here's what, I'm, what I'm thinking is a solution to
this. I am going to dedicate one video, let's say every other month to just
answering your questions. Okay. So I will dedicate one whole video
to just going back to back to back answering as many questions as I can
that come in. Now, of course, like, I'm not going to read
your name and I like, I'm not going to share any of
those like privacy details. Cause that's just not appropriate. But I will make sure to answer your
question in a way that you know, that it's your question. You just have
to be there watching it, of course. Right. Okay. So here are the instructions in terms
of how to get your question to me. So I want you to send your question
to support@makedaandrews.com. Okay, so supports@makedaandrews.com and put
in the subject line question for Mak. That way my customer support lead can
like sift through all the questions and send me the ones that are
most relevant to everybody. Cause I want to make sure
that I'm answering questions
that can help a multitude of people. Okay. And again, I want you
to send it to support@makedaandrews.com. Don't send it to me because if you send
it to me, like my inbox is really hairy. There's a ton of stuff in
there. I might miss it. It's better if you send
it to my support team. So please send it to
support@makedaandrews.com. Okay. Either way. I am like, so looking
forward to adding this segment to the, to the YouTube channel, I
think it's going to be really, really beneficial for so many people. And so I'm excited to get your questions
and I can't wait to start the segment. I think I'm going to call it, ask
Mak, I don't know, ask Makattack. I'm not sure what I'm going to
call it. Someone I'll think of it. Let me know in the comments section
below what you think I should call this segment. All right, guys. It was
so great to be with you today. I hope you are having a fantastic
week. I know it's only Tuesday, but I hope so far. It's been going well and I wish you
a fantastic rest of the week as well. And do not forget to keep smiling.
All right. I'll see you then.
