How do you know whether to let someone go? My spouse and I own a startup that we are funding ourselves. We hired a sales rep last year and they’ve made one sale so far, not nearly enough to sustain their role. I am full of self-doubt about what to do. Is it our product? Collateral? Their skills? Tell me what I can do.
I have a question about accountability conversations and what to value more. Should I allow the person I want to hold accountable to save face by accepting their version of what happened, as long as I am confident that the misstep will not happen again, or should I push until they acknowledge and admit that they did wrong?
I often find myself in audience settings—such as a theater, concert, class or worship service—with chatty neighbors whose whispered (or loud) conversations disturb the peace of everyone around them.
One of my employees keeps complaining about her high workload. I have done everything I can to reduce her workload—hired additional staff, cut back her projects, and so on. Despite all this, she still logs overtime hours. She must give 120% when 80% would be sufficient.
My daughter moved back in with us over a year ago. She said she needed to stay one month. Nineteen have now passed. We want her to move out but can’t get her to. The pandemic has made things difficult. She refuses to get a real job. She refuses to clean up. She recently got her stimulus check and didn’t offer us anything. She is very disrespectful and now our granddaughter is mimicking her. How do I stop this toxic relationship we are in? What can we do?
A little over a year ago I was promoted at work and presented with two options, one of which entailed leading a scientific program that I had spent more than two years developing with my supervisor. I declined the other choice because of the opportunity to lead this exciting new program.
I have an employee who just won’t engage with feedback. When I do share feedback, he totally falls apart and wants to quit. He struggles with any type of criticism from me or anyone. Other managers have shared with me the same concern. How can I get him to engage?
How can I get an employee I supervise who is resistant to change to become more flexible in the workplace? I have included him in discussions about workplace change and have asked him for ideas on how we can improve workflows to support our mission and goals, but he offers no ideas or suggestions.
I have an outstanding employee who has asked me to mentor him. He sees me as an example of the kind of leader he would like to become, and he would like to travel a career path similar to my own. I’m flattered, and yet I’m unsure how to help him. He’s incredibly competent already and I don’t want to agree to mentor him and then shortchange him. What can I do?
I have a staff member who is diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She also has a very low sense of self-esteem. Giving her constructive feedback on her performance is painful—for both of us. I have a hard time helping her feel safe when she seems to only focus on the negative stuff. How can I establish a sense of safety and keep her from going into survival mode?
