Stop Telling People What To Do

On my team, I notice that some people are frequently telling others how to behave. They’re so certain that their way is right, and another team member’s way is wrong, that they work hard to “change others.” Actually changing behavior involves humility, hunger for the project’s success, and smarts. If you have a team member who has good intentions, but nothing ever seems to suit them and they speak up in divisive ways at times, as a leader, you need to sit down with them.

Being self-righteous & loud about “being right” all the time, is not effective when it comes to actually changing or improving behaviors on a team. A simple way to do this is to ask them to commit to praising in public and criticizing others in private one-on-one not in meetings.

But the real issue is humility, unless they’re a super super superstar, with lots of accomplishments to back them up, most team members will benefit from a leader reminding them “We’re a team.” That none of us are as good as we think we are and could all use an injection of humility from time to time.

Even super super superstars benefit from hearing this from time to time. Here’s to helping each member of your team improve their behavior by pulling their weight and showing initiative when it comes to the success of the project you’re all working on.