In my last 3 posts I’ve talked about bad behavior and why so many managers and organizations let it slide (to their own and others’ determinants.)
I want to end this series by sharing a success story.
In 1997 I managed the Austin office of Robert Half International. I hired a young recruiter who was a handful! I saw his potential and had numerous difficult conversations with him about both his performance and his behavior.
This was exhausting for me and incredibly frustrating for him.
I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that he hated me at times.
Fast forward 10 years. I’m managing the Auckland office for the same company and the receptionist calls through to my line telling me this person was on the line. Calling from the US.
I was dumbfounded – and apprehensive to take the call.
But I’m so glad I did because, to my amazement, the reason he called was to apologize for this bad behavior while we worked together.
He thanked me for being so hard on him and told me that it was, in part, what helped him become as successful as he is today (and he is).
It’s not easy having difficult conversations with people. But the previous posts should illustrate their importance. And I think this post shows that you never quite know what seeds you can plant.
#leadership #employeeretention
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: 𝗜𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁. 🙂
