As leaders we have to deal with disappointment, sadness and sometimes even tears of our people. The promotion that didn’t happen, the mediocre performance review or actually the loss of job. Allow it to happen. Don’t name the feeling, only the other party can do that. And by all means, don’t tell the person how to feel in that moment. The emotion is there, it will stay for a while. ‘Don’t be sad’ will not push it away. Rather ask ‘do you want to speak about your feelings?’ There is room for compassion, even if you started the whole conversation with conflicting views.
Breaking Barriers, Building People
Great leaders don’t just tell their team members what to improve—they dig deeper
