In this interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Michael Feuer, author of The Benevolent Dictator, discusses why you shouldn’t dally when dealing with challenging employees.
Here is an excerpt…
Michael Feuer, who cofounded OfficeMax and is co-author of “The Benevolent Dictator: Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business, and Outwit the Competition,” says leaders should deal directly with high-maintenance employees who have an inflated sense of their own importance and abilities.
Why are benevolent dictators the best types of leaders?
It’s not as scary as it sounds. The benevolent part means always putting the entity, the employees and, most importantly, the customer, first. The “dictator” piece is recognizing when debate, conversation and analysis can’t take you any further. At that time the benevolent dictator has to make a decision.
Why is it best to try to deal with performers’ shortcomings rather than letting just cutting them loose?
Before simply cutting someone loose, a good manager must determine if the problem is the person or the manager. I always start by looking in the mirror and asking myself, “Did I explain my expectations? What needs to get done by when, why and how?’ I then have a clearing-the-air session. Most people don’t get up in the morning and decide to go to work and do things wrong. A little coaching and counseling can save a good person and save a company a lot of time, effort and money rather than starting from scratch.
