Managerial Courage. When most people hear that phrase they think of the courage to make the difficult decisions. And while I would certainly agree that is part of it, I believe the more difficult part is being honest and up front with those who you manage.

The best managers are the ones that meet with their individual team members on a regular basis to discuss that person’s strengths and opportunities, what they need to do to continue to grow in their role or make it to the next level. For those employees who are lagging or not cutting it, a frank discussion of where they need to improve and a path to get there needs to happen. For the manager to let this slip because it is an uncomfortable conversation, because he thinks it will make him unpopular, because she does not want to risk demotivating the individual, is not only wrong on all accounts, but it is also cowardly. To ignore sub-par performance is to do a disservice to that individual, the entire team, and the organization.

Imagine that for the last couple of years you’ve been getting average salary increases and decent appraisals, and then all of a sudden you are being told that your performance has been inadequate. After the shock should come outrage that your manager did not have the guts (the managerial courage) to discuss the issue from the beginning. So why do managers avoid having these types of discussions?

Sitting across the table from a colleague and having to tell them that you think their performance is poor is a difficult task. The key to doing it well is in the mindset. As opposed to looking at the discussion as a ‘beat-down’ session, if it is approached as an opportunity to help improve the individual’s performance, it will precede more smoothly. Because of the delicate nature of this conversation, it is recommended to practice it with someone in HR, a mentor, or a coach. A focus of the practice should be to eschew adversarial comments or behaviors. For a specific process that can be used as a model for the conversation, please check out "10 Steps to Providing Good Feedback" http://erimo.com/10-steps-to-providing-good-feedback.

It is not easy, but it is what separates the good managers from the great ones. Have the Managerial Courage. Tell your people where they stand at all times!

Interested in putting these tips into action?  Contact us here. http://erimo.com/contact-us