Last week was one of those weeks where everything seemed to crash at once then it hit me, two missed deadlines, several high-stakes decisions made without the proper due process, and a lot of unexpected curveballs. The missed deadlines were beyond my control, however, one challenge stood out – managing people who aren’t just inexperienced but misrepresent their qualifications and skills. Dishonest, perhaps liars after all.
Let’s be honest, we’ve all worked with people who overstate their abilities. Perhaps we have even been guilty ourselves of doing the same. Is it insecurity or is it ambition left unchecked by self-awareness? What I do know is, when that behavior intersects with big business … high stakes … real responsibilities, budgets and timelines, it becomes a liability for an entire organization. Increase costs, time delays and more. It could become quite catastrophic!
Here are four things I’ve learned last week: –
- Stating and clarifying expectations early is crucial. The sooner you define what “done right” looks like, the quicker you’ll spot when someone isn’t up to the task.
- Supervision isn’t micromanagement. It’s accountability. Stick to the plan, measure as needed. Trust is earned through follow-through, not just confidence.
- Redirecting with empathy is essential in these situations. Sometimes it’s not about removing someone from a role but it’s a must to save a project, clients’ confidence in the organization and of course costs. Reassigning them to something they can do well and being honest about where they’re falling short.
- Experience matters and integrity even more. I’ve decided that in future I’ll take someone who admits they are inexperienced or willing to learn over someone who bluffs their way and creates a mess.
Leadership means dealing with this error in judgement head-on, not avoiding confrontation or fear of making others feel “bad”. Growth for your team sometimes means having tough conversations not out of frustration, but out of responsibility.
Contact us now. Here’s to moving forward smarter this week and beyond.
