Six Quick Tips on Collaborating with a Difficult Person

To engage in collaboration, you are going to have to be intentional and coach yourself. Take time to think about what you need to do and how you need to do it. Here are some quick tips:

 

Focus on managing talents ��� yours and others. Everyone is unique, we all have special strengths and struggles, so coach yourself and learn to manage others���especially those who are different. You may like to organize details and plan schedules of work; but for some of your folks, those are not strengths.

 

Delegate with clarity. Make sure your people understand what you are expecting. Ask them to share back what they think you want. Discuss the details a bit and let them know what the boundaries are and then give them freedom to do it their way.

 

Dialogue ��� don���t micromanage. Ask questions and listen to their perspective. Meet with them at their level as a teammate, communicating with them on an equal level. You can always resume being their leader, but make them feel like the expert that you respect as often as possible.

 

Give ongoing feedback. First, reflect on thinking of some things that they are doing well so you can compliment and thank them. Then if needed, you can share what seems to be off-course or needs more attention. There are two key goals: to help them feel valued and important, and to help them correct back on course.

 

Build a community. Your goal is a collaborative team, not a team of silos. How can you encourage your people to stay connected, dialogue, and work together?

 

Be courageous. Reflect on your actions and debrief to hold yourself accountable first, before you hold them accountable. Have you engaged with both strength and caring? What are the fears that have held you back? How can you adapt to improve your leadership in the days ahead?

 

Whether you are a CEO, a front-line manager, or an independent consultant, your success depends on collaboration. And as the leader you must take ownership. Read this entire blog at leadingwithhonor.com/blog.

 

#courage #leadership #accountability #employeeengagement #leadershipbehavior #teamdevelopment #buildingculture #keynotespeaker

 

 

 

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