Tough on issues; soft on people: People will let us down. Count on it. Be prepared for it. The disciples failed pretty miserably when the times got tough. All of them, not just Peter who hours before had promised a full commitment regardless of the cost. If we expect followers to let us down, we will likely become cynical. There is no place for cynicism in the Kingdom. So what should a Kingdom leader do when an employee fails?
For Kingdom leaders, our most pressing need is to get things done and size of the company matters little. A one man shop has as great a need to get things done a does a multibillion dollar company. The difference is the number of people you depend on to get things done. The larger you are, the more you rely on systems to channel people in the right direction. Systems are like road signs, stop signs and speed limits along the way to accomplishment of objectives. If they are not consistent and clear, confusion usually results, accidents happen and we are let down.
So often I consider the failure without considering the cause. People want and need clarity in expectations. They also want and need clarity of systems, processes and feedback along the way. In far too many instances, the failures of people who worked for me are really the result of my own failure to provide clear expectations, to provide a support and feedback systems or worse yet a failure to provide the necessary resources to accomplish the goals. In many situations, when I really examine the issues, most of them are my issues, not the employee’s. When I deal with the issue and restore the employee, everyone wins.
But what about the times when an employee, for whatever reason, just blows it? The expectations were clear, the resources were adequate and the support systems all in place; but the results were less than expected and less than paid for. How do we deal with this kind of employee failure?
Part of the DNA of a Kingdom Company is how they handle situations like this. First, there must be clear communication of the results of the failure. If an employee does not understand the problem, there will never be the potential for the second aspect; learning. What did or can an employee learn from the failure or mistake. For me that has been the great difference between repeated failures with eventual termination and positive learning which leads to success. Mistakes are a great time to make sure you truly have the Kingdom Company DNA and if you do, a great time to be a safe place for employees to learn, make a few mistakes along the way, and grow.
If we are soft on the issue and hard on the people; learning seldom results; mistakes are repeated and people lose their jobs. If we are hard on the issue; determining all the causes and fixes and clarifying expectations; yet soft on the employee it is likely we will get to the root causes of failures and mistakes. Being soft on people does not mean that there are no consequences arising from mistakes or failures. There are. Suffering the consequences of mistakes is one of the greatest motivators for people to avoid them in the future. Being soft on people means helping them understand, accept and learn from those consequences. Gently restoring an employee is how a Kingdom leader balances the great tension between creating results and valuing the people who make things happen. How we truly value people will be evident in how we handle the mistakes and failures more than in how we reward for success.
“Father, help me to represent You in how I handle situations when my employees fail to perform or fail to live up to the Kingdom principles. Be gentle with me as I fall short and remind me that Your love and concern for me is the kind of love and concern I should have for my followers. Consequences are painful but help me to suffer them with grace as I learn from my own mistakes and help my employees likewise to learn from theirs. Make sure I don’t have a log in my eye when I point out the speck in someone else’s eye. Amen.”