Welcome to HAWCK Can Your Leadership.
I'm Chris and I'm Lorenzo and Lorenzo.
On this episode, we're continuing the discussion that we started last Monday on an article that I saw on the Forbes website called four common leadership Problems and their Solutions.
Last week we talked about what would.
Happen if your team isn't listening to each other and what the causes of that are and what the leadership solutions are in those situations. Great discussion. Go ahead, go back and listen to it if you haven't yet. On this episode, I want to talk about the second item in the article, which is what happens when your team
is consumed by negativity? And I think this one is a little bit different than when your team isn't listening to each other, because negativity is it's a mindset more than anything else, and they can have different causes, some of which are can be solved by leadership training and development, some of which have to be solved by changing the makeup of the team or who is on the team.
And it's the responsibility of leaders to figure out where the source or causes of this negativity lies in order to effectively turn it into positivity, because just being a positive person as a leader. While that is necessary and it's important, that alone won't necessarily solve the problems that arise from a team that is consumed by negativity if if that positivity is not coupled with very specific actions by the leader, where those actions are needed in order
to make it a turnaround. It's not simply you know, there's there's almost memes of it, and plenty of like movie tropes where you have, you know, like the cheerleader that comes in and says.
Hey, everybody, let's be positive, and they'll.
Look at that that person they go look at them like like they're an idiot. You know, you can't be that leader. But the positivity is needed and it needs to be you know, coupled with action, very specific action.
Yeah, I think too. It's it's rare. It's rare that you see entire teams kind of consumed by negativity. Typically what you see are some real concerns, some real things that a team needs collectively, and then you may have a handful of people on a team that just in general like whether they're they're over it, they're burned out, they feel like you know, they they they've reached the limit of opportunities they have, like whatever the case is.
And and maybe people are holding onto things that have happened over the past and and again many times these are real things that have happened, and people kind of have a you know, like like a right to feel
that way. I think, though, you know, we've talked about a lot in the podcast, like if you do feel that way, if you had these experiences with a leader in an organization, if things aren't getting better, the best thing for you to do really is like leave, you know what I'm saying, like like go, go, go somewhere where you can have a better opportunity, Go somewhere where you don't have to have that feeling of resentment or
whatever the case is. But but it happens. And I think from a from a leadership standpoint, when you have teams in that space, it's really important to just listen and talk about it and and talk about the real things that are causing some of these things. I think sometimes to your point, like you know, maybe you don't walk into a conversation or walk in to talk to a team or your leaders and you're like the raw, raw positivity. It's all gonna be great, it's gonna be amazing,
We're gonna do great things. Maybe you're not doing that. But if you're not willing to go into a meeting or have a conversation and actually share out loud what some of the real things are that are happening, that may be causing some of this negativity or at the center of why the team feels that way. In essence,
that's kind of what you're doing. You're you're, you're you're, You're not talking about the reality of what's happening, and instead you're trying to like get by, get bite quickly, or paint over it, or can we move forward or let's let things go. Well, that sounds good in theory, but we probably need to have a conversation about it. And there's been many times as a leader where I've walked into two small teams, big teams, different things and had to sit down and say, hey, let's talk about
what's going on. I can sense right now right that we're not in a good spot. I can see that there's good work that we want to do, but there's a lot of negativity feelings that are going on here. So there's a couple of things that I want to share that I've recognized or that I've observed that make sure that you're clear that I see it. And I'm going to say things like this is a lack you know, or or just a failure of leadership. I'm going to
say things like that's unacceptable. I'm going to say things like you know that, that's not that's not you know, aligned with you know values, that's not aligned with the work that we want to do. I'm going to talk about these things and I'm going to put them out there and say so. I can't go back into the past and change this experience. What I can do is is talk about this and and then I can talk about where do we go from here? And how do
we move differently, how do we adjust? What are the things that we can change within our control that allow us to be able to move forward. And for some of you that might not be possible. And I'm gonna say that out loud. For some of you, you might be in a space where it's like somebody's been here before and said the same things to you and nothing's changed.
Some of you, like there might be too much resentment or too much negativity or too much feeling of like how things used to be to how they are, whatever that might be. That might be too much for you, And that's okay as well. And if this is not the place, this is not the work that you want to do, you don't want to put forth the effort to help us get into a positive place, then I'm okay.
If you tell me that, I would rather you let me know kind of how you feel and where you're at so we can help you do what you want to do and kind of move on. What we're not going to allow or stand for is that continual element of negativity or pushing back against the rest of the team trying to do great work. So I think like conversations like that are critical if in fact you're walking into a team that is consumed my negativity.
Sure, sure, if a person is negative, if if have a negative outlook and you say things like what we're not going to allow us for the continued negativity, then you know that what that means basically is if you're saying you can come to me with anything, if you if you have a feeling, if you're feeling negative about this role or this job or these expectations or this workload, whatever it is, I want you to talk to me about it, and I want to try to go through
some things that can happen that we can do to make it, to make it more realistic for you to or to help you along on this journey. But if a person is doing that, that assumes that they don't want to feel negative either. They want to feel positive about it, and that is inherently a good thing. That means that it might be possible to salvage that relationship between the person and the job they have. But but
sometimes it's not. And when it's not, it doesn't necessarily mean that what the expectations are now are are not realistic or you know, they're that they're that they're not good, or that somebody is doing something wrong. Sometimes when a job description changes, or when the expectations change over time, because you know, obviously companies that don't change those things
over time are the ones that will die. You need to change your expectations over time because the market changes, and the customers change, and the you know, the economy changes. All these things change and the company has to adapt to that. And it might be that a role migrates from one thing to another slowly or quickly, and the people in that role are no longer a fit for that role because the expectations have changed, and sometimes they
can come along for the journey. Sometimes they can change to fit, but the anxiety that they feel on whether or not they can change is something that can lead to that negativity. So if they want to be able to fit into the expectations that they want to be able to do their job correctly and well and to the best of their ability, but they are unable to this is when leadership has to stay in and decide
can this person be taught these things? Can this person get these skills, because in the absence of the skills, while the job description or the expectations continue to change, you're only going to have that negativity continue to grow from that person because they either a will never be able to get on board or they want to get on board but they can't because they don't have the skills.
And if you don't.
Address those things, that negativity is what spreads. But if you have one or two or three people on a team that have these feelings and that they they start, you know, kind of spouting negative things here and there to their teammates. It's insidious because it starts with little comments, oh, you know, something happens, and they go, there's a surprise, you know, like like those little things.
But they but they are seeds that.
Get planted in the minds of the teammates that they work with, and those seeds can grow in the absence of a leader that comes in and stomps it out. And the people who the people who are able to be turned negative, who were normally positive or at least neutral, those people can be turned around back into the positive again, but only in the absence of the negative seed that was there to begin with. And so if you're a leader, you need to figure out a where this negativity is
stemming from. And if if you have a team of fifteen people and ten of the fifteen people seem to be doing their job perfectly fine and getting everything done and exactly what they're supposed to do, then it's very unlikely that the expectations of the job are unrealistic. It's very unlikely that the workload is unrealistic. It's very unlikely
that there's an expectation that is not realistic. It's more likely that the people who are unable to do it either don't have the skills or they don't have the desire. And but if you have a team of fifteen people and all fifteen of them are not able to get everything anything done, or they all have a negative outlook and you're not seeing results out of any of them, then it is very possible that the workload is unrealistic.
And then you have to look at what that workloader, that those expectations are and and kind of dial it back or address it to be able to keep the team you know, with you as you move through the journey together or you or it means getting rid of the entire team. That typically is not the right way to go. So you really have to figure out whether
it's kind of localized to a few people. And you know when you have a when you have like a spasm in your back, and by the at the beginning of the day, you know exactly where it's coming from. It's that one little spot behind your shoulder blade, and
you feel that's exactly where it is. By the end of the day, it's just like, oh, my whole back is hurting, and it's because that that little pain point has kind of radiated out and it's affecting other things too, and you kind of lose the ability to know where that pain is actually coming from because of how long it's been there, it's affecting everything else. You have to get it back to localized again. You have to go
back to where the actual source is. And oftentimes it's one or two or three people that are affecting the entire team.
Yeah, And I want to underline as well, like there's probably, uh, to your point, a couple of people that really kind of guide and influence negativity many times, many times I found out, you know, and that their experience has led them into that space, right, And like, like something that happened a lack of leadership. It's very rare that somebody's just negative and they've always been negative and they haven't cared before, Like that's.
They probably wouldn't have gotten the job to begin.
With, exactly, Like, there's been something that has happened, and and I think addressing that something and talking through that and and asking if they feel that they're capable of moving on and working through it, Like that's a really important thing to do and a really important conversation to have because it's really easy to just walk in and be like, well, so soo's negative. Nobody likes them. They always have a problem, it's always an issue, it's always
an issue, blah blah blah blah blah. And then you talk to them you realize like, well, wait a minute, like I'm not I can see where they have concerns, but I'm not picking up this massive negative energy. And maybe some of it is masking because you're the leader,
you're the new leader, whatever. But I think many times because of that defensive element they've put up and over time they've pushed people away that nobody's willing to have a real conversation with them about their experience, what happened where we're at, and then asking them like is this worth it? Like like are you are you able to
work through this? Is there is there a space in the future where you figure like you can let these things go and we can move forward, because and if not, that's okay, Like we still need to talk about it, because then this probably is not the right place for you, right right, Like those conversations have to happen if you're serious about not only helping the larger team, but then building skill and capability as a leader, because yeah, the the easier thing to do is like, well then just
start over, right, just walk in and be like that it's negative team, a lot of negativity. Let's just start over. Well, okay, But that then assumes that you believe that there's no way that you can move forward in a lot of ways.
Where the trap that sometimes people can fall into and leaders can fall into, though, is like, well, if you've got this person and Chris was their leader, and they tried and put forth an effort and they weren't able to change this person or get them to a right good spot, then Lorenzo tried and he did his thing, and this person's still here, but they still have these
ongoing issues or situations or negativity right right now. If it's the third person, well, now is this about your ego or about the belief that these other leaders have also attempted to do this work, like, oh, I can be the one to fix them, I can get nah. Like, at what point do you then say, We've had plenty of opportunities here for this person to show up in this space and they're just continuing not to in regardless
of what they know. How long they've been here, how much they sell, how good they are at what they do, like all those things. We've talked about it a million times. No matter how good they are at something, if they are a negative element of the team, it's not good for the team. It's not good for your business. You've got to figure something else out.
Oh for sure. The number of time.
First of all, when I see that happen to me, that implies there is a lack of skill in the rest of the team. And so here's what I mean by that. If you have a person who is a generally negative person, but they do this one thing really well.
They do their job well, like they're the best at doing their job, but they're a negative person and they bring the rest of the team down a lack of desire or willingness to put expectations in place, that that person changes their attitude and becomes a more positive influence on the team. When that happens, it implies a If it's the same leader, it implies that it was the leader's fault that the person became negative to begin with, and now that leader doesn't want to look at themselves
in the mirror to address it. Their own shortcomings if you're a new leader coming onto a team and you can't make that happen for that person, that implies that you don't have confidence in the skills and ability of the rest of the team to the point where you think you will be negatively hurting the team by that person's skills going away like.
They they're not able to do. They're the best at this job.
If we lose them, then we're gonna be you know, we're gonna be doing a disservice to ourselves.
So we're gonna deal with the negativity. We're gonna we're gonna.
Cope with it or live with it because of the positive aspects of the of the job performance as person brings, and you know, it might be the kind of thing where the work that you do as a leader is in the background training up other people to make sure that job is done over the course of one or two or three months, so that at the same time that you're coaching this person and saying this negativity has
to stop and you have to change your mindset. Sometime at some point in time, that person will either leave on their own because they're tired of being talked to about their attitude or you will have to separate them from the organization because you are tired of their adud And if you're not in the background making sure that the rest of the team is able to do the work that that person is going to be leaving behind, that you don't have somebody to kind of jump into
that spot and do that role, then of course it's going to be daunting to think about that person going away. But that doesn't mean it's not your responsibility. It just means that you are You're giving yourself a false dichotomy. Oh, I'm either going to lose these skills or might have to deal with the negativity. No, if you're a leader,
it's neither. You don't have to do either. The solution is give the person a reasonable but very fast chance to change their attitude while you're developing the skills of the rest of the team. Because I promise you, the person who is negative and continuing to do their job because they do their job well, they know that they're
the only person who can do their job. They know that they're the best at doing their job, and they look at that as a cloak of invincibility, so to speak, that they can take with them and allow them to get away with the things that they shouldn't be getting
away with. If they start to see that the rest of the team can do the job as well as they can, that that fact alone might cause them to change their attitude because they don't feel like they're you know, kind of separated or kind of above everybody else because of the skills that they have. If you don't have that,
then then that will continue. And you know what, if it's negative enough, then sometimes the right thing to do is to get rid of them even before you have the skills, and the skills get taught on the fly. In the moment, you might have to jump in as
a leader and help out temporarily. But if the person is negative enough, the spread from that negativity from that one person to the rest of the team that could be causing so much damage in the meantime, then it might not even be worth waiting until you have the skills developed on the team to take care of what they're going to be leaving behind, and you have to just to deal with it, because again, it's easy to
teach skills. It's a lot harder to teach positivity to a person who is just kind of hell bent on being negative because whatever they've gone through, they're.
Kind of past the point of no return absolutely, and with that brings us This episode is one minute hack. But first a few words from our sponsors.
All Right, if you're leader of people and you're trying to solve an issue of negativity on your team, once you've determined where the negativity is coming from, the one or two or three people that is kind of spreading from there, the first thing to do is to have conversations with each of them and set very very realistic, almost baby step expectations on what the expectations are from you going forward from an attitude standpoint.
And the reason why they.
Have to be really baby steps is because all you're trying to do in this first interaction is determined whether
or not the person has the desire to change. If you start out with what all of the expectations are, then it's possible that because of the person's experience, because of the lack of skills or lack of learnings or lack of leadership they've had in the past, it's possible they won't be able to meet all those expectations right away, and then you could falsely attribute their failure to attitude
when it's actually something else. But if you start with an expectation that is very small, that that will allow you to determine whether or not that person actually has the desire to change, then you will know where your effort should be should be put and how much effort should be put into developing them. So if if you can determine that they do have the desire to change, that sets your road differently on what the course of
action is with them. They need more time necessary, you know, potentially with you, they need more one on ones with you to kind of level set and and and talk out what the what the expectations are and what the progress is. And you can ask them to give you specifics about what they've done that they saw as a positive and you can give them specifics once you've determined that they do want to make the change and to
become a more positive person. And that's that's actually very meaningful work to do if you can determine that that's
where a person is in their own head. But if at that after that first interaction you determine that they don't have the ability to move past even this one baby step, then first it allows you to put your effort towards make making sure that they kind of either leave the team you know, with grace and dignity, or leave their team involuntarily if they're unable to make those changes, you know, very quickly, and put your effort and focus of you know, leadership and development and training into the
people who actually want it and who will actually get something from it, as opposed to somebody where where it's kind of you know, falling on deaf ears and so determining the motivation of the person first is key to making sure that the effort you're putting in is actually fruitful effort and and not you know, you know, wasted time.
Yeah, I think it's such an important part is people people have to be open and willing to want to change and be a part of wherever the team is going. And that's not to say that you don't put any effort in. I think to your point, like, you have to put some effort in, right, but then it has to be matched, and it has to be matched quickly. It's like, if I'm going to put forth this effort to help us move forward, and I'm not asking for all of the effort right now, but I am asking
for some and I need to see that reciprocated. And I think that's the point around saying, well, this is what I need to see from you, but also here's what we're not going to stand for anymore, Like we're not going to allow this type of behavior. So even if it's not this out of the gate, somebody's running like, okay, now I was I was negative, now I'm super positive. No, No,
that's not realistic. In a lot of instances. What is realistic is to say like, hey, maybe I'm not super positive yet, but I'm not going to do these negative things anymore. And that to me is a step in the right direction. And that allows for an opportunity to say, Okay, now I'm willing to invest a little bit more. And again I can't can't walk into the investment and put all my chips in right like and and but that's that's a conversation to have to say, like, I'm willing
to continue to invest as you also invest. But the minute that you stop investing, the minute that you fall back into negative behaviors, the minute that you feel like you know you're going to push back on the places that we're going we're going to have another conversation about it.
So you're kind of also laying out you know what this looks like, and you know, to your point, like the choice they have in front of them to do what's best and to make a decision that's going to help them be more successful in the future.
Right, and as a leader, what you can also do too that might help this, because yeah, it's it's hard for a person who is negative in general to change their own mindset overnight. So if the expectation is what is more along the lines of what they're allowed to say and do around other people, then that that is a real realistic expectation what they're allowed to say and
do around other people. It might not be as realistic to tell them you have to change the way your mind thinks about this and you have to be more positive in your mind. You can't help the way you feel, and the way you feel is a result of all the experiences that you've had. But as a leader, you can say to that person, hey, you know what, anytime you're feeling this way, something triggered it, something happened.
That made you feel this way.
And if you have the ability to bite your tongue for a minute and not you know, spread that negativity to your teammates and other people.
People.
What I would love for you is to come invent to me as your leader. Come invent to me all you can tell me. I'll sit there while you while you yell and scream and kind of about what's going on that is bothering you or that, and I might.
Be able to solve that.
I might be able to tell you where what information you're missing that might have led you to this conclusion that isn't necessarily true. Or I'll vent with you and say, you know what, that that sucks. I can understand why that will be frustrating. It's frustrating for me too. Let me tell you how I get through it, and let's see if that helps you. And So, if a person is willing to do that, at the very least, it
shows they want something to change. And as long as they're willing to not spread their negativity to others and you can help them through this, you're you're already on the road to you know, kind of saving that relationship
or saving that person. It's when they're unable to do those little things like come to you, when they have an issue that they want to vent about, like you know, being unable to bite their tongue when it comes to how they talk to other employees, or how they how they position, what the what the company or leadership expectation
are two other employees. It's when they're doing those things and that doesn't stop, that's when you can kind of say that the desire to change isn't there, and now it's just miseres looking for.
Company absolutely and what that b exsists at the end of this episode, this is hacking leadership. I'm Lorenzo and I'm Chris, and we'll talk to you all next time.