Deal Swiftly with Dishonesty

You need to give your direct reports opportunities to be great; however, you also need to act if they are not honest. I learned later in my career to act sooner than later in these situations. Six months into a new role leading a large organization, one of my team leaders was withholding critical budgetary information on a $32 million construction project. I assigned Maggie, an experienced project manager, to help this team leader organize the financial data. When I confronted him, he admitted to concealing the data from me. Worse, he was not a team player. His team would randomly make changes without notice, which would negatively impact the work of customers, my other team leads, and my peer colleagues in other departments. On multiple occasions, I directed him to act, and he did not follow through. I then asked him to tell me beforehand if he did not understand what I was asking him to do, but he never did. Finally, I said, “You need to tell me if you are not going to do what is asked, so I can get someone else to do it.”

This was the first and only time I fired someone right before the winter holidays. Afterward, several startling gaffes emerged from his lack of oversight of the construction project and his team’s operations. The replacement team leader was light years more capable and always a straight shooter.

Be open and honest with your team leads, and encourage two-way communication. Establishing values, setting expectations, and instituting mutual accountability can be achieved by articulating the values of the organization, making sure your direct reports understand what is expected of them, providing timely feedback, and letting them know this relationship is a two-way street. When encountering dishonesty, take swift action. These are the steps to become an effective leader, and your direct reports will appreciate it.