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Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

Your best employee has suddenly become unhappy and difficult. You don't want to lose her, but the whole team is suffering. Find out what you can do to turn things around.

Speaker: Leila Bulling-Towne, executive coach, The Bulling-Towne Group

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Tags: House, Correction, Team Management, Management, Leila's House of Corrections, achievers, top performers, bad attitude, unhappy

 
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    1

    Viejita

    08/27/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    What can the immediate supervisor do if the problem is this: The high achiever sees others with less success, less experience and fewer qualifications, but better connections in the organization, consistently moving into higher paying and more prestigious positions than she has. Is this just a case of helping her get out of a dead-end situation?

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    2

    Bearjeep

    08/27/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    While I have to appreciate the tread carefully, it is important to first seek to understand before being understood. These are very scary times to many employees as well as times where families are experiencing extreme pressures from all directions. Whether it is an out of control teen at home, an abusive husband (or wife), whether or not the employee is waiting for a breast biopsy (again folks, male breast cancer is real) managers can not make summary decisions about just inflicting consequences upon an employee. Furthermore, although the company has a reasonable performance expectation, companies exist to profit off the employee's performance. Notice the recommendation is, if you just can't get happy, you need to move on. Humans are not machines that should be thrown out. Where is the offer of paid leave, an employee assistance program? I'm sorry, does the company offer fully paid health care. Are health care bills for a family member getting them down. Yes, high achiever, well, things happen to them too, and sometimes, the company should fully and unconditionally support their employees. Profit and GREED are not what makes the world go around. At least not mine.
    To Post 1. If the organization is so corrupt that the political connections or physical are promoting past someone who is truly more qualified, then one has to ask: is this the type of place I want to work, am I being discriminated against and am I apart of a protected group or class. Do I want to work here, can I bring the organization to its knees with a lawsuit or do I need to move on. Good luck.

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    3

    kellnerp

    08/28/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    If the manager is so out of touch with reports that the manager has to make a special effort to gather examples then she may very well have put her finger on the problem.

    There is an old saying, "Before you take the speck out of your neighbor's eye, take the log out of your own."

    The final chapter in Leila's presentation and the quick arrival at that point suggests that the whole play is about getting the report to leave and not to resume performing. It makes no sense and this type of action is likely to sap whatever spark is left in a high achiever. A top achiever who is off the game is a problem with marginal results, not a flat out work stoppage. High achievers are generally driven by something other than money or perks and if the manager doesn't know what that is from day one and keep tabs on it the problem is the manager's.

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    4

    Bearjeep

    08/29/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    Four follow-up thoughts:

    1. Meetings that can involve an employee's future or could reasonably lead to discipline (or the perception of disciplinary actions) should NEVER be held on a Friday. Employees need the availability of professional services whether their attorney or a mental health professional or counselor or pastor.

    2. "Clinical depression is not a choice" was an article written by Caroline Hax from the Washington Post column "Tell Me About It." She suggests that employees and co-workers of a person who is frustrating, boring, angry, "depressing" to be around seek out a booklet from the National Institute of Mental health on "How Family and Friends Can Help the Depressed Person." It quotes, "Do not ... expect him or her to 'snap out of it.'" You can learn more from http://nimh.nih.gov

    3. Persons charged with the "care and feeding" or "motivating" others are of no help to their charges or the organization for which they receive compensation when they are uninformed and judgmental.

    4. When charged with making a decision about the life of another person, and one can choose between the "Right" thing or the "Kind" thing, a true challenge of moral character is to do the "Kind" thing.

    I'll stop before I need my own blog...

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    5

    jwtampa1

    09/01/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    I believe this particular video offers good advice. Nothing in this video suggests negative, cruel or unthinking intentions.

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    6

    LeilaBT

    09/01/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    Thanks, viejita, bearjeff, kellnerp, and jwtampa1 for the thoughts.

    In 3 mins of video, many concepts are simplified: they have to be. I feel most viewers get that.

    My experience shows me that a great deal of managers over or under manage the wrong tasks or behaviors. They also tend to try to fix things that can't be fixed.

    I feel motivation is one concept that is very difficult to repair, especially in a top performer who is unhappy.

    I'm not advocating to push such individuals out of an organization, yet I do want managers to think more about what is possible and what is impossible, very hard to accomplish, etc.

    When coaching leaders 1:1 and facilitating workshops, I consistently see people who breathe a sigh of relief when they learn that it's OK to help an individual to decide if staying put is the best decision for everyone and the organization. It's not mean, it's not cruel, it's not heartless. It's not done inside the bubble of "we are a for-profit company so making money is #1."

    Leila Bulling Towne
    Executive Coach & Organizational Development Consultant
    The Bulling Towne Group, LLC
    +1.800.789.8449
    http://www.thebullingtownegroup.com

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    7

    prshri

    10/06/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    1. Communicating with employees openly and in a timely manner is critical. This should help address some concerns!

    2. It would be prudent to check if this situation points to a generic issue within the organisation that can be fixed!

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    8

    inveng

    10/07/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    This video is very real, and is how many companies think right now. HR from those companies is "educated" to think that way. "Managers" do not want to bother on those "perceived" troublesome "unhappy achievers". And it might be the right way for many situations. However, it is the easiest way for everybody, including the "perceived" troublesome "unhappy achievers" because companies do not have the capacity to "serve" those achievers.

    Workplace has become very political. Many times those achievers have a real long-term vision for the company but they are constantly ignored for many reasons. Many times managers take advantage of them to the point of "no return".

    What this video teaches is the reality. What this video does not teach is better ways to handle the "cancer" in organizations and how to "eradicate" that cancer.

    This video does not address alternative routes:
    1. Give the over-achiever a department to start
    2. Give the over-achiever a task to implement in the company
    3. Give the over-achiever a time for management
    4. Give the over-achiever a chance to do a rotation to another department, if the over-achiever prefers it
    5. Give the over-achiever a chance to tell you what immediate projects and long-term projects are missing in the company
    6. Give the over-achiever a chance to explain their strategy and vision for business
    7. Give the over-achiever to make projects their own
    8. Give the over-achiever more decision-making responsibilities
    ?? The list goes on and on.

    Is this something coaches would ever recommend? Clearly is missing in this video

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    9

    LeilaBT

    10/07/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

    Hi inveng,

    Fabulous list--and one of the reasons why the videos are 3 minutes long, and the comments afterwards create the discussion of the concept the videos kick off.

    The list you provide is relevant, I feel, to the over-achiever who has NOT spent months, consistently, perhaps years, indicating his/her frustration and general unhappiness at work. It provides appropriate ideas for managers who have identified some of their direct reports as "high potential" and are looking for ways to continue their professional growth within the company.

    For an employee who has NOT been meeting expectations for a good amount of time (say 3-6 months, at least, and consistently) and his/her manager has been actively trying to engage the person and learn what is going on, I'm not going to advocate that the employee be given a list of options like you provide.

    Why not? I feel that tells other employees that the unhappy high achiever (now a former high achiever) is being rewarded based on past accomplishments. And he/she received that opportunity through constant miserable behavior.

    When their managers first approach them and inquire about their change of behavior and efforts, a good deal of high achievers honestly declare what is bothering them and share ideas for solutions. They don't sit and stew and draw attention and allow others to be distracted by their negativity.

    Regards,

    Leila

    Leila Bulling Towne
    Executive Coach & Organizational Development Consultant
    The Bulling Towne Group, LLC
    +1.800.789.8449
    http://www.thebullingtownegroup.com

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Managing Unhappy High Achievers |Leila's House of Corrections

Your best employee has suddenly become unhappy and difficult. You don't want to lose her, but the whole team is suffering. Find out what you can do to turn things around.

Has one of your top performing employees ever become short-tempered and hard to deal with? Someone who has a been star player for years? You can't afford to ignore this behavior, so come on managers, let's talk about unhappy high achievers.

How do we sustain high performance--in ourselves and our direct reports? Research from the book The High Achiever's Guide to Happiness states that the vast majority--over 90%--of top achievers are unhappy in one way or another. As managers, what can we do to address this challenge? Here's how to start. 

#1: Gather details by observing patterns of behavior.

We all have bad days, even bad weeks. If you suspect a stellar employee is losing his enthusiasm for his role, collect several examples, ones you've observed and ones other employees have shared. You need facts before you tackling this awkward, fuzzy, and somewhat subjective situation.

#2: Call out the behavior and its end results.

When you have many examples and see a pattern, you need to speak to the employee and explain what you've noticed and how the behavior is negatively affecting team productivity, customer retention, or revenue generation. It's crucial you speak to the consequence of the employee's conduct. You can start the conversation like this, "Angela, I've noticed in the last few months that your enthusiasm for your work, your drive to exceed goals isn't as evident as it has been in the past."

#3: Share ideas and make suggestions, not recommendations.

Once the employee acknowledges that, yes, she's frustrated and unhappy, the first thing you must do is listen to what the employee has to say - this person has traditionally been a high achiever, you don't want them to leave the organization without trying to find solutions.. Once you've heard them out ask what you can do to help.  Ask specific questions about resources, barriers, and opportunities. "What do you need from me or others that would increase your engagement?" "What or who is in the way at work?" or "Tell me about the projects and people you wish to work with."

If these conversations don't improve the situation and if the behavior persists and business continues to suffer you need to move delicately. You may want to broach the topic that if the employee isn't happy, she has a choice to make about whether or not to stay at the company. Tread carefully. Suggest, don't recommend. For example, "Angela, I want you to be happy and like your work. And I want this company and our team to succeed. If what you want isn't here, can you envisage it somewhere else?