Tough Love, Strong Teams

Currently refreshing my memory on Radical Candor by Kim Scott. These quotes are amazing:

The best way to keep superstars happy is to challenge them and make sure they are constantly learning.

And the polar opposite:

As you probably know, for every piece of subpar work you accept, for every missed deadline you let slip, you begin to feel resentment and then anger. You no longer just think the work is bad: you think the person is bad. This makes it harder to have an even-keeled conversation. You start to avoid talking to the person at all.

As a leader, it can get very tough. Or at least it might seem that way. You might have the most amazing relationship with your direct report; you might even call it friendship. But if the person doesn't perform, you have to address it.

And the solutuion is actually quite obvious….you have to call it out and address it as it's your direct responsibility as a manager. And if you consider yourself a friend as well.

The alternative is all downsides: you're not doing your job, you're not helping your friend by denying them an opportunity to learn and you're also dropping the team standards.

Your team operates at its weakest link and helping that person helps everyone.