For the next several months the DES newsletter will contain leadership ideas developed in the book Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. The book uses stories to illustrate leadership concepts. Although the book is designed to assist those in management positions improve and develop leadership skills, the concepts illustrated should be broadly interpreted and can be used by everyone. Please take time to consider how the ideas presented could be beneficial to you. 

Thank you, Greg Pulte for preparing these each month.

The fourth installment presents readers with a difficult situation in which a manager must confront a star employee with a behavioral issue.

Imagine if you were in a situation in which two of the superstar performers within your organization had just left to pursue better opportunities. A third superstar performer, Michael, is very good at his job and has a good relationship with all of the members of the team. He is dependable, consistent, and knowledgeable. Sadly you have discovered that he has been drinking on the job. You have spoken with him about it, and he has said he realizes that this behavior is wrong but he is dealing with some personal issues and he is trying to cope as best he can.

You have told Michael that you understand but using alcohol during hours of operation is against the team’s code of behavior and against company policy. Michael is written a warning letter stating that the next violation of this policy will result in termination.

Several weeks later, as you are walking down the hallway past Michael’s office, you notice he is pouring scotch into his mug of coffee. You quickly pass by and Michael does not notice your observation. To your knowledge no one else is aware of this situation. If human resources knew you would have been asked to terminate this employee already. You feel for him because you know he is struggling and you really want to help him. 

If you let Michael go, you will have three open positions and you will have lost a third superstar performer. What you want to do is to forget what you saw and hope it does not happen again.

In this situation you must consider the following issues:

1) Does Michael understand the organization’s policy about drinking on the job?

Yes, he signed a document stating he understood the policy and its consequences. Are the policy and your expectations fair? Yes. So what is the right thing to do?

The right thing would be to terminate his employment despite the fact that it would put you in a situation where you have three open positions and you have lost another superstar performer.

Your job is to raise the top for long-term success, not for short term convenience. Short-term results are easy to achieve, you can threaten people, pay them more, or give them what they want. Achieving long-term results is difficult. It requires establishing a code of behavior that must be followed and providing accurate feedback. It requires delivering both positive and negative consequences based on the decisions employees make. This requires courage to do the right thing.

2)      Do you subscribe to the ‘Do Right’ rule? A manager must ‘Do Right’ even when no one is watching! Living with the ‘Do Right’ rule is tough because it requires discipline, commitment, and courage.

3)      Do you think you are the only who recognizes the problem? Many times the manager is the last to know about a problem on a team. Usually a manager only sees a small part of the whole, like the tip of an iceberg. Above the water you only see a small piece of the ice, but what lies beneath is much larger, more powerful, and much more dangerous. The closer you are to a situation, the more you see.

4) Everything counts when it comes to your leadership. If you believe ignoring the problem doesn’t matter, you are wrong. You are always leading, even when you are ignoring the problem. Your team does not care if your organization has an ethics department or a compliance officer, what matters to your team is that you have ethics. Your team is depending on you to do what is right. Ignoring issues puts your integrity at risk. If you lose your integrity you will not be able to develop or maintain trust, the very basis of relationships. You must guard your integrity as if it is your most precious leadership possession, because that is precisely what is it!