5 seconds of guts

Bess had a problem with Rajiv, one of her clients, who kept going around her to communicate directly with her team, sometimes behind her back.

It caused chaos. Bess’s employees felt like they had two bosses. Rajiv was frustrated with their taking too long because they of course followed up with Bess and struggled with what he was asking.

She lived in fear of losing the client, who was one of her largest…until her staff started avoiding Rajiv. One even asked to be taken off the project.

How did Bess handle it? With direct feedback and a request.

“Rajiv, when you don’t communicate through me and go direct to my team, it causes frustration for everyone, including you and me. Can you agree right now to only communicate through me?”

Rajiv didn’t like it but after talking it out, and hearing the reasons explained calmly and non-judgmentally, he ultimately complied.

All too often, we let our fears of discomfort prevent us from removing the obstacles we know we need to address.

All it takes is 5 seconds of guts.