Leading knowledge workers avoid these 5 leadership sins

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According to the latest studies, the average employee is delivering only 50% of what they are capable of offering to your organization. As a leader, you’re frustrated by this lack of performance. You’d like to clone your high performers so you can become more results oriented like the entrepreneurial companies you see in the marketplace.

To capture the talents and potential of today’s knowledge workers, you must recognize the dramatic rise in numbers of these employees. Knowledge workers are the individuals who use their ‘brains’ instead of their ‘brawn’ to get work done. These are the information specialists, researchers, marketing and sales experts whose talents drive the success of your business. To ensure high performance — you must manage these talented individuals differently than employees of the past. Their talents can help you take your business to the top. But like a spirited racehorse, they must be handled with care.

Avoid these five deadly sins and you’ll capture knowledge workers’ discretionary energy and build enthusiasm:

#1. Focus only on what’s wrong.
The “no news is good news” approach to leading knowledge workers is a receipt for disaster. You might think that if employees aren’t screwing up, they don’t need to hear from you. But knowledge workers want to be recognized. They need your attention. Recognize progress and give recognition to foster their talents and help them move in the right direction and fuels their enthusiasm. Avoid focusing only on what’s wrong and acknowledge what’s going right.

#2. Ignore poor performers.
High-performing knowledge workers want you to deal with poor performers — otherwise the problem lands in their lap. You must address performance challenges by coaching the employee, reassigning the individual to an area where their talents are best suited—or remove them altogether. In either case, pay attention to problems and take corrective action. Don’t let laggards linger, derail your progress and de-motivation other employees.

#3. Overlook boredom and talent misfit.
Job uncertainty and fear may prevent employees from speaking up about a change that’s needed. It’s your job to notice when individuals lost interest, struggle in their current position, or slack off for some unknown reason. Address these issues head on instead of allowing them to continue. There’s no joy in just getting by. You don’t help employees by allowing a bad fit to continue. Tough love with self and others is part of moving into the new economy.

#4. Let them say ‘YES’ to everything.
Help knowledge workers curb their appetite to work on interesting projects that are unrelated to business priorities. No matter how exciting a project is, you must help employees discern: “Is this project contributing to the goals of the business? Can I justify the time and energy I’m spending on it? Will this initiative help us achieve the outcomes we want?” Many times, knowledge workers bite off more than they can chew. A wise leader helps employees set limits and say ‘no’—for their own sake as well as for the business.

#5. Fail to give feedback.
In corporate life, no one wants to hear: “This isn’t working.” But individuals need to know when their attitudes and behaviors are causing others a problem. No matter how exceptional the person is, he or she can make a mistake — sometimes without knowing it. A wise leader helps individuals recognize problems and learn from problems. Don’t wait until there is a crisis to raise a touchy subject and give feedback. Regular feedback helps employees grow.

Your primary role as a leader is to help knowledge workers contribute their talents. Involve them in key decisions and welcome their input. Encourage collaboration with others who will stretch their minds and capabilities. Make sure employee talents are visible, seen and appreciated by others in the organization. Remember, knowledge workers want to use their talents to help your business grow. Put these ideas into action and watch teamwork and performance skyrocket!

Keeping conflict in perspective

A friend told me about a conflict she was having with her next door neighbor.

Due to a misunderstanding the neighbor was pretty upset, so much so that when they passed on the street and my friend said hello and reached out to shake his hand, he withdrew it, avoided eye contact, muttered a monotone “hi” and quickly walked past her.

She felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. Stunned, she walked back to her house wondering what had just happened. It was even more upsetting because she’d communicated with this man about the confusion that had initially caused the conflict, and she thought that he’d understood her point of view. She wanted to find out what went wrong, but he clearly didn’t want to discuss it.

We talked about the incident for a while, brainstorming strategies that would help her deal with this unexpected blow, but eventually I left her to think it over on her own.

A surprise attack is one of the hardest conflicts to handle. It’s a shock to the system. Often the first reaction (after your heartbeat returns to normal) is to blame the other person or to blame yourself and to get caught in endless internal dialogue about who's at fault and what to do next.

Regardless of the cause, a troubling conflict may take time to untangle and can disrupt our lives while it's going on. We lose our balance and often operate on half-power, the other half working non-stop to figure out where to assign blame and (as much as possible) to justify our own actions. If it's disturbing enough we lose focus at work and at home, have difficulty making even routine decisions, and spend wakeful nights deliberating over the best way to handle it. It's hard to do anything wholeheartedly until it's resolved.

I felt a lot of empathy for my friend. I've been there and it's no fun. One of the ways I tried to help was to listen when she needed to talk, and I suggested she take care of herself during the process of unraveling the situation. Conflict is hard on the body, on the mind and on the spirit, and there are strategies that can help us keep perspective and move the conflict toward a positive resolution.

• Breathe and find your balance. A conflict can unbalance us with strong emotions and feelings of unworthiness, anger, sadness, and frustration. Don't avoid these emotions, but rather treat them as guides. Appreciate and observe as you might observe a play. There is a lot of power in this emotional energy, and as you breathe and watch, you'll find a way to use it that's in line with your best purpose.

• Take the long view. It’s so easy to get caught in the turmoil of the conflict that we forget there will be a tomorrow. Take some quiet moments to close your eyes and see yourself in the future with the conflict resolved. Imagine how you'll feel with the problem behind you. What would you like the relationship to look like a month from now, a year? Meanwhile, eat well, go to bed at regular hours, laugh and allow yourself to forget the problem occasionally. This may not be easy, but it's effective. Allow your inner wisdom to work silently while you continue to engage in life.

• Reframe. Step outside the conflict momentarily. Instead of resisting it, ask yourself if there is a gift here – an invitation to look at the problem differently or to try out a new behavior. Acknowledge the other person by stepping into their shoes. Why are they behaving this way? What do they want? How would you feel if you were in their position?

• Practice. Brainstorm all possible responses to this situation and try them on for size. Get a friend and role-play alternatives you think you'd never choose because they're so unlike your usual persona. Have fun exercising unexplored selves.

• Count your blessings. Notice the good things in your life. Cultivate gratitude and wonder.

After brainstorming many options my friend decided to write a letter to her neighbor. She refrained from justifying her own actions. Instead, she acknowledged his feelings and offered to talk with him about the situation. They began to talk and, over time, came to be good neighbors again.

Some questions to help you practice good conflict management:

1. What happens when you're surprised by conflict?

2. How do you usually behave, and how is it different from what you would like to do?

3. Think about the last time you experienced this kind of "surprise attack." How did you handle it? What might you have done differently? What next steps will you take?

Conflict can cause us to lose sight of the big picture -- of what we truly want in life, why we're here, and what's important -- or to see it more clearly. In "The Magic of Conflict," author Thomas Crum says, "our quality of life depends not on what happens to us, but on what we do with what happens to us." This feels true, doesn't it? Making it operational is the key to finding our power.