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LEADING THE UNLEADABLE: HOW TO MANAGE MAVERICKS, CYNICS, DIVAS, AND OTHER DIFFICULT PEOPLE
yy lan Willett. New York: AMACOM, 2017. 225 pages.
Alison was leading a project at work that was extremely important to the company's executives. But trouble was brewing. The project was falling far behind on its deadlines. And the project team was blaming Carl, who was showing up late to meetings, and once he showed up, he wasn't fully engaged. His work was behind schedule and sloppy. His lack of energy was starting to affect the rest of the team, and Alison realized she had to act soon.
That is part of one of several case studies from the book Leading the Unleadable: How to Manage Mavericks, Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People. Author Alan Willett writes that leaders often ignore their people problems for too long because of fear of conflict. And if they act on the problem, they often handle the situation poorly. Also, the difficult person might be tough to replace, or the leader might have a c l o s e re l a t io ns h ip w it h t h a t d i ffi c u l t p er - son.
If the supervisor doesn't act to deal with the difficult person, that can affect others who have to work with that person, meaning other employees might leave the company before the difficult person. The reverse is a l s o b a d . Te r m i n a t i n g a d i ffi c u l t...