The Art of Leadership

Chapter 15. Say the Hard Thing

On my short list of critical leadership skills, the ability to “say the hard thing” is right after “delegate until it hurts.” The majority of people-related disasters I’ve created have originated with my choice to not say the hard thing.

I didn’t give feedback when behavior was off because the person was new and I told myself, “Give them time to adjust. They’re new.” A month later the unchecked behavior had grown (because I hadn’t said anything), but I didn’t give feedback again because, ya know, in a month we’re doing formal feedback so I’ll just give it then, right?

The difficulty with saying the hard thing is you know how it will feel to hear the hard thing. You’re projecting yourself into the mind of the receiver and literally feeling their reaction. Thank you for being an empathic leader. However, your job, the work you should value the most, is helping your team grow. Compliments and recognition are one way to highlight exceptional work, but saying the hard thing always gets their attention.

The Voice in Your Head

There’s a constant voice in your head. That voice is saying each of the words you read here right now. You have mapped this voice to what you consider the Rands voice to be, but it’s not my voice. It is what you want the Rands voice to sound like, and it’s entirely your creation.

Hi. You’re awesome.

This voice works in your favor. It translates everything you experience into digestible constructs that you can understand, and it often ...