The EASE of Leadership

Earlier this month Wally Bock of the Three Star Leadership Blog wrote a blog post offering advice for leaders on how to talk to team members about performance issues.

He describes the 3 Ws: a leader should describe what performance or behavior she wants the team member to change in non-judgmental language, explain why the behavior is worth discussing and what happens as a result of it, and then leader should wait for the team member’s response–the leader could have been misinformed.

These Ws establish the tone of the conversation and I believe are good advice. They reminded me of a similar positive psychological policy that Linda Lee Davies, Nada and I wrote about in Leading for Success. We said a good leader should practice EASE when dealing with burnt out or stressed employees:

Empathy and Evaluation — Take the time to talk about and tackle the issues and really understand them. This sounds very obvious but many ignore the symptoms thinking that they will just go away.

Approachability, Access and Achievement — Being approachable and helping staff break down issues into more manageable pieces can help them achieve more and boost their confidence.

Structure, Security and Safety — A good support structure with regular meetings and reviews can reinforce employees’ sense of worth and help help them feel secure in admitting their own limitations and stretch them with the safety of a helping hand.

Education – Further training may be helpful in strengthening the employee to face their issues. Designing their development will give them extra ammunition against inevitable pressing and changing circumstances.

A great leader will keep EASE in mind when helping employees facing performance issues.