- Let sleeping dogs lie. I avoid direct confrontation.
- I make corrections quickly. I make sure things are fixed and working properly.
- Before doing anything I prefer to investigate exactly what happened. Then I will make necessary changes.
- Being honest and maintaining my integrity.
Problems are not to be avoided. They are to be dealt with in a businesslike and professional manner. Polonius’s advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet, was “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” There is an extra benefit in following this advice: If you are the subject of the honesty. In this case a little diplomacy can go a long way to soothing ruffled feathers.
Dealing with an honest person, you will never have to endure the wishy-washy style of someone trying to avoid direct confrontation. Avoiding confrontation is a costly behaviour that wastes a great deal of energy and time. Confront them and they will either deny that problem even exists or worse, give you a sense that they know all about the problem and are working on it but are not. These same people can also be great procrastinators who never deal with problems directly. This becomes apparent when internal conflicts arise. As a manager this person is a cancer to the whole team and should be removed from a leadership role.
Another style that appears to be similar is the controller that prefers to “investigate” before making “changes.” It may appear that they are procrastinating as they take more time to make a decision, but that is where the similarity ends. These leaders are generally balanced in their approach too management as they realize that anyone can have a bad day. They gather the information they need to make an independent decision. They often wait before taking corrective action, which builds credibility while resolving the situation at the same time. If they need to make changes, they will do it behind closed doors or at times when the individual can speak freely.
