You can’t avoid it. At some point in your leadership career, someone will call you a bad boss (whether directly or indirectly).
In that moment, you have a choice. How are you going to respond?
Here are two key skills I encourage my clients to practice when they’re faced with this situation:
1. Curiosity
Anytime an employee presents you with feedback or a complaint or even just an abnormal attitude, the best way to respond is with curiosity. Try to understand where they are coming from and the factors that are leading them to this moment.
2. Self-awareness
It can be easy to write off your employee’s comments as emotionally driven or even inappropriate. But if there is any area where you reflect and see that you were wrong, take accountability for it. Every leader has blindspots, and without feedback, it’s hard to discover them.
If you handle these conversations well, you can use them to fuel growth for both you and your employee.
What else would you add?
Let's face it. If you are going to hold people accountable and tell them to do things they do not want to do, odds are that somebody will call you a bad leader. That might or might not be true. Context is important as are the perceptions of followers.