Assertive Myths

Don’t Let These Myths Undermine Your Success.

If you want your business to run smoothly and produce high
income, you need to deal effectively with your workers.
You need to get them to do the job right, to be efficient
and effective.  They need to be the right person for the
job.  You need to assemble a winning team for your
business, so you can enjoy your work, earn high profits,
and enjoy your life.

One of the hardest tasks facing business owners and
managers is disciplining their workers.  Often they are
reluctant to confront errors, poor work, or other
shortcomings.  Worse, they totally avoid terminating a
worker to the detriment of their company, of themselves and
other workers.

True examples of owners struggling with difficult employees
George had a salesman named Jim.  Jim up was an expert at
playing brinkmanship.  Just when his sales were so low that
he was on the verge of being reprimanded, he’d come in with
an order.  Sometimes, instead of an order, he would come in
with a crisis-like his daughter needing a serious operation.

George put up with Jim for years.  It was costing his
company millions in sales.  Jim was underutilizing a
lucrative territory.  George was always on the verge of
terminating him, but never followed through. As a result,
George suffered tension and anxiety from a having to deal
with Jim.

A similar situation occurred with Sondra.  Her sister,
Jill, tied up a big territory and made few sales.
Furthermore, Jill had an grating personality that created
low morale whenever she showed up at the office.  Sonata
felt she could not fire her own sister.  Like George,
Sondra agonized over this problem for years.

Karl had hired a vice president of operations who turned
out to be very disruptive.  This VP was loud, demanding and
she treated workers unfairly.  Morale was going down the
sewer.  Karl knew he made a mistake in hiring her and he
had to let her go, but he was intimidated.  He spent months
agonizing over the pending confrontation.

The myths that were undermining their success Each of these
owners suffered from the following myths: Myth:  Managers
are responsible for their workers feelings and should not
upset them or make them feel bad.

Myth:  Managers are responsible for solving all their
workers problems.

Myth:  Managers have to keep the goodwill of their workers.

The Truths that set them free Truth: your workers are
responsible for themselves.  They deserve to reap the
rewards and suffer the consequences of their behavior. You
have the right to demand top performance from your people.

Truth: managers are responsible for solving only a limited
area of worker problems, such as providing resources for
the worker to do the job.  Personal problems, such as
coming in late, are the responsibility of the worker.

Truth: managers have the right to be independent of the
goodwill of their workers before coping with them.

When these owners finally realized these truths, they found
the courage to do what was best for the company and
ultimately what was best for the employee.  Each terminated
the inadequate worker.  Sondra took the extra step of
getting approval from other family members before firing
her sister.

Karl rehearsed with his coach what to say to his
bad-tempered VP of operations.  He formulated a simple
bottom-line statement to answer her objections.  She yelled
and screamed at him and each time he responded, “I
understand, but your services are no longer desired.”
After he answered in this way four times, she ran out of
bullets and left.

In each case, the owners reaped many benefits.  Their
stress levels decreased dramatically.  Workers’ morale
improved greatly.  Lastly, productivity and sales shot
through the roof.

Remember, you are not responsible for your workers
feelings.  They are responsible for providing the services
for which you hired them.  You have the right to say, “I
don’t care.”  You have the right to say, “You’re fired.”

Don’t let these myths stand in the way of your success.

—————————————————-
Stan Mann, C.P.C. supports business owners, top executives
and commission salespeople to substantially grow their
business and have a balanced life. He is a Certified
Professional Coach and the author of Triggers: A New
Approach to Self-Motivation. For additional articles and
resources please visit http://www.stanmann.com