Crucial Accountability
How to Deliver “Tough Love” With Respect
Dear Crucial Skills, Earlier this year, I mentored a team member who was taking on additional responsibilities and learning new processes. As she was not a new employee, I expected her onboarding to go quickly and smoothly, and became frustrated when she was not growing in her independence...
Opinion—Accountability is A Key To Changing Police Culture
This op-ed from Joseph Grenny and his colleagues Tim Stay and Dave Durocher at The Other Side Academy was recently published in The Deseret News. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, cities and municipalities across the nation are desperately trying to find solutions...
How to Make Virtual Meetings More Engaging and Effective
Dear Crucial Skills, We are learning how to use videoconferencing as our new meeting platform. Do you have tips for facilitating meetings to promote participation and feedback, as many people seem uncomfortable because they can’t read non-verbal cues from others? Also, do you have...
How to Lead a Company Through the COVID-19 Crisis
March 2020 will go down in history as the month that changed everything. In a matter of weeks, the novel coronavirus spread rapidly across the globe, rocking governments, stock markets, healthcare systems, education systems, entertainment, travel, you name it. Seemingly, nothing was spared....
Confronting a Sick Colleague
Dear Crucial Skills, With the recent H1N1 scare, I would appreciate any advice on approaching colleagues in a healthcare institution—usually managers and MDs—to stay home when they are sick rather than feel obligated to come to work. I would also appreciate any advice on motivating them to...
Asking for a Raise
Dear Crucial Skills, How can I convince my manager to give me the promotion and pay raise I am owed? This year I came back into mainstream office activity after resolving some personal problems. I got more and more responsibility over the course of the year and my supervisor reassured me he...
How to Foster Accountability in a Tight-Knit Culture
Dear Crucial Skills, Our organization is non-profit with a family-oriented culture. Unfortunately, we act like a family that has no accountability. Instead of holding people to account, our approach is to avoid and dumb down. No one is ever fired for poor performance. People arrive late, fail...
Responding to False Accusations
Dear Crucial Skills, One of my coworkers said I didn’t involve him in a decision I made, but I did. I told him I relayed his input—he is the expert in this area—to another person, as he asked me to do. He said I made the decision to meet with this person without inviting him. When I try to...
How to Hold Your CEO Accountable
Dear Crucial Skills, I am on the leadership team of an organization that is in the beginning stages of a significant cultural change. In reflecting on the work in front of us, I realized that I do not trust the CEO to lead us through this change. This is a person I like and respect, but it...
How to Deal with Delicate Workplace Issues
Dear Crucial Skills, I have a coworker who has FMLA approval (Federal Medical Leave Act), and I think she abuses it. She doesn’t come to work on time. Multiple times she has run out of the office, citing various personal issues—issues not related to her FMLA approved issues. We have all agreed...
Transforming a Negative Environment
Dear Crucial Skills, I am a mid-level manager in human services, and support a twenty-one person staff. Nineteen of these team members have a professional approach to their work, manage their emotions appropriately, and are respectful to others. However, two team members are constantly...
Confronting Bad Table Manners
Dear Crucial Skills, I am having problems at family mealtimes. My husband’s table manners are not good—he eats like a hungry animal and spoils the dining experience. I have done my best to ignore his behavior over the years, but my teenage daughter is upset by it and I think his manners...
