Courageous Leadership: Managing During Change

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1. Accelerator

• Description: Turns up the tempo and is always working. Also described as a workaholic, this employee is always busy, but avoids thinking strategically. The accelerator is afraid to say no to new assignments and additional responsibilities because it might mean losing the job.
• Danger: The employee will burn out.
• How to manage: Help them manage their workload by asking them to delegate and manage others.

2. Phantom

• Description: "If you can’t see me, you can’t hurt me." This employee doesn’t speak up in meetings and is almost invisible.
• Danger: The employee can fade away and lose value to the company.
• How to manage: Reach out to them in meetings or one-on-one to solicit their input. Don’t let them hide but do so compassionately, not aggressively.

3. Destroyer

• Description: This is the most visible employee in a changing workplace. Often agitated, the employee always blames others for mistakes and acts defensively when challenged.
• Danger: The employee is difficult to be around and self-destructive.
• How to manage: Become a safe sounding board for the employee, focusing on facts and helping the employee become more professional in the workplace.

4. Stiff upper lip

• Description: Everything looks fine on the outside but the employee conceals every emotion and fear.
• Danger: The employee can slip into a depression, which is not easy to recognize.
• How to manage: Check in with the employee and ask how things are going. Take one person in the department to lunch each week and talk about concerns – yours as well as the employee’s.

5. Ostrich

• Description: This is the employee who sees nothing and always plans to deal with an issue later.
• Danger:The continual denial of the situation leaves the employee unprepared for what can happen.
• How to manage: Get them to face reality by saying "I know you don’t want to think about this but here is the situation. How do you feel about the situation?"

6. Class clown

• Description: The class clown uses humor to distract people and avoid difficult issues.
• Danger: Co-workers are distracted from their own responsibilities.
• How to manage: Set clear limits about the use of jokes in the office.

7. Quit and stay

• Description: This employee is apathetic, cynical and not motivated, doing only the minimum amount of work to stay employed.
• Danger: This is potentially the most dangerous employee because the apathy and mediocrity can be contagious. Other employees wonder why they should work hard when this employee isn’t working.
• How to manage: Hold the person accountable for actions. If you can’t get this employee to engage in conversation about the apathy, look at moving the person to another department or to a different position within the current department. Sometimes sitting in a different "chair" gives an employee a new perspective.

8. Solid citizen

• Description: A high level of self-confidence, awareness that there are other job options and a positive attitude toward job are the hallmarks of the solid citizen.
• Danger: This is a valuable employee and the one a company is most likely to lose if a better opportunity is offered.
• How to manage:
• Keep the solid citizen engaged and be clear that you want this employee to stay. Provide leadership opportunities and let the employee see a potential to grow.