When a decision affects someone’s grade, paycheck or playing time, tell them in person.
LEADERSHIP
WHAT THIS MEANS
How someone finds out becomes part of what happened to them. A message or a posted list makes a hard decision feel like something done from a distance, and that is what they remember long after the decision itself stops stinging. Being there is harder for you and considerably easier for them.
If you have news like that coming, deliver it face to face even when a text would be far simpler. Say it early in the conversation rather than burying it. Then stay long enough to hear whatever they want to say back.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What news have you sent by text that deserved speaking?
MORE IN LEADERSHIP & INFLUENCE
- When you hand someone a job, hand them the authority to do it. Responsibility without power is just stress.
- When you get a leadership role, write down why you wanted it. Read it again when the job gets annoying.
- You won’t change a whole school at once. Change one person’s mind, then ask them to help with the next.
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