Hey, fellow Leader 🚀,
I am Artur, and welcome to my weekly newsletter. I am focusing on topics like Project Management, Innovation, Leadership, and a bit of Entrepreneurship. I am always open to suggestions for new topics. Feel free to reach out to me and share my newsletter if it helps you in any way.
A new leadership is in town, and some people are eager for the opportunity to show how good they are or fix the wrongs of the previous management. However, there will always be our favorite saboteurs, who quietly shut down ideas behind closed doors or even make themselves victims of the status quo. The truth is, they can be very vocal about disagreeing with everything and everyone, potentially slowing down a project’s progress or any form of execution.
A quick search on Google or your favorite AI tool gives us suggestions on how to best address these specimens of staff, on how we need them to feel loved and appreciated, despite all the passive-aggressive words they throw in the leader’s way. The truth is, there is little that we can do to mitigate or fix.
Let’s Start With Why
For any kind of problem, we need to identify the root cause, and our so-called "detractor friends" are no exception. Why would they be detractors in the first place? It's challenging to find a single recipe that works for everyone because every detractor has their own story:
Some may have had bad experiences in the past that left a bad impression.
Others might feel their opinions have been ignored for years, and now they need to be very vocal to be heard.
It could even be a specific issue, like a problem with HR or their paycheck.
Understanding the root cause is the first step toward finding a solution.
Making Them Lead The Change
Some cases of detractors I have experienced in the past were people who are simply adverse to change because it’s out of their control. One of the best tools I used to deal with people resisting new ideas is to make them part of the change. Give them the keys (a problem to solve) and say, "It’s yours, show me what you can do".
Some might give ideas, and a brainstorming session is happening with our favorite saboteur. All of a sudden, there is this small hope that a detractor is now becoming an agent of change. In some cases, this is enough to see a transformation of a team member. In other instances, we might need to reinforce with one or two team members who are eager to make a change.
However, the secret sauce of this recipe is to make a detractor a key figure in the change, and by letting them have some degree of control. It would be easier for them to tackle the discomfort of whatever change is heading their way.
When It’s All Ego
Some detractors love being the center of the problem. In their view, being difficult is their added value to a project. They make incisive negative comments on any viewpoint and consistently refuse to reinforce any kind of meaningful step forward. Some are indeed very knowledgeable, which is even sadder to see because they have all the right arguments to throw at any situation without providing any meaningful solution.
For these cases, there is little to no recipe to share. Historically, these saboteurs might have been potential leadership choices that never happened, and now they use their knowledge and influence to stall everything. They might believe they should be the ones leading and saving the day. Unfortunately, these kinds of profiles tend to work very badly with other colleagues, where "teamwork" is not part of their vocabulary.
I strongly recommend removing these profiles from project-based solutions and moving them to operational kinds of work. Operations need ideas, but they need execution more. Their knowledge would be capitalized in a real-world scenario where they could help, and it would remove them from projects altogether. Attitude plays a great deal in meritocracy, and a season of routine work would be the "chill pill" many of them deserve.
It Can Be Out Of Your Hand
The root cause is identified, measures were put in place but didn’t work: Houston, we have a problem. It consumes the time, energy, and patience of everyone involved, and the more the person is around, the worse it is for the project to move forward.
It is important to have the detractors identified soon in the project lifecycle with a full view of the person is paying the bills (project sponsor). Because if it becomes evident that results are not coming in, it cannot be a shocker that the attitude was not aligned with the needed actions. A tough decision needs to be made.
In some cases, it might be someone outside of the project who is acting and undermining the project. In this case, that person would need to be accountable for the results as well. If deliverable A is expected to happen in May, and our friend Derek (detractor fictitious character) is throwing all kinds of brakes in the project team, it would be important for the Sponsor to know that Derek would need to present results as well on that deliverable A. Is not pretty, but it’s not nice to have a detractor that you cannot fire. Who is paying for the project need to know which stakeholders are positively working towards the result, and which ones are throwing sand.
That’s it. If you find this post useful, please share it with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in this topic. If you would like to see a different angle, suggest it in the comments or send me a message.
Cheers,
Artur
It's funny, people often try to impose their ideas and change. But forcing ideas on others is like forcing someone’s head underwater. No matter how hard you try, they’ll resist kicking and screaming. They don’t wanna listen because they’re afraid they’ll drown... All and all, well said, Artur.