How do you treat a teammate when they fail? (208-2)

Every leader will have some teammates that fail regardless of the leader’s mentoring or interpersonal skills. Read Luke 22:1-6.

The Bible tells us that at times there were hundreds of people that followed Jesus all over Judea and called themselves His disciples. From His many dedicated followers Jesus chose an inner circle of 12 that He mentored and gave significant amount of personal time. Yet, even though Jesus is the one perfect leader to walk the face of the earth, one from His inner circle betrayed Him. If in leadership very long, every leader will have a similar experience.

The wise leader does not confuse negative behavior with betrayal. There are times when a teammate simply creates tension on a team by withholding effort, expressing inappropriate negative comments, or violating important interpersonal norms causing defensive reactions, verbal outbursts or lack of participation by others on the team. For these behavior issues there are a few things a leader can do:

• Confront the problem, head on – Do not delay action assuming the problem will fix itself.
• Point out the behaviors that are causing problems – It is important to be specific and to focus on behaviors without making personal attacks.
• Determine action steps to correct the behavior – Involve the “failing” teammate in the solution to help insure their commitment to the process.
• Hold your teammate accountable to changing their behavior – If there is no improvement in the behavior causing problems consequences must be initiated even up to termination.

When there is outright betrayal by a teammate, leaders can learn a valuable leadership lesson from Jesus. Jesus did not allow Judas’ betrayal to shape His treatment of the rest of the team. The Bible tells us that Jesus sought out His team after His resurrection from the dead, forgave them for their failures and reminded them of their assignments. Effective leaders keep their remaining team focused on the mission and do not allow the “betrayer” to have influence even after they have left.