re-hiring in your new landscape

When you lead a team you didn’t originally hire, or you lead your own team during a period of rugged change, you can find it’s hard to get people motivated. You face a little resistance from them in certain key contexts that weren’t necessarily advertised in the job description.

If you had hired this person in the first place - or if you had known then what you know now about the challenges of the work - you would have told them to expect what you’re now facing. You would have told them, during the early interviews, that a core expectation of the job is succeeding in a situation that looks like this. If that had been so, you wouldn’t be stuck in the mud with this person now. You would be running, together.

But you didn’t do that. Maybe you couldn’t have!

The good news: You can do it now. In your next conversation with your teammate, reset expectations along these lines:

“I have realized that your role has become something in my mind that I didn’t advertise to you when you took the job, which is ___. Success at ____ is going to require ___ of you. I want you to think about whether you’re game for that, because that may not be what you expected.

Don’t tell me here and now - I want to give you the [weekend] to think about it. And, btw, here’s what we’ll do if you’re not up for it (offer available re-assurance: you won’t lose you job, lose pay, etc and/or I’ll support your transition to something else). I’m telling you what the new landscape is and how it’ll feel different and I want you decide if you’re here for that.” 

-Ben