How to Have a Tough Conversation
Gregg Majewski, founder and CEO, Craveworthy Brands, Chicago, Ill., also finds his hardest conversations are internal and must be approached carefully. “If you do it right, you can build a person up and continue to develop them. If you come in too harsh, it can backfire,” he says. Majewski suggests mixing in some good with the bad, so you don’t completely demoralize a staff member. “People on your team are the hardest because there’s the relationship: You care about them and want them to be successful. So, my role is to give them the tools they need.” Be direct, Majewski says, and tell them what they did wrong, but leave them with something positive — something great they’ve done, too. Majewski tries to keep an open relationship with his employees to make conversations easier. And if there’s a problem, he jumps in immediately to talk to the employee “because the person usually knows it’s coming,” he says.
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