Kill the monster

You cannot bury a monster. You have to kill it first or it will rise up and terrorize all in its wake.

Once a problem has been discovered never threaten or bully the informed with organized silence. A management strategy of panic will only bury your hard work, sacrifice and butt kissing. The truth always comes to the surface with a scream for attention.

A gravedigger who helped expose an alleged scheme to dig up graves and resell plots at a suburban Chicago cemetery says he only spoke up after another worker warned him to keep his mouth shut or risk losing his job.

Every problem has a correct solution. Your job is to isolate it and solve it. Get moving and assign tasks designed to:

1.    Communicate the problem to all impacted
2.    Identify the root of the problem
3.    Devise a short term solution to isolate the problem
4.    Develop a long term plan to fix the problem

Now is the time for leadership not cowardice. A veil of silence will not encourage trust or innovation by your staff. Two-way communication is essential to identifying the cause and creating a long-term solution.

Remind your team that they have the “right stuff” and a little teamwork will end the crisis. This approach will solve the problem and more importantly enlighten those watching from above of your effective management skills.

Talent always rises to the top, kill the monster.

“I ain’t a hero,” said the 26-year-old whistleblower, who came to Burr Oak more than a year ago. “I had my mouth closed too long.” – Willie Esper

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Tags: burr oak, butt, correct solution, cowardice, effective management skills, hero, innovation, job, leadership, long term solution, management strategy, monster, right stuff, sacrifice, scream, Teamwork, truth, veil of silence, whistleblower

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 4:39 am and is filed under Leading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.