commitment to change their behavior. Once again, emphasize their positive
qualities and take these as a basis to start from. Do not lose sight of the goal here.
But there will always be many paths that lead to the goal. Thus, not the behaviors
that you might prefer are the best, but the behaviors that both match the qualities of
the employee and lead to the goal. The responsibility for implementing the solution
should remain with the employee.
Make clear agreements. You should make arrangements as to when to get together
and to compare target/actual values again. Be concrete: agree on what has to be
done and when. Here, too, leave the responsibility for your employee’s behavior
with the employee and work with questions instead of pressure. Objectives should
be clearly defined, realistic and involve solid deadlines. And remember that great
goals should be broken down into smaller mini-goals, in order to avoid overwhelm-
ing your employee. These mini-goals also make it possible to give feedback in a
timely manner, which is in turn the prerequisite for the employee knowing what
they have done wrong (or right) and what needs to be changed (or maintained).
Remember that an employee will change their behavior only if they realize that
doing so is beneficial for them. So when you talk about consequences, you should
discuss not only the negative consequences (threat of dismissal, warning, an entry
in their personal file, salary reductions, etc.), but also the positive ones: they may be
given the chance to take on greater responsibilities, be assigned to new and
interesting tasks, or receive a bonus.
Conclusion. At the conclusion of the critical discussion there should always be
praise to ensure a positive end to the interview. You can thank your employee, for
example, for the constructive conversation. Send your employee away with the
feeling that you believe in them and their abilities, that you are confident they will
solve the problem successfully. Give them the feeling that with this interview alone,
they are already well on their way to beating the problem, because this is true. Let
your employee feel that they were not in a critical conversation, but in a regular
“staff meeting.”
Of course, we cannot master critical conversations if we only have theoretical
knowledge and know a few case studies. Without consistent training and systematic
practice, this skill cannot be taken for granted in everyday leadership. We observe
that executives fail time and again to consider the most basic rules. And this brings
us back to the subject of the leader’s personality. Leading means above all leading
one person: yourself.
4.2.5 The Objective Agreement Process
Management by objectives is a well-known management tool; even Peter
F. Drucker mentioned this issue. However, the idea is still not in use everywhere.
Some companies continue to practice authoritarian leadership and use presence –
rather than goals and trust. Objective agreements (i.e., agreements on objectives)
4.2 Tools as Means to an End 225