In management, the moment you stop believing an employee can change, the relationship is already broken.
I know it’s an enormous relief to label someone as “unmanageable” when you are struggling with an employee, but before you write them off, step back and examine how many approaches you’ve tried.
Once, I coached a manager who was frustrated that one of his direct reports kept forgetting to do some of their tasks.
He addressed the issue twice verbally and once over a Teams chat. I asked him to pull it up and share his screen. I read the message, and it was polite, direct, and clearly communicated.
After reading it, I said, “So, you’ve told them to stop forgetting things twice already, and nothing has changed. What makes you believe telling them a third time will get a different outcome?”
That’s when it clicked for him. He wasn’t changing the way he performed his job, so why is he expecting his employee to change how they do theirs?
👉 Getting frustrated that your employees aren’t improving when you’re only using one leadership approach is often a sign you’re being inflexible.
Now, if you’re trying different techniques and someone continues to ignore feedback, resists support, and their behavior starts damaging the team, you might have to let them go.
Leadership is about holding beliefs and boundaries at the same time. You believe in people. You support their growth. But you also protect the team.
💡 There’s a line between patience and passivity. And finding that line is where real leadership lives.
When’s the last time you found yourself telling an employee something for the third time and hoping for different results?
References: Haley J. Learning and Teaching Therapy. Guilford Press; 1996.
Post Title: Believing an employee can’t change is just a convenient excuse to stop trying.
Why Believing Employees Can’t Change Hinders Leadership
