Abrasive employees rub their coworkers the wrong way. The aggressive management style of abrasives creates interpersonal friction that grates on subordinates, peers, superiors and even customers, paralyzing productivity and disrupting the smooth flow of work.
These disruptive individuals also present particular challenges from the Human Resources perspective as HR professionals must deal with distressed employees who feel marginalized by them, as well as senior managers who are often reluctant to take the bull by the horns and rein in the abrasive manager.
One of the key challenges of teamwork and leadership is when to bring up items of concern and when not to. Should you give the feedback, or let it go? Point out the problem you see (that no one else seems to), or “be supportive” (and see what happens)? One obviously cannot bring up every issue that might be a problem. But in my experience people tend not to address items that need to be brought up, rather than the other way around.
Sometimes the most important feedback is the hardest for us to hear. I have learned a simple way to give difficult feedback to someone is defensive or resisting.
How can you say such a thing!
My wife and I have been very happily married for over 25 years but have also had our challenging times. Many years ago my wife and I were meeting with a marriage counselor and my wife was giving me some feedback, which I was rejecting as as totally unreasonable and unfounded. Not only was I…
Feedback is the oil in the engine of teamwork: keep it flowing and the engine can operate at a high level with no damage, let it dry up and your engine could seize up or fail completely, potentially beyond repair.
Feedback is avoided for many reasons: fear of an emotional reaction, fear of retaliation, or the lack of a strategy for having the conversation…..
