Put a Pin in That Passion!
A How-To Guide
A How-To Guide
Yikes, they’re an upstart! Better manage it, quick.
A passionate employee is generally exhausting. They’re always speaking out in meetings. Always saying things like “this is not on-brand.” Or, “but this is on brand.” They’re always asking to test something, which means doing twice the work. They’re always bringing new ideas, which may sound good in theory but is exhausting in fact. It requires a response. And a lot of the times those ideas don’t even go anywhere.
From time to time a passionate employee is going to get emotional at work. That’s right, emotional at work! I mean, let’s keep it professional. That stuff makes you cringe, honestly.
A passionate employee is going to want to be heard. They’re going to want to dip into things that aren’t their job. They’re going to get outside their lane. It can ruffle feathers. It can cause talk.
A passionate employee is going to want to take a class. A class that costs money. A class that you don’t even see how they’re going to use it right now. A passionate employee is going to ask to try things. Things they’re obviously not ready for.
When you are confronted with one of these passionate types you don’t want to be thinking big picture. You want to be thinking about the here and now. If you indulge these kinds of people they’re inclined to more of the same. Word gets around that you’re listening. Suddenly everybody has ideas. Instead, keep things on track with a few simple tips:
1. Don’t respond. Often a passionate employee can be tamped down with this simple approach. Remember your priorities. You’re a leader. Think bottom line. If you ignore a couple emails, that’s to be expected from a leader with important things on their plate. And eventually the person is going to go away; it took a lot to approach you in the first place. Sure you could have a quick coffee, but who knows how many people would be coming to you with their coffee requests after that? And then all of a sudden instead of focusing on the higher level stuff, you’re all in the business, knowing everything that’s going on. And with all these ideas requiring responses. Major distraction.
2. Defend yourself against criticism. Sure, you do that thing where you ask for feedback. But if an employee doesn’t have the political know-how to give positive feedback to a leader, then they probably don’t have much judgment. Instead of listening to what they have to say and appreciating their straightforwardness and bravery, instead of pulling out the nuggets that are useful, focus on asking why they’d say things like that. Maybe they’re a bad seed. If before you were thinking that they had potential, take this as a cue to reconsider.
3. If a job opens up, go right to the outside. Sure you’ll have lots of these passionate people lining up to tell you why they’d be good at this job, when clearly what you need is someone completely fresh with no historic knowledge of your business. Don’t fall into the trap. Instead of looking at all the ways they are right for the job and considering whether they might be trained, stay focused on your paid search. If they ask when and how they might ready themselves for the role in the future, keep it vague.
4. Poke holes. It helps them grow and become more realistic. When you hear one of these passionate people’s out-of-the-box and frankly somewhat provocative ideas, focus on everything about it that makes it not doable, rather than on the imaginative thread in the idea and what might make it doable. You have to tie a balloon to a brick, otherwise it just floats away.
5. Don’t give them credit for their ideas. After all, what they said was totally undoable, and if any part of it goes anywhere it’s because of yours and others’ subsequent thinking that turned their crazy idea into reality. If you give them credit, chances are they’re going to come to you with more ideas. And so will everyone else. It will be a tidal wave of uselessness.
6. Give it to them straight during their performance review. It’s not your job to consider how they are incredibly invested and therefore emotional and to shape the how (not the what) of your feedback accordingly. They need to learn how to accept feedback the way it’s given. That’s life; we’re all grownups. Don’t spend time praising them. They know what they did well. Jump right in with what they could be doing better.
7. When they quit, know that it’s their own fault. Note to yourself how immature it was that they didn’t come to you first to discuss their plans. (Your door was always open!) It’s typical of their lack of predictability, their lack of big picture thinking, that they would leave you in the lurch like this. Also, because they oddly enough have a lot of support within the organization (who would’ve thought their weird spirit was so contagious?!) hustle them out quickly. They are loose cannons.
Note: There may be a few subsequent moments when you wonder if you did the right thing. When someone feeds you the exact same idea you had yourself or the exact same idea you approved the last time. Do not question yourself! There’s always a bad seed. It’s better that they moved on. Now you can get back to business.
If you’re the kind of leader who wants to invite passion and learn how to channel it, call us. And if you’re a passionate employee whose spirit has been tamped down, don’t worry. This economy is your economy. What you’ve got is the future, the special sauce, the lightning in the bottle, the stuff that can’t be taught or bought. And someone is desperately longing for it right now.