In this session, @parwalrahul and @ajay184f ‘Do Better Than Richard’ in this fun, but serious take on bad leadership situations.
We would like you to share your videos too! You can either share them here on The Club or on Twitter, using the #DoBetterThanRichard.
@friendlytester - Did you find it easier to #Do BetterThanRichard?
Anonymous - How would you deal with someone who mistakes “empowering” with leaving someone on their own without guidance and call it “autonomy”?
@alice.tillcarty - How do you deal with two different people asking for two different things with the same deadline?
Anonymous - How would you deal with a leader who asks you to make a choice or decision and then returns to change it for you?
@testerfromleic - Have you ever been “Richard” in real life? How did you learn not to keep making that mistake and work differently?
#Questions Not Answered Live:
Other Contributors in Rahul and Ajay’s videos:
Have you ever been “Richard” in real life? How did you learn not to keep making that mistake and work differently?
Yes, it happens with many people, I guess. I have been in situations when my team has asked me to first decide on one thing and then come to them 
as I kept changing my mind every few hours. I make a note of my mistakes. Luckily, I don’t seem to repeat many of them again. We repeat mistakes till we learn from it. Some of my key mistakes have been highlighted at 50+ mistakes of my… by Ajay Balamurugadas [PDF/iPad/Kindle]
Any suggestions for dealing with someone continually making the same mistakes?
Is it skill, attitude, miscommunication? Based on what is the issue - the approach differs.
Skill: Training
Attitude: Coaching
Miscommunication: Process
As a leader, how do you deal with conversations on pay and explain your limits?
Highlight the value of other factors like manager-employee, team-bonding, learning opportunities, challenges, growth opportunities. Many do not understand the factors outside of pay. Are you okay with 3X pay but 14-16 hours work vs 1.25X at 9 hours? There is no upper limit at which money stops becoming a target to chase. To double your income, triple your learning - Robin Sharma. Highlight the examples where the employee can proactively add value and indirectly force the company to give the money.
Also, talk to management on the employee’s behalf and try your best to get the best for your team members.
When is the right moment to get involved from the management/senior level?
If you are the management/senior level, when your team asks for help.
If you need help from the management/senior level, highlight what you have done and ask for specific help/guidance especially way before bad news becomes hard to manage. Remember, bad news doesn’t get better with time.
How do you have a conversation with someone who has external reasons why they are not performing?
If you always had regular conversations, having this conversation must not be difficult. If not, fix that first.
Later, about someone having an external reason for not performing - sometimes company needs you and sometimes, you need the company. So, support by offloading some work, suggesting approach, moving to other projects and let things settle down.