Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Review Your Past Actions to Correct the Troublemaker’s Behavior

Often, troublemakers are allowed to grow in power because insufficient attention is paid to their problem behavior. It is very easy to find excuses for not addressing their poor behavior head on. There are other more pressing issues to deal with; time is short; and is it really such a big problem? It is far better to treat this behavior quickly before it emerges as a dilemma.

An honest and objective review of how you have handled your team member in the past will prove useful. At any stage, have you taken the opportunity to spell out to him the specifics of what he is doing wrong and the consequences for him if this behavior persists? When confronted, many troublemakers will escape on the lack of evidence and by claiming that they have not been told of the problem. No only do you need to spell it out to them, you also need to make sure that they truly understand what you have said.

There are many ways to uncover behavioral problems including 360-degree feedback, peer interviews, and psychological testing. These tools can provide valuable insights into the problem. In many cases, these techniques should be part of your methods for general training and development, so you don’t need to reserve them just for the troublemaker. If these are deployed in a fair and consistent manner across your team, the troublemaker will find it more difficult to claim victimization and persecution!

A careful review of what has been ...