Thinking long-term about bad behavior

Hi Leaders,

No matter how good your organization is, there will inevitably be bad behavior from time to time. Sometimes that behavior is due to a specific individual, but more often than not, bad behavior arises through a combination of faulty systems and individuals thinking about personal, short-term benefits at the cost of the larger organization (whether they know it or not).

Thankfully, addressing bad behavior can be surprisingly practical. Here are the five steps:

State your organizational values

The universe abhors a vacuum. If you don’t explicitly state your organizational priorities, both long-term and for the next financial quarter, other people will inevitably fill in that space with values of their own. This means 40 different employees will bring 40 contrasting sets of values and there will inevitably be conflicts between these values. An easy way to get ahead of this is to formulate values that everyone in the organization can uphold and everyone is expected to abide by.

Articulate the effects of bad behavior 

When bad behavior happens, the first step is to notice that bad behavior is happening. This requires an awareness, but also an articulation of the effects of the specific bad behavior. As a leader, you should be well-versed in saying things like, “Hey, telling this person not to do the thing the other person told them to do puts that person in a bind and causes them to work less efficiently because they don’t know who to trust.” 

Being able to articulate not only that something is bad, but why that something is bad, is paramount in good leadership and figuring out how you should respond.

Talk to the individual(s) involved privately

The next step is to take action. In most scenarios, you want to go to the offender and any victims separately and communicate your version of what you think happened. Ask questions, ask if you seem to be understanding the situation correctly, and ask for feedback. From there, any bad behavior needs to be named as such and any disciplinary actions or restitution offered. 

Often bad behavior arises out of either 1) a lack of awareness, 2) a chosen ignorance, or 3) actively bad intentions. However, as a leader, discerning the difference is always up to you. This is important to make sure any adjustments/punishments due to bad behavior fit the crime.

Adjust systems as necessary

Next, we look at systems. These, if they didn’t cause the bad behavior, certainly allowed it to occur. While no system is perfect, instances of conflict or bad behavior in your employees is a good time to assess your systems’ value, flexibility, and how much they align with your organization’s current goals. This can help prevent future bad behavior and assures the individuals involved that you took the past event seriously.

Restate your organizational values

The last step is important to future behavior. Simply stating any changes and restating your organizational values is a good way to re-align your team after an incident. More often than not, employees will know about the situation at hand, and for that reason it’s always good to re-state your values at regular intervals to show consistency and that you are not merely using your values as a “disciplinary” measure when things go wrong. 

Depending on the amount of damage or concerns about privacy, this may also be a good time to open up a conversation about the bad behavior explicitly. Having such conversations in the open can add to an organization’s sense of social safety but it can also cause a feeling of unhealthy enmeshment, so leaders need to be discerning. Maybe ask one of our coaches for advice? When all is said and done, addressing bad behavior actually strengthens y