“If you have a difficult person on your staff, people are watching the dynamics of how you handle conflict”

People talk a lot about horrible bosses. People don’t really talk about horrible employees and the stress that comes from having to manage those situations.

If you have a difficult person on your staff, people are watching the dynamics of how you handle conflict. And if you let that person persist and make everyone else around them miserable, that’s also a reflection on your leadership. So I’ve learned to act quickly. We can’t have our young people in the presence of people who don’t have their best interest at heart.

I’ve also learned that patience is not wasting time. Patience is about building the foundation to do the things that matter. You have to have some wins in there, of course, but you also have to pace yourself.

Danielle Moss Lee, as quoted in Adam Bryant, “Don’t Give Difficult Employees a Pass”, The New York Times (3 July 2016), BU2.