The Careful Critic: How Artful Executives Tell Someone He’s/She's Wrong

Adapted from www.execleadership.com

Here's a nice tidbit that can be used in any situation at any level of leadership....

The careful critic: How artful executives tell someone he’s wrong

No one likes to be told he’s wrong. But shrewd executives know how to deliver sharp criticism without cutting thin skin. Some guidelines:

Speak to the person’s agenda
Say nothing until you determine how your negative comments affect the individual’s self-interest. Everyone wants to be promoted, keep people off his back, get rich and be perceived as a leader. So express your opinion in terms of how his approach will interfere with his goal.

Example: “That’s CJ’s pet department. We’ll never hear the end of it if his people get upset and complain.”

Indirect ploys
If presenting your case directly strikes you as unwise, tactless or potentially ineffective, try the following:

• Ask for clarification - Let the individual work through the flaws by including them in an “If I’ve got this straight …” summary.
• Solicit questions - Tell someone something and you question his competence. Get him to think of it himself and there’s no problem. Just keep your voice neutral.
• Fill in the picture - Anyone can make faulty decisions if he has limited knowledge of the situation.
• Shift the blame - When the individual is “never wrong,” state the negatives in terms of the other parties involved. Example: “That customer is touchy.”

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo