#077: 5 Steps for Healthy Confrontation

Here’s the situation: one of your most lucrative clients has admitted to unethical behavior and is entirely unwilling to change. Do you keep the account and tie your name to their misdealings? Or do you terminate the relationship and lose over a million dollars in sunk cost?

What about this: your top salesman is accused of inappropriate behavior toward team members of the opposite sex. You believe the complaints, but the top-performer denies them. Do you fire the salesman and lose your “rainmaker”? Or do you tolerate the behavior regardless of the effect on morale?

In this episode, we’ll give you five steps for dealing with a high-performing but bad-behaving employee.

Those weren’t just case studies. They were real workplace dilemmas we’ve faced. You may have a tough personnel decision sitting on your desk right now. That produces a lot of stress and anxiety. You may feel like you’re forced to choose between your integrity and the future of your business.

But you don’t have to. We believe you can run a highly successful business and sleep well at night. And we’ll give you the insight and confidence you need to confront bad behavior in the workplace, even when it’s costly or inconvenient.

Following the steps we’ll give you today, you’ll keep both your financial performance and your integrity intact. You’ll gain the respect of your top performers and your entire team.

Here’s a Look Inside Today’s Show

• Michael shares his worst experience dealing with a bad-behaving top-performer. (sexual harassment)
• Learn the real driver of performance. (Hint: it’s not superstar employees.) (culture)
• The one thing that provides the clarity you need to confront poor behavior. (culture)
• Megan shares an experience of confronting lack of integrity in the workplace.
• Michael shares a time when he “bet his job” on confronting a high performer. (michael firing publishing client)
• What to do when your boss doesn’t support you in confronting aberrant behavior (Megan)
• Tips for conducting a workplace confrontation (step 4)
• What to do when the behavior is bad—but doesn’t warrant termination. (
• What behaviors you can coach which you can’t (character vs. performance. Megan)
• The often-overlooked last step in terminating an employee (tell team)

Is there a confrontation looming in your business? Be thoughtful, be wise, and be confident. You can handle this!

Resources from This Episode

• “The Right Way to Fire the Wrong Person” by Michael Hyatt
• “When Conflict Is Brewing” by Jeremy Lott
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler