Leaders depend on the team and specific team members to do their jobs and get things done.
Priorities shift, but to achieve the outcomes everyone wants, team members must execute on what needs to be done. Unfortunately, this execution doesn’t always happen to the satisfaction of the leader.
Sometimes, the quality or effort is low. Other times, team members don’t act quickly enough or fail to meet a timeline. Frustrated leaders must figure out how to motivate the team to improve.
Far too often, they engage in what is called Blame and Shame.
Leaders who call out the team or team members by declaring they have dropped the ball and haven’t done their part are clearly laying the blame squarely on those targeted for criticism.
This is usually followed by an appeal to live up to their obligations. Or a rebuke to stop disappointing themselves. The demand is to give more effort.
The Blame and Shame strategy can be highly effective on the short term or in an instance. Over the long term, however, it can erode trust and respect. Thus, leaders who commonly use the Blame and Shame strategy typically don’t hear the “bad news” in the organization that they should. And they will often find their feedback being resisted or rejected.
This is because accusation and embarrassment linger with team members for much longer than the admonishment. Moreover, team members build up a resistance to being confronted over performance if it happens too frequently.
When reminders and nudges don’t work to push the team and team members toward better execution, the better strategy is for the leader to engage in the task or assignment with them. Working side-by-side shows team members the standards, urgency, and priority the leader expects.
By completing tasks with team members, leaders get to point out the details that matter most and the tactics they believe are most effective. This co-creation of work also goes a long way to building more trusting relationships and encouraging higher compliance in the future.
Good leaders use blame and shame sparingly, if at all. They work with team members to raise their standards and get the job done on time.
When leaders show rather than tell, they bring a team along with them. There’s no shame in that.
