When you signed up to be a leader, part of the job is to correct the behavior and performance of the people that you lead. The product that doesn’t launch on time, the sales person that doesn’t make the number of calls we agreed to, the website that doesn’t meet the scope of what we agreed to, etc. You can put processes in place that minimize these misses; but you’ll still face them in a fast growing business.

Or maybe your senior leaders are just thinking about something the wrong way, acting out of fear or seeking short term solutions for long term problems. 

Whatever the situation, your leaders count on you to give them course corrections that help them to win. And depending on your personality, this may either come too easily or it may keep you awake at night.

Here are a few things that will help you when it comes to giving corrections:

• Speak plainly and directly about what’s bothering you in this specific situation.
• Be clear about what you would like to see done differently and why.
• Be bold about calling out behaviors that have no place in your business.
• Don’t exaggerate or use sarcasm.
• Don’t attack the person. Attack the problem.
• Ask them to repeat back to you what they heard you communicate to them.
• Agree on next steps including the timeline to get back together.
• End with a sincere compliment. This isn’t to appease the person. It must be a true compliment about something you see them doing that you like.