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I inherited a bunch of problematic senior staffers. Help!

I inherited a bunch of problematic senior staffers. Help!

Question:
I am managing a senior group and honestly think none of them is invested in doing a good job. I think one is more interested in having a family, a few are looking to make career changes, and the rest are just miserable people. I recently inherited these people and don’t know what to do. Suggestions? G.S., Bayside, NY

Answer:
I suggest you do nothing. If you recently inherited them you need to give them a chance to adapt to your leadership style and prove themselves. Deal with what’s in front of you—you don’t need to speculate on why they’re behaving the way they are. It’s irrelevant.

Dial down the judging so you can give them a fair shot. If you’ve judged someone as disinterested or “miserable” it will be hard for you to see their contributions without your opinion coloring their efforts.

Be open to learning from them. You are being judged on how well you lead and inspire your team. Think of the optics if the entire team is unsuccessful under your leadership. It’s in your best interest to identify and leverage insights about the team in order to motivate them.

You owe it to the team—and the company—to make sure you’ve fairly evaluated their value and contributions.

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