A Leader’s Discipline; The 6 Keys to Maintaining High Standards & Expectations with Your Employees!

Discipline… what a word! It elicits a variety of feelings… when you’re considering a life change and you know discipline will be the only path to a healthier body, a better quality of life, or a better relationship; the thought of discipline and the consistency you know it will take can make you cringe and shy away. The idea of someone disciplining you can make you feel angry, guilty, ashamed, anxious, etc. Lastly, is the act of providing discipline for someone else!

All of us have had the pleasure and the pain of being a kid; it came with a lot of joys, but also a lot of getting disciplined by either our parents, older siblings, teachers, coaches, you name it. As we grew, we got jobs and had bosses and the discipline continued. Then all of a sudden, you’re noticed for the great work you’ve done. You’ve been punctual, your work is completed and correct, you’re helpful with Coworkers, and your Bosses can count on you… and you’re offered a promotion. You can’t think of a reason not to take it… it’s more money, a title, and perhaps the reason you went to school or back to school.

So, you’re a boss now… and if you’re reading this and have been a Boss for a while, you know your old job is NOT your new job! Your new job is to do the People who are doing your old job, your new administrative tasks, to meet the needs of the company, and to care for the people under you by Communicating, Connecting, Creating a Culture, & getting Results like a Leader.

When you were a Frontline Employee, you could simply ignore the gossiping Coworker, the venting Coworker, the Defiant Coworker, the late Coworker, the short-cutting clique, and I could go on, but you get my point. As a Leader, you can’t and the truth is… most Leaders don’t want to have the difficult conversations. Some Leaders ignore it, some come down too hard like sledgehammers, some barricade themselves in their offices, while others become too friendly and lose their power. So, what can you do to maintain high standards and expectations like a Leader?

1.     Personal Leadership Matters
2.     The Leader’s 3
3.     Suggested Solutions
4.     Difficult Conversation
5.     Follow-Through
6.     Reveal & Explain

Personal Leadership Matters!

It doesn’t seem right to ask your people to do what you don’t exhibit. Personal Leadership is how you choose to show up in your life, your relationships, and in your work. It all matters; how you arrive to work… early, ready, positive, with eye contact, positive greeting, email etiquette, how you talk about your coworkers, bosses, your kids, your partner, and LIFE in general.

How you do this sets a foundation, a standard, and you become a beacon for Employees who are ready… and they will follow! These Employees are positive people at their core, but haven’t seen anyone live it and exude it, and BAM, here you are! They’re intrigued, ready, and willing to follow. The others, “The Not Ready”, will take more time to come around and when they don’t, we’ll get to that later! Remember, your Personal Leadership isn’t going to be for everyone right away, but when “The Not Ready” get ready… they’ll know where to come… and you’ll be even better when they do!

Lastly, keep in mind The 5 Types of Employees:

1.     The Inspired & Motivated need you to exhibit discipline and discipline others so they don’t burn out and leave, or burn out and stay!

2.     The New & Unknown tend to stick around who they first engage with and want to continue doing what they were initially trained to do. Therefore, Personal Leadership and a willingness to discipline are paramount.

3.     The Steady Streams make up the bulk of your workforce. They like their job, want to be good at it, will be there for a long time, and typically keep things running smoothly… and are the ones “The Inspired & Motivated” trust. Can you imagine what a consistent lack of discipline and expectations would do to this bulk of professionals and a company?

4.     The Here, but Not Here will either leave quickly, give the bare minimum, or turn into a grouch in the presence of low expectations!

5.     The Grouch will observe either your lack of Personal Leadership, inability or unwillingness to discipline and weaponize it against you… AND/OR… use it to justify and rationalize them being late, ineffective, rude, insubordinate… and that’s a double whammy. The worst part is, they will be RIGHT!

Your Leader’s 3!

Every company has a mission statement most Frontline Employees can’t say. Mission Statements are necessary, however every Leader needs their own Leader’s 3!

1.     Simply put, what’s your vision for your Team? We will be elite at ____? We will be the best at ____? What are your Vision Factors, the 3-5 things that when done consistently, the Vision has to come true?

2.     What are your Expectations for your Team? Mine is that everyone must be The 3P’s: Positive, Passionate, & Productive?

3.     What are your Rules? You don’t have to have many, but you better have some!

Suggested Solutions!

This key is two-fold and provides you with permission and protection as you move forward to Lead and enforce disciplinary procedures. First, request time to speak with your Boss or Board/Shareholders if you’re the CEO, and present gratitude for your position. Share your concerns and your Leaders’s 3, asking what they like about it and if there’s anything they’d fine-tune.

I don’t promise you’ll get the response you desire… I do promise you’ll find out who you work for! In any case, you will exit the meeting with what they like and anything they’d change; allowing you to move forward with permission and protection and with a clearer understanding of your authority span. Now, it’s time to document and share it with your Team in group and/or 1-on-1, forgive past incidents, and start anew with your Leader’s 3.

The second piece is more direct. An Employee is not adhering to policy or standards. “Suggested Solutions” means requesting a meeting with your Boss to discuss an Employee, directly or indirectly, sharing your suggested solution for leading and disciplining, and asking what they like and whether there's anything they’d fine-tune. This helps clarify your authority span, professionally prepare for what’s next, and ultimately protect your Boss’s blindside. If your Direct Report becomes upset and goes over your head, your Boss already saw them coming… Be Mindful!

The Difficult Conversation!

As a Professional Speaker and Leadership Trainer, this is perhaps my favorite part of my Training Sessions! Difficult Conversations aren’t fun to do in real life, but when you’re unwilling, you will literally watch your Team’s morale fizzle, great ideas die, and you’ll become exhausted as you put out fires and staff squabbles all day!

An Employee's first offense = teach, mentor, and coach. When it happens again, be sure to have the difficult conversation and it may sound like, “Hi ___, do you remember the time I said I may have to ask some questions or say something hard to hear, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t? Ready? You’re doing great at ___. I’ve noticed _____ when ______ Can you help me to understand what’s going on with that? Let them share. “Thank you for sharing ____ with me”. “What do you feel you can do so this isn’t an issue?” When their suggested solution makes sense, do it and document it. When it needs fine-tuning, do it and document. When they have no solution or are combative, share your policy and document.

This flow may sound great to you, while others may hate it. The truth is, when we preface with our People that we WILL have difficult conversations and ask if it’s going to be OK (beware who says "No")… it’s amazing how they accept it and brace for impact when the time comes. It’s NEVER comfortable, but as a Leader it’s necessary and it’s YOUR JOB!

Follow-Through!

It wouldn’t make sense to have a difficult conversation, especially regarding serious infractions and not schedule a follow-up meeting. The follow-up can occur in your 1-on-1 meeting, depending on how regularly they’re scheduled. The point is to follow-up within a week’s time. How are things going regarding what we discussed? How’s your plan or the plan working? Have there been any further incidents and if so, how did they handle it differently? If poorly, what’s the new plan?

What gets rewarded tends to get repeated. When this is the case… AWESOME! When it’s not and the Employee continues to struggle, it’s time to enforce your company’s disciplinary policies. Be sure to hold a formal meeting, start with the infraction and the decision, and allow them to make their choices. Sometimes an Employee’s 40% effort is better than another Employee’s 25% effort at Company B. Your Employee is an asset at Company B… free them and let them be great somewhere else, leaving you with an open position for an eager new Employee to do things your way!

Reveal & Explain!

When terminating an Employee due to consistent infractions, it’s necessary to address your Team. Don’t assume they know why their Coworker, friend, or archenemy is suddenly not at work. Also, assume the terminated Employee has texted, called, and already shared their side of the story with your Team, in which they’re the victim.

Before addressing your Team, please run what you’d like to share by your Human Resource Department. Don’t get yourself in trouble or fired by sharing the wrong information. However, my point is to share what you can, what the expectations and standards are, reshare your Leader’s 3, and how these things help impact THEM first, customers second, and the company third! This provides information they need, corrects some of the gossip you’ll never hear, resets standards, and allows for evolution… Be Mindful!

Discipline is a part of Leadership and without it you’ll only be Leading Chaos and your eventual burnout… Be Mindful! What was your Biggest Takeaway? What will you implement NOW into your Leadership Toolbox? Be sure to put your plan in your calendar with notifications and alerts… Leaders don’t waste their epiphanies!


“Discipline is a part of Leadership and without it you’ll only be Leading Chaos and your eventual burnout… Be Mindful!”– Andre Young

Written by: Andre Young