Maintain A No Drama Policy

Simply put, if you have an issue/disagreement/conflict with another person on your team, talk to them first. Do your best work it out 1:1 before deciding to talk about them with others. And share this way of working with everyone on the team as an expectation.

Gossip and factionalism erode the cohesion of high-performing teams. I’ve experienced this earlier in my career as a leader. Unchecked, such behavior can metastasize over time, and it slowly poisons the foundational trust and cohesion. I now promote a culture policy: If you have an issue with someone else on the team, talk to them first. Don’t complain to others on the team. That’s not helping anything, that’s simply adding drama. Collectively discuss and agree on a team culture where it’s expected that when you have an issue with someone, you engage directly with them first. Of course, if that’s still not working, help facilitate finding common ground.

But don’t come to me to complain about Greg if you haven’t attempted to resolve things directly with Greg yet.