When Your Supervisee Screws Up

By Marty Nemko

Many bosses (and spouses, parents, and teachers) play the dangerous game of Gotcha! Whenever they see supervisees screw up, they tell them about it. It's understandable: it provides feedback, gives the boss a sense of superiority, and discourages supervisees from requesting raises. Problem is, frequent criticism leads to disgruntled workers. Few employees are so secure that they'll welcome ongoing criticism, no matter how useful.

What can you do today?
Here's a better mindset for bosses: Each time you're tempted to criticize, ask yourself, "How likely is my criticism to significantly improve future performance?" If it's not, consider fixing the problem yourself or ignoring it. Instead of focusing on the negative, see if you can catch people doing something good.