Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode five forty six. Some episodes are fun, this
Speaker 2: one is heavy. There are moments in leadership when an
Speaker 2: employee crosses a red line that is not fixable. Theft, harassment, retaliation,
Speaker 2: falsifying records, willful safety violations, and threats. These are not
Speaker 2: coaching moments. These are decision moments. Today is a step
Speaker 2: by step guide to handle it professionally, quickly and fairly
Speaker 2: so you protect people, the organization, and your standards. Step
Speaker 2: one is stabilized this safety first. Always, if there is
Speaker 2: a risk to people, operations, or data, stop work, remove access,
Speaker 2: and separate involved parties. This can mean sending the employee home,
Speaker 2: disabling logins, securing equipment, or bringing in a second leader
Speaker 2: to witness. Keep it calm and private. Your goal is
Speaker 2: to stop harm, not start drama, and you could say
Speaker 2: something like this, for safety and to allow a fair review,
Speaker 2: I'm placing you on paid administrative leave while we look
Speaker 2: into a serious concern. You will leave your badge and
Speaker 2: device with me, and you will hear from us within
Speaker 2: twenty four hours. Step two lock your process, not your emotions.
Speaker 2: Don't argue, don't interview in the hallway, and don't retaliate.
Speaker 2: Pull your policy manual, your code of conduct, and any
Speaker 2: relevant laws. Open a clean incident log. Write only facts, time, date, location,
Speaker 2: who reported it, what was observed, what evidence exists. And
Speaker 2: if you don't have a standard incident log, you can
Speaker 2: use this simple template. Date and time reported by allegation.
Speaker 2: Immediate action taken, evidence preserved. Next steps and the responsible leader.
Speaker 2: Step three Call the right people, loop in hr in
Speaker 2: legal if you have them. If you don't find a
Speaker 2: peer leader, you trust to serve as a second set
Speaker 2: of eyes. If the issue involves protected classes, workplace violence,
Speaker 2: or criminal behavior, get expert guidance. This is where leaders
Speaker 2: lose cases by trying to handle it solo. Protect due process,
Speaker 2: and protect yourself. Step four. Preserve evidence, save camera footage,
Speaker 2: download access logs, export emails or messages, photograph damage, property insecure,
Speaker 2: witness statements. Label everything, Do not edit or clean up
Speaker 2: if it is digital captured, and read only form if
Speaker 2: it's physical. Lock it up. Your investigation is only as
Speaker 2: strong as what you can prove, not what you feel.
Speaker 2: Step five. Conduct a focused investigation. Set a short timeline.
Speaker 2: Twenty four to seventy two hours is the goal for
Speaker 2: most cases. Interview witnesses separately. Stick to open, neutral questions.
Speaker 2: Tell me what you saw, what time did that happen?
Speaker 2: Who else was present with the employee? Be direct and respectful.
Speaker 2: You could say something like, we have a serious concern
Speaker 2: about X. I will explain what we know. Then you
Speaker 2: can respond. This conversation will be documented, and listen. This
Speaker 2: step is important. Do not promise outcomes close by explaining
Speaker 2: the next steps and the timing. Step six. Apply the standard,
Speaker 2: not the mood. Redline. Offenses should already be in your handbook.
Speaker 2: Use a decision matrix that considers severity, intent, impact, policy language,
Speaker 2: and past practiced consistency matters. If your policy says immediate
Speaker 2: termination for falsifying medical records and that's what happened, follow it.
Speaker 2: If policy allows a last chance in specific circumstances, ensure
Speaker 2: the criteria are clearly met, and then document why. Step
Speaker 2: seven make the call, then script the talk. Once the
Speaker 2: facts in the policy ALIGNE decide do not drag it out.
Speaker 2: If termination is required, prepare a short script and a checklist.
Speaker 2: Here's your termination talk script. This one simple. After reviewing
Speaker 2: the facts and policy, we've decided to end your employment
Speaker 2: effective today. The decision is final. You'll receive information about
Speaker 2: pay and benefits. We will collect company property. Now. Do
Speaker 2: you have any questions about the logistics? Do not debate
Speaker 2: the decision. If they ask for details, you could say,
Speaker 2: I understand this is difficult. The decision is based on
Speaker 2: our policy and the facts we reviewed, and you can
Speaker 2: use a checklist. Witness present property return system access disabled,
Speaker 2: pay and benefit details, the escort plan out of the building,
Speaker 2: incident file updated. Next is something I call the last
Speaker 2: chance talk script. This is a final written warning due
Speaker 2: to a serious policy violation. Any further issues will result
Speaker 2: in termination. Here are the expectations and dates. Signed to
Speaker 2: acknowledge receipt not agreement. Step eight. Protect the team with
Speaker 2: a clear internal message. People will notice what's going on.
Speaker 2: You owe them safety and clarity without gossip. Use a
Speaker 2: prepared statement for leaders to send out. A sample manager brief.
Speaker 2: Could sound like a serious policy violation occurred, we addressed
Speaker 2: it quickly and according to policy. For privacy. We will
Speaker 2: not share details. Our standards remain the standards. If you
Speaker 2: have concerns or need to speak with someone, see me
Speaker 2: or HR, then move the team back to work. If
Speaker 2: the red line affected customers or patients, coordinate an external
Speaker 2: statement with your communications lead that is truthful, measured, and legal.
Speaker 2: Step nine, close the loop and fix the system within
Speaker 2: seventy two hours. Complete your after action review what cueues
Speaker 2: did we miss? What controls failed? Do we need to change?
Speaker 2: Hiring screens, training access levels, supervision or audits, assign owners
Speaker 2: and deadlines. Red lines often expose system gaps. Fix those
Speaker 2: or you will repeat the pain. Step ten. Care for
Speaker 2: your people, including you. Red line days are emotional. Offer
Speaker 2: support to those impacted. If there were victims, check on them.
Speaker 2: If a supervisor is shaken, talk with them. If it
Speaker 2: touched your reputation with a customer, call them personally and
Speaker 2: own the situation and take care of yourself. Leaders absorb
Speaker 2: the blasts so others do not have to. In my
Speaker 2: red key leadership model, something we will talk about more
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty six. There are moments for decisive action, clean, fast,
Speaker 2: and irreversible. A red line violation is one of those moments.
Speaker 2: You do not pause accountability for convenience. You act with fairness,
Speaker 2: you act with speed, and you act with finality when
Speaker 2: the standard demands it. Here's a simple timeline you can
Speaker 2: reuse first hour, stabilize insecure, same day, notify hr in legal,
Speaker 2: preserve evidence, place the individual on administrative leave within twenty
Speaker 2: four to seventy two hours, complete interviews, apply the policy matrix,
Speaker 2: and then make the decision. In the same day as
Speaker 2: the decision, execute the talk script, collect property cut access
Speaker 2: document within seventy two hours, brief the team and stakeholders,
Speaker 2: start the after action fixes, and within thirty days verify
Speaker 2: the fixes are working, and close the incident file. And
Speaker 2: here's what to do. If you feel pressure to look
Speaker 2: the other way. You might hear they're a top performer,
Speaker 2: or we can't afford the fallout, or this is how
Speaker 2: we've always handled it remember, or the short term avoidance
Speaker 2: tax becomes long term leadership debt with interest. Your people
Speaker 2: are watching. Standards only matter when they cost you something.
Speaker 2: That's where trust is earned. So here's a seven minute
Speaker 2: drill you can do today. Grab your policy manual, your
Speaker 2: access control list, and your incident log template. Spend seven
Speaker 2: intentional minutes doing this, mark your non negotiable redline list,
Speaker 2: update your decision matrix, write your termination and last chance scripts,
Speaker 2: and create your manager brief. Save it where every leader
Speaker 2: can find it at two am, when they're going to
Speaker 2: need it the most when an employee crosses a red
Speaker 2: line that's undoable. You do not need to be loud.
Speaker 2: You need to be exact, stabilize, document, investigate, decide, communicate
Speaker 2: in repair. That is leadership under pressure. And if you
Speaker 2: want more leadership content, head over to my YouTube channel.
Speaker 2: The link is in the description of the show and
Speaker 2: on my website Paulfalovalito dot com. I'm constantly uploading leadership
Speaker 2: short videos. Select full length video episodes of this podcast
Speaker 2: and future video interviews will be there as well, along
Speaker 2: with some behind the scenes content. And while you're there,
Speaker 2: please make sure you subscribe to my channel. This has
Speaker 2: been the seven minute leadership podcast and I thank you
Speaker 2: for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fello Alito podcasts, visit Paulfellowalito dot com.