How to Become “The Ultimate Diffuser of Drama” in Your Organization

No one wants to deal with drama in the workplace! But whether the cause is a fed-up employee or a disagreement between two team members, drama is something leaders of all types will likely encounter in their organization. To help leaders master the skills they need to become “the ultimate diffuser of drama” in their organizations, I recently welcomed Cy Wakeman onto my Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast.

Cy is the president and founder of Reality-Based Leadership, and the author of bestsellers like No Ego: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results. On the podcast, she shared valuable insights—and some true mic-drop moments!—for how leaders can use skills like curiosity and self-refection to avoid and overcome drama in their organization.

Cy’s Drama Diffusing Tip #1: “What Do I Know For Sure?”

When drama occurs in the workplace, it is often because of misunderstandings. If you don’t fully understand where another person’s perspective, it can be easy to misread their intentions or even make unfair assumptions about their behavior. To avoid drama-causing assumptions, ask yourself one simple question: what do I know for sure? By asking yourself this question, you can figure out what fact is and what is your own belief about a person and their behavior. By focusing on what you know for sure, you can approach conversations with curiosity and an open mindset.

Cy’s Drama Diffusing Tip #2: “As the Leader Goes, So Does the Team”

As a leader, stopping drama starts with you! To do this, set a good example for your team. This might mean reflecting on your own behavior or making changes to your own mindset and behavior to set a more positive example for your team. For example, do you find yourself talking negatively about others in your organization or giving in to unproductive venting about issues? By looking inward and reflecting on your own behavior, you can improve yourself and step up to be a more inspiring, positive leader for your entire team.

Cy’s Drama Diffusing Tip #3: “If I See Behavior I Don’t Want, How Am I Enabling It?”

Similarly, think about how you react to negative behavior in the workplace. Do you take immediate steps to improve it? Or does your leadership enable it? In many cases, it might seem simpler to enable poor behavior, like by listening to a team member’s unproductive complaints or letting in someone who frequently forgets an access code. However, enabling bad behavior only leads to more drama! Instead, work with your team member to find creative and productive solutions. Be clear about your expectations and what you need, and you’ll encourage your team members to improve their own behavior.

Cy’s Drama Diffusing Tip #4: “Call People Up to Greatness”

To diffuse workplace drama in your organization, it all comes down to setting others up for greatness. Whether you do this by setting a positive example or setting better boundaries with your team, it’s important to try to always extend an invitation to greatness. It’s up to your team to decide what to do with that invitation, but by creating a positive environment and offering empowering leadership, you can help your team members take their own steps toward greatness.

Learn More on the Podcast

To hear more mic-drop moments from Cy Wakeman, give her Mindfulness Manufacturing episode a listen here.

At Manufacturing Greatness, Trevor Blondeel works with manufacturers to connect the top to the shop floor. If you’re ready to improve your own organization, contact Trevor to learn how Manufacturing Greatness can help you build stronger leaders and develop a dynamic, high-performing workplace.

Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

When a mistake occurs on the plant floor, your mind might jump to one question: who caused this issue, and should I write them up for their mistake? But there’s a more productive approach you could be taking—and in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, guest Dr. Jake Mazulewicz breaks it all down!

With a background as a firefighter, EMT, and military paratrooper, Jake knows the challenges of high-hazard industries, and works with organizations to reduce errors and create safer, more reliable workplace environments. In this episode, Jake shares why you can’t procedularize everything, including the way you handle errors and accidents, and offers great insights and stories about how to use connection and curiosity to improve safety, address errors, and strengthen your organization.

3:35 – Procedures and policies are the work that is imagined, and on the floor is how the work actually gets done

4:19 – The work as-done is almost always radically different than the work as-imagined

5:20 – Even when you have standards and people show up wanting to do a good job, you can still see issues that need to be addressed

6:44 – There will always be areas that absolutely need to have procedures in place

8:02 – There are also adaptive jobs, which leans less into procedures and more intro troubleshooting and tacit human knowledge

10:56 – In an ideal environment, both mechanistic and adaptive models are used and respected and needed

12:11 – There are four levels, ranging from strict procedurals to looser guidelines that show what to do, but not how to do it

15:36 – Tacit knowledge gets shared through conversations

16:22 – A way to share important information is to have frontline experts record videos sharing their insights to problems, especially those that are not covered in procedures

19:44 – Through conversation and connection, more knowledge is shared

21:58 – Debriefing also plays a central role

23:45 – If you have strong discipline, you’ll find more freedom

25:31 – In most situations, errors are signals, not defects

27:07 – When an error occurs, be curious and find the deeper cause of the problem

Connect with Jake Mazulewicz

Find him on Linkedin

Visit his website