Leaders must always confront things in the most diplomatic way possible. When you are a leader you are in the spotlight and as such must always be careful in how you act and what you say. As a leader you must take full responsibility of all your actions because these actions will be intensely scrutinized by all the people around you.

A leader must never attack his people. Many believe that because they are in a leadership position they can treat others any way they want. The exact opposite is actually the case. Because of the leaders position, he or she must develop great self-control or else his or her actions will bring him or her down. The team is the leader’s greatest resource and if it is treated in a poor fashion it is a waste that will eventually destroy the leader. Whenever you have any interaction with your people, you need to be as tactful as possible.

Never approach any situation with aggression. A leader must always be conscious of the outcome before he takes any kind of action. The outcome is far more important than any emotional outburst, a leader needs to consider outcomes and final objectives or else he will not be able to get anything done. An objective outlook coupled with logical thinking is the basis of all great leadership. Without this objectivity, a leader is  just a wild ape breaking shrubbery to make a point; that most likely accomplishes nothing constructive.

If you need to address a problem with one of your people, don’t instantly jump on that persons face. As I have stated, the tactful approach is always best when dealing with your people as they are the only ones that can accomplish what you need done. Before you confront anyone, take time for yourself and review the situation; ask yourself what happened here, for what reason, and what needs to change. In this way you go into a confrontational situation understanding what the problem was and what your course of action needs to be. You can then use the most diplomatic approach possible in dealing with the situation and the employee. Always remember that the most important thing for you as a leader is the correct and ultimate outcome to the situation.

Once you have identified the behavior(s) by an employee that caused the problem(s), you need to come up with a solution that corrects this problem. Most importantly though you need to keep your team’s final objective in mind. Before making a rash or popular decision, the leader must consider what he is ultimately trying to accomplish with his team. It is possible that you sometimes need to do something that you do not want to, or something that is not popular because you need to consider how every personal action on your part affects your ultimate objectives. This can be tricky because you must consider your final objective, and you must also consider a diplomatic solution to whatever problem you are facing. In other words the leader must weigh the consequences of any action that he takes, by considering how his decisions and actions will affect his employees and his chances of achieving his final goals.

Once you have taken action, remember to always follow up. Make sure that you always keep an eye on the results of your actions so that you can monitor to see if you have made a correct decision or if there needs to be any kind of modification to your actions. You must always stay nice and never take on an aggressive and vengeful attitude. Objectivity must be maintained so that you can see things clearly and you can be seen by your subordinates as a fair and just leader.

If problems persist, you can then take action to stop the employee or particular problem in its tracks. By staying objective and acting in a fair manner, you place yourself in the perfect position to do whatever it is that you need to do to stop the continuing problem. Positioning yourself as a fair and objective person, you can now act in a decisive fashion and whatever decision you make will be seen as strong and tactful action.

While as a human being you need to express your emotions; as a leader, make sure that you curtail any negative emotions that you might feel around your team. This is one of the great sacrifices of leadership, that you must stay stable and strong for the betterment of the team. A leader needs to act tactfully and diplomatically in order to achieve his goals in the most efficient way possible.