Sometimes as managers we will end up managing, or working with, someone whose behavior and personality expression is confusing to us and we can’t quite figure out why they behave the way they do.

It is equal parts puzzling and equal parts distressing.

This is when we need to be careful not to jump to our own theorized conclusion and diagnostic conjectures.

It is natural for us to want to make sense of things and at the same time there is no place for us as managers to query or process out loud our unsubstantiated ponderings.

It is not ours to suggest that perhaps someone has some type of mental disorder like being a narcissist, or maybe bi-polar.

It is not our job to guess, ponder, or diagnose anybody’s behavior.

This is not respectful to those we work with; it puts our co-op’s at risk, and it also means as a manager we have gotten off track by labeling or defining an employee in medical terms or other labeling conjectures.

What we need to focus on in these situations is the employee’s work performance and behaviors as they relate to expectations.

We also can make sure all our employees know about resources that may be available through health insurance, EAP programs, etc.

We need to listen and be responsive if an employee states a condition they are struggling with so we can partner with HR.

These situations can be tricky and before we know it we can get very confused and distracted by imagined conditions, motivations and back-stories.

Let’s manage from what’s right in front of us, what’s specifically observed or heard and how it matches up to our expectations.

Not reacting to conditions that might not be there.

Let’s be ready to manage and navigate from a place of clarity rather than presumption.