High performers find that the hardest people to work for aren’t the demanding, high-expectation managers and partners. For high performers, the hardest people to work for are the ones who are the easiest to work for. It may sound like double-speak, but it’s true.

If you are considered hard to work for, hopefully it’s because you hold people to a high standard. Yes, you have to pay attention to training, be accessible to address problems and questions, and give honest feedback that can be heard.  But then you give people the latitude to venture into areas unfamiliar to them to see what they can do. High performers prefer this kind of environment and consider you to be preferable to work for.

The hardest people to work for are those who try to be the easiest. If this is you, you keep the challenging work away from them so as to not discourage them. You don’t give them feedback because you want to avoid confrontation or hurting their feelings. When you do give feedback, it is done so tactfully and carefully that the message is vague or lost. High performers don’t like this environment because they aren’t growing, learning and being challenged.

In case you haven’t picked it up, average performers prefer the latter. They don’t want to be put in unfamiliar environments for fear of making mistakes. They don’t want to have to make decisions that may be wrong. Instead, they prefer to do what is familiar and easy—work that they are fully confident to perform.

Most likely, you are somewhere between these two. The acid test is this: when someone doesn’t meet expectations, what do you do with your frustration?

• Do you immediately give them feedback or do you wait for the “right” time?
• Do you push them to try again or do you lower your expectations of them (or write them off)?
• Do you insist they take responsibility for their work or do you assume responsibility for the failure because you gave them work that was unfamiliar to them?
• Do you give them another challenging assignment or do you use it as an excuse to do it yourself next time?

Which are you?