We are pleased to send you this PRO-vocative IDEAS e-letter. Each issue brings you a Thought PRO-voking Idea designed to help you run your business better. If you don't want to receive these monthly emails, just click the Remove button below.

These ideas don't come out of an Ivory Tower, but from the real-life experience of entrepreneurs like you. At PRO, Presidents' Resource Organization, the owners of small businesses gather monthly to share problems, and work towards solutions, based on their own lessons learned. PRO members move their companies to the next level through this peer group interfacing.

Here's an example of a PRO-vocative idea and the discussion leading to it:

Larry: I’ve had similar problems arise in my company, and I think the first step is to try to understand the origins. This has helped me to build a new working relationship with the problem individual and also has jogged me into more and better mentoring. These situations are usually caused by pressures in the employee’s personal or work life. When we try together to understand and recognize the cause that’s pushed the ego out of control, it’s that much easier to work on controlling or eliminating the action that generates the incorrect behavior.

Sally: I try to have my own behavior harmonize with the behavior of my troubled employee. My objective is to improve communication and to create the opportunity to reshape the offending elements. As one example, I had someone who was grating on everyone’s nerves through boastfulness. My response was to ask publicly for a description of one or two of their accomplishments in more detail.

Jim: I probe. I try to determine what part of the disturbing behavior I can influence, what part of the bragging I can get them to tone down, but I know I have to figure out what is real and what is imagined, both in the concerns of the problem individual and of his colleagues.

Tom: One thing’s for sure: criticism does not work with a person who has a large ego. I believe it is better to calmly and professionally recognize the behavior and discuss it in an open and non-judgmental way.

George: I have had success by reinforcing the behavior I would rather see. This includes rewarding and acknowledging the right behavior. As Tom said, I explain why these actions, the right actions, are satisfying and productive. Most likely, the right actions are sharing credit with others for an accomplishment or a success, rather than hogging the credit.

Linda: I set a limit as to the amount of incorrect behavior we will tolerate. I talk to the offender and tell him or her that a failure to consider the feelings of others that goes beyond acceptable limits will require us to make a change. I put the burden on the guilty party to adapt, and that also includes a situation with a customer or vendor whose personal behavior has gone out of bounds. First you have to talk, then you have to be ready to take action.