“I’m the manager. I’m in the best position to make the judgment about pace and quality?” Gail stood firm. “I can’t have the fox watching the hen-house.”

“You are correct. Never hire a fox to watch the hen-house. Only problem is, this isn’t a hen-house. This is your team. You have worked with some members of this team for five years. Your newest recruit, you have worked with for three months. You know who they are,” I replied.

“Yes, but I am still the manager. I am responsible for their productivity. No passing the buck here. The last manager in this position had to learn that lesson the hard way,” Gail explained.

“What lesson was that?” I was curious.

“Well, he didn’t hold his team accountable, on one hand, but blamed them for their lack of productivity. In fact, it sounded more like whining than blaming. My boss couldn’t take it anymore, and that was that.”

“So, what are you going to do differently?”