{"id":506,"date":"2026-09-23T11:20:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T03:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/?p=506"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T03:20:47","slug":"how-does-a-bang-leader-deal-with-difficult-team-members-470f-fabfac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/23\/how-does-a-bang-leader-deal-with-difficult-team-members-470f-fabfac\/","title":{"rendered":"How does a BANG LEADER deal with difficult team members?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey there, let me start by being totally real\u2014 I\u2019ve worn two hats in this game: first, as the BANG LEADER (you know, the ones who get stuff over the line fast, no fluff) for a manufacturing supply firm, and now as the go-to supplier that BANG LEADERS like me call when they need backup for their tough team calls. I\u2019ve sat across from enough stressed-out leaders who want to throw a difficult team member under the bus, and enough frustrated team members who feel like their leader just doesn\u2019t get them, to know this isn\u2019t a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d problem. BANG LEADER<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last quarter, I had a BANG LEADER client\u2014 let\u2019s call her Mia, she runs the production line for a mid-sized auto parts brand\u2014 hit me up at 8 PM on a Friday, panicking. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a shipment due in 7 days, and Jake, our senior line tech, has been skipping standups, missing critical calibration checks, and snarking at every new process we rolled out to meet safety standards. I\u2019m this close to writing him up, and then I\u2019ll be short a tech, and we\u2019ll miss the shipment.\u201d That\u2019s the stuff BANG LEADERS deal with every day, right? No time for HR workshops, just pressure to hit targets, keep the team functional, and not burn out the people who show up.<\/p>\n

A lot of people think difficult team members are lazy or malicious, but here\u2019s the truth I\u2019ve learned from both sides (leading teams and supplying BANG LEADERS with the support they need to fix these issues): 9 times out of 10, they\u2019re not bad\u2014 they\u2019re misaligned, unheard, or stuck in a role that doesn\u2019t fit, and your job as a BANG LEADER isn\u2019t to police them, it\u2019s to untangle the mess that\u2019s making their work (and yours) miserable.<\/p>\n

First, stop treating the \u201cdifficult\u201d label as a final verdict. When Mia first described Jake, she called him \u201cdifficult\u201d within 10 seconds of our call. But I\u2019ve seen this a hundred times: that label is almost always a shortcut for \u201ctheir behavior isn\u2019t matching what I need right now, and I don\u2019t know why.\u201d Mia told me Jake had 12 years at the company, had saved her line from a shutdown back in 2021, so I asked her a question: when was the last time you asked Jake what was going on, instead of telling him what he was doing wrong? BANG LEADERS thrive on speed, so we jump straight to solutions\u2014 warnings, performance plans, even disciplinary action\u2014 without pausing to ask the \u201cwhy.\u201d That\u2019s the mistake.<\/p>\n

I coached Mia to schedule a 30-minute, no-agenda 1:1 with Jake, no HR rep, no open laptop, no agenda of \u201cfix your performance.\u201d When Mia did it, Jake opened up: his mom had just been diagnosed with early-stage dementia, he was driving 45 minutes to see her twice a week, and the new calibration process was adding 10 minutes to his already long days, leaving him no time to get home, check on his mom, and still make it to his kid\u2019s soccer practice. He wasn\u2019t being stubborn\u2014 he was scared of falling behind, of letting both his family and his team down. He just didn\u2019t know how to say any of that without feeling like he\u2019d be seen as weak.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the first step for any BANG LEADER dealing with a difficult team member: stop labeling them, start listening. Difficult behavior is a signal, not a character flaw. I tell every BANG LEADER I work with: the person pushing back on your new tool isn\u2019t resistant to change\u2014 they\u2019re probably worried the tool will make their job harder, or that they don\u2019t have the training to use it, and they\u2019re using snark to hide that fear. The person who misses deadlines isn\u2019t lazy\u2014 they might be carrying a workload that\u2019s unbalanced, or they don\u2019t know what \u201cgood enough\u201d looks like for their role.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got the why, the next step is to meet them where they are, not where you want them to be. BANG LEADERS are wired to get results fast, so it\u2019s tempting to demand compliance, but flexibility here pays way more than a strict rule. Mia and Jake figured this out together: she adjusted his standup time to let him leave 10 minutes early on Thursdays (his soccer night), and the team shifted the calibration training to a half-day session on a Saturday, with overtime pay, so he could knock it out without disrupting his weekday schedule. Jake started showing up on time for standups, his calibration checks were spot-on, and that shipment hit 2 days early\u2014 plus, Mia told me later, his morale was better too, which trickled down to the whole line.<\/p>\n

But what if the difficult team member is the problem? Not just under stress, but actually resistant to any solution, or their behavior is hurting the whole team? Last year, I worked with a BANG LEADER named Raj who had a sales rep on his team\u2014 let\u2019s call her Lila\u2014 who would take credit for other team members\u2019 work, miss client deadlines, and leave the rest of the sales team to clean up her messes. We tried the 1:1 check-in, she admitted she was overwhelmed with her own client load, but after a month, her behavior didn\u2019t change. That\u2019s when it\u2019s time to set clear, non-negotiable boundaries, and that\u2019s where being a BANG LEADER (which is about delivering for the team, not coddling one person) comes in.<\/p>\n

Raj didn\u2019t just fire Lila\u2014 he sat down with the whole sales team, mapped out clear roles and expectations for client handoffs, and set weekly check-ins for each rep to report on their progress. For Lila, the boundary was: \u201cYou have 2 weeks to adjust your client management process, and if you can\u2019t deliver on your agreed-upon deadlines without overloading the team, we\u2019ll need to discuss next steps.\u201d He also paired her with a mentor from the top-performing sales rep on the team for 1 hour a week. Within 3 weeks, Lila was hitting her deadlines, and the team\u2019s overall client satisfaction went up 15% because there was no more last-minute cleanup.<\/p>\n

The key here is that boundaries aren\u2019t punishment\u2014 they\u2019re respect for the rest of the team. BANG LEADERS often fall into the trap of avoiding conflict because they don\u2019t want to rock the boat, but letting one difficult team member drag down the whole team is the worst thing you can do. I tell all my BANG LEADER clients: if one person\u2019s behavior is making 5 other people stressed or working extra, you need to fix it, not just tolerate it.<\/p>\n

Another thing I\u2019ve learned from working with BANG LEADERS is that difficult team members often happen because the BANG LEADER didn\u2019t set clear expectations in the first place. BANG LEADERS are busy, so we assume the team knows what \u201cgood work\u201d looks like, or we change processes overnight without explaining why. That\u2019s a recipe for frustration. For example, if you switch to a new project management tool because it will cut weekly meeting time by 30%, but you don\u2019t tell the team that, they\u2019ll think you\u2019re adding more work for no reason, and they\u2019ll push back.<\/p>\n

I always advise BANG LEADERS to do a quick \u201crole clarity check\u201d with their team every quarter: ask each person, \u201cDo you know what your top 3 priorities are right now?\u201d and \u201cDo you have the tools and support you need to hit them?\u201d Most of the time, when a team member is being difficult, it\u2019s because they don\u2019t have clarity, not because they\u2019re bad at their job.<\/p>\n

I also can\u2019t skip the part about taking care of yourself as a BANG LEADER. Dealing with difficult team members is draining, and if you\u2019re burnt out, you\u2019ll make bad decisions\u2014 like firing someone when a 1:1 check-in would have fixed everything. I work with BANG LEADERS to build in time for themselves, too, because a leader who\u2019s stressed can\u2019t lead effectively. For Mia, that meant blocking off 1 hour a day on her calendar just for team check-ins, no meetings, no calls\u2014 just listening. For Raj, that meant delegating some of the sales reporting to a team member so he could focus on the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, being a BANG LEADER isn\u2019t about being tough or getting everything right on the first try. It\u2019s about solving problems, leading your team, and delivering results. Dealing with difficult team members isn\u2019t easy, but it\u2019s manageable if you stop labeling them, start listening, set clear expectations, and respect both the individual and the whole team.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And for any other BANG LEADERS out there who are dealing with a team member that\u2019s making your life harder, you don\u2019t have to figure it out alone. As a supplier who works directly with BANG LEADERS every day, we\u2019re here to help you untangle these challenges, build stronger teams, and hit your targets without the stress. If you\u2019re ready to talk through a specific issue, we\u2019d love to connect.<\/p>\n

FUMOT<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Goffee, R., & Jones, G. (2000). The Character of a Leader: Why You Can\u2019t Lead and Fly Solo. Harvard Business School Press.<\/li>\n
  2. Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.<\/li>\n
  3. Ladyshewsky, R. K. (2010). The Leader\u2019s Guide to Solving Difficult Behaviors: Building Collaborative Work Relationships. Jossey-Bass.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

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    Hey there, let me start by being totally real\u2014 I\u2019ve worn two hats in this game: … How does a BANG LEADER deal with difficult team members?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":313,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[469],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-bang-leader-46c7-fb76cc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.interseamarine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}