A simple recipe for handling hot potatoes in leadership teams

A simple recipe for handling hot potatoes in leadership teams

Does your company have hot potatoes? I do not mean the tasty ones in the canteen, but the issues repeatedly served up like a familiar lunch. Usually, each serving becomes a little less appetising.

The hot-potato metaphor stands for uncomfortable topics that nobody wants to tackle, usually too hot to handle. Afraid of burning their fingers, people cheerfully pass the unwelcome vegetable around until it reappears like an unpleasant déjà vu.

Grasping it despite the risk of burns?

The solution is not to continue the game. We need leaders who act decisively despite the heat and provide clarity. No more passing things around, political games or indecision. Instead, move towards a culture of accountability and courage.

As in a good restaurant, things are never eaten as hot as they are cooked. Leadership teams courageous enough to tackle hot issues make their organisations more capable and more satisfied.

A simple recipe

With one client, we developed a pragmatic approach. Any employee discovering a hot potato in daily work can identify it and submit it through a simple MS Forms template in MS Teams. It then lands on a Kanban board reviewed by the leadership team at the beginning of the week.

The goal? Identify and cook hot potatoes as early as possible: decide how to deal with them, who does what by when. Some simply end up in the organic-waste bin.

Transparency and effectiveness

This approach provides full transparency about the current situation. Anyone placing a hot potato there receives an active, timely update on the decision.

Effective #Leadership begins where passing things around ends. So what are you waiting for? Get stuck into those potatoes: what is on your leadership menu this week?