Before I start spinning this yarn, look in the mirror and make sure you are pure, your motives are sincere, your policies just and fair and that the little old guy with the rain cloud always over his head isn’t sitting next to you. As a company owner or manager, we may have experienced the “ultimatum” from an employee, that “or else” pronouncement: I need more money, or else; I didn’t sign on to drive no truck or haul trash, so get somebody to do it, or else.

These or-elses come from Mr. or Ms. Indispensible, the one we can’t do without (at least in their mind) and usually at a time when they feel we are most vulnerable, inundated with work and/or short-handed.

The message our or-else friends are sending with their ultimatum intended to scare us into giving in to them is really a beneficial warning. Most of the or-else family members are marginal producers. They can be good, even excellent, but they don’t think you are worth the regular effort, so you as their employer are only entitled to occasional sincere effort. In too many cases, Mr. Or-Else is someone about whose performance you are concerned but you are giving them some slack. They are probably aware of your concern but rather than strive for improvement, they choose the ultimatum. The beneficial warning of which I spoke becomes a solid foundation to make a change. Since they have said, “either you do this for me or I will leave,” you have been given the opportunity to rid your company of a bad symptom or an outright disease and to be politically correct in doing so. It’s almost like they are wearing a monogrammed T-shirt that says, “I am a bad apple; get rid of me to save the barrel.”

Normally, these kinds of statements come at a time when they believe you are most vulnerable. Sometimes they may be right, but what do you do as a manager when confronted by such a threat? If you said “yes” to most of the qualifications you asked the person in the mirror, then the answer to the ultimatum should almost always be the same; something like: “You know, I have had a sense lately that you were unhappy with your job or responsibilities and that’s not a good thing; am I right?” You’ll probably get a “yes.” So if they are unhappy enough to leave (unless they get even more money to make their job less painful), consider this solution to their problem: “I don’t want you to be unhappy, so I think the change you suggest makes some sense; I’ll take the ‘or else.’”