Ask Rami: When the euphemism is bad enough.

"One of the leads I hired to my studio a few months ago is very good at their job, but they've not really 'clicked' with the team. Early on [their] team confided in me that [the lead] was hard to work with and some mentioned a rash or aggressive communication style. The complaint disappeared over time so I never brought it up again. The quality of the teams' output has increased tremendously since we hired this lead! Recently one of my oldest team members quit unexpectedly. They were on this leads' team, and they mentioned [the lead] as the main reason for quitting, and that everybody else on the team feels the same way. In hindsight I had noticed that the team had been disengaged, cancelling meetings, 1-on-1s, and meetups. I am starting to feel like I might have messed up. What would Rami do?"

Hi, worried studio lead,

I think the very first thing to do is to acknowledge that you did mess up. That might sound harsh, but I want to remind you that failing does not make you a bad person, or a failure: it's how you react to a failure that is the measure of your personality. That means the steps you take next are very important - so consider them carefully.