You’re In Trouble – Here’s How To Fix It With Active Listening

If you’ve been sent this article, it’s because you’re in trouble. Don’t panic—it’s not the end of the road, but it is a sign that there are serious concerns with how you’re handling tasks and communication. 

You’ve probably seen our first video on active listening. Unfortunately, we’ve failed to see any changes as a result. If the same patterns continue, we’ll be forced to fire you.

Here’s the good news: if you’ve been sent this article, we believe in your potential to turn things around, which is why we’re taking the time to provide this direct feedback. 

Now, it’s up to you to take it seriously.

80% of your failings so far have been a result of poor active listening skills. You’ve probably seen myself or a client manager ask you to practice active listening on email and in Basecamp threads.

Active listening isn’t just hearing feedback and saying, “Okay, I’ll do better.” That’s a passive response that doesn’t address the root cause.

Here’s what it means to actively listen:

Acknowledge the Feedback

• Reflect on what’s been said and repeat it back to confirm understanding.
  Example: “I understand the issue is that I didn’t add enough E-E-A-T content in the article. Is that correct?”

Analyze the Mistake

• Look at the specific instructions or feedback you received and compare it to what you delivered. Identify where you fell short.

Take Accountability

• Admit what went wrong without blaming external factors.
  Example: “I missed the article submission guidelines that said to have EEAT content because I didn’t double-check the guidelines. That’s on me.”

Commit to Fixing It

• Outline a concrete plan for improvement.
  Example: “I’ll review the instructions thoroughly next time and confirm my understanding before submitting the task.”

When we provide feedback, it’s not to criticize or micromanage—it’s to help you succeed. If you find yourself in a situation where someone is repeatedly training you or correcting your work, it’s because your current approach isn’t working.

Think about it: if we have to spend all our time fixing your mistakes, the roles have reversed. At that point, we’re doing the job for you, and that’s not sustainable. Any client or team lead will eventually cut ties if they feel they’re putting in more effort than you are.

This is why we maintain an “A player only” rule, since this is a full time job and we don’t want to pay you to teach you. This is backwards and wastes not only money, but time we could be dedicating to clients.

For example, you might submit an article every other day for our clients and think it’s alright. The problem is that myself or some team members can produce a better quality article in 20 minutes.

What this means, is that personally teaching you how to do your job is costing us more money and time than simply doing it ourselves.

From Problem Creator to Problem Solver

The goal is for you to become an indispensable part of the team—someone who creates value, solves problems, and makes everyone’s job easier.

Here’s how to shift from being a problem creator to a problem solver:

• Proactively seek clarification. If you don’t understand something, ask. It’s better to ask upfront than to deliver the wrong result.
• Double-check your work. Before submitting a task, compare it against the instructions and guidelines. 
• Be solution-oriented. If you make a mistake, don’t just apologize. Present a plan for how you’ll fix it and prevent it from happening again.

Stop the Excuses

When something goes wrong—a missed deadline, an incomplete task, or repeated errors—there’s a tendency to explain it away.

• “I was sick.”
• “My internet wasn’t working.”
• “It’s not my fault; someone else didn’t give me the information I needed.”

We get it. Life happens. But when excuses replace accountability, progress stops. Instead of making excuses or arguing that your work is good enough, own the mistake and take steps to fix it. And believe me, I’ve heard every excuse you can think of.

Excuses don’t solve problems—they create frustration for clients and team leads. If you’re constantly defending yourself or insisting you understand, you’re ignoring the core issue.

If you know you’ll be absent for a few days – let us know before so we can delegate your work and avoid a critical meltdown. For example, we used to have a team member who would disappear for weeks at a time.

It was only when he claimed his grandmother died for a 3rd time, we cut him loose.

The point of this article is to let you know that we’ve continued to tighten our standards and this behavior now results in immediate termination.

If you want to be paid to do nothing – this isn’t the job for you. If you want to be paid based on the value you provide our team, the sky is the limit. But we have too many talented young people in Pakistan, The Philippines, and elsewhere that will gladly take the opportunity you’ve been given.

The Risk of Resistance:

If you’re reading this, it means someone still believes in your ability to improve. But here’s the hard truth: if you continue to resist feedback, make excuses, or ignore the need for active listening, you will be let go. This isn’t a warning about a single mistake—it’s about a repeated pattern of behavior that shows an unwillingness to take accountability and grow.

When feedback is given, it’s meant to help you improve, not to criticize or tear you down. Resisting feedback, whether through defensiveness, excuses, or inaction, signals to your team or clients that you’re not invested in becoming better.

Over time, this resistance leads to frustration for those trying to help you. They may feel their time and effort are wasted, making it harder for them to trust you with tasks.

The core issue isn’t making mistakes; it’s refusing to learn from them. Every client or employer has a limit to how much time and energy they can invest in someone who shows no signs of progress.

At a certain point, they’ll decide it’s more efficient to move on than to continue addressing the same issues repeatedly.

The good news? Breaking this cycle is within your control. Active listening and accountability are your keys to success. Acknowledge feedback, reflect on it, and take actionable steps to improve.

When you embrace feedback as a tool for growth, you not only build trust but also position yourself as a valuable, reliable team member. Don’t let resistance to feedback become the reason you miss out on opportunities to grow and succeed.

Turning Things Around

We still believe you can fix this. Here’s your action plan:

1. Take a deep breath and reflect. Acknowledge that this feedback is meant to help, not hurt.
2. Revisit the feedback. Look at the instructions or notes you’ve received on your tasks. Identify exactly where you went wrong.
3. Own your mistakes. Admit them openly and focus on solutions.
4. Commit to active listening. Practice reflecting feedback back to the speaker to confirm you’ve understood.

If someone sent you this article, it’s because they believe you can turn things around. Don’t waste this chance.

The path to success starts with listening, learning, and taking action. Now go fix it.