Self Critique the way forward
I completely agree with the approach you offer, David. Even in one of the worst cases of abuse of position I've had the displeasure of being involved in, the CEO pulled me and the errant guy to one side for a meeting, and employed this approach to solve the situation. In the end the tech' talked himself out of the job. Nobody got fired; he resigned. A masterful managerial approach.
"Get your **** together or take a hike!" works sometimes for shock value, but as a general approach, gentle discussions with subordinates generally makes better sense, and creates much smoother day to day working environment. Guiding staff to make themselves take responsibility for their own actions gets far better results then goading them with a cattle prod.
