Sometimes the Fix Is a Different Teammate

In 2025, Jonathan Curtis managed a 15-person sales team at Amtech in Bend. Several of the people he hired had never sold anything before.

He taught them the job from the first step. But one lesson from that time is not about training. It is about what to do when two people are not working well together.

Many managers treat that as a discipline problem. Somebody must be at fault.

Curtis says he learned to ask a different question first. Are these two people in the right arrangement?

Sometimes the answer was no. So he changed it. He paired each person with a different teammate.

Curtis says a pairing is something a leader can change. It is not a permanent judgment about either person. Someone who struggles next to one coworker can do good work next to another.

It sounds small. It is not. A manager who only knows how to push harder will keep pushing on a setup that was never going to work. A manager who is willing to move the pieces gives both people a fresh start, and nobody gets blamed.

Then let people do the job

The second half of his approach is harder for a lot of managers. Once people know the job, let them do it.

Curtis says a leader should teach, pay attention to how people work together, and then give them room. Standing over every decision does not make a team better. It teaches people to wait for permission.

He learned that from both sides. Before he trained anyone, he was the beginner. He went through Job Corps to become a wildland firefighter, and somebody had to teach him the work from the first step too. Later, on Engine 335, he was the one leading physical training and hikes for the crew.

Why it matters now

The Deschutes County Clerk's Office runs elections, records property documents, issues marriage licenses and takes passport applications. That work is done by a team. The Clerk's job is to lead it well.

Curtis says he would lead it the same way he led in Bend. Make sure everyone understands the job. Watch how the team works together, and fix the arrangement when it is not working. Then trust people to do their work.

Jonathan Curtis is a candidate for Deschutes County Clerk in the November 3, 2026 general election.

Learn more: votejonathancurtis.com

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