Here is an excerpt from an article written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here.

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How do leaders maintain morale and momentum when members of their team are close to collapsing in frustration over the obstacles they face?

Perhaps the issue is angry customers whose questions are hard to answer, or uncooperative peers from other groups who cause logjams and delay decisions. Team members might grumble and complain, or they might simply appear worn down, ready to drop the ball.

Sometimes leaders are frustrated or annoyed themselves. This is already taking too much time. The complaints sound like attacks, and it’s tempting to become defensive or seethe silently. Tensions are mounting.

Before tensions get worse, leaders should turn down the heat and get everyone back on track. They can use three simple communication steps.

[Here’s the first. To read the complete article, please click here.]

Step 1: Empathize. Listen, and then show that you’ve heard by recapping how it looks from the team members’ point of view. Indicate that you understand what the people are going through. You know that times are tough, and circumstances are particularly difficult. Like Bill Clinton, you can feel their pain. This step is a cliché because it’s true, and it works. People calm down when they can tell their story and know that it’s heard.

Listen, support, and uplift. These steps are good practice even when times are not tense. When people feel understood, empowered, and guided by higher goals, tensions are defused and momentum restored.

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Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Confidence and SuperCorp. Connect with her on Facebook or at Twitter.com/RosabethKanter.