Can Buddhists be good workplace leaders?

Many people that start to meditate and follow the Dhamma become more tolerant, less attached to reputation, more "easy going" and treat all with loving kindness, this can create an opportunity for people to abuse them, miss deadlines, reduce the quality of the work etc... That said, how should a Buddhist behave to balance loving kindness with leadership skills that sometimes requires you to be not so "nice" to get the work done, imagine if you have tried loving kindness before but it did not work, only made the person abuse you more and take advantage of your compassion.