As promised in our recent newsletter Things only get done when I'm here, I'm sharing five ways I've seen leaders discourage the kind of involvement they actually need from their people.
Over the years I’ve listened to many highly talented and enthusiastic people who, frankly, had the life sucked out of them every day by the people they worked for. The reason they were still in the job had everything to do with some other overriding factor - the need to provide for the family, their professional reputation, their desire to continue working with the people on their own team, and yes, their desire to protect the people on their own team from the boss.
Now I'm sure you aren't the kind of boss that does these things - this list is for you to be able to help your colleagues and friends when they are trying to figure out why they are discouraged. And if by some chance any of these ring a bell, feel free to contact us for a complementary conversation to see what your options might be.
Number 5 - Do the employee’s job...after they've done it
Imagine consoling a senior electrical engineer - with a Masters degreee from MIT - who is leaning forward in his chair, head in hands. "My team and I have spent 8 months of intensive work developing this product. It's amazing. And yet I'm sitting at my desk, waiting for my Senior VP of Engineering to change components on the layout." He looks up at you. "Why am I even here?"
I am sad to say that I know of several companies where senior people put glaringly obvious errors in their work to allow their bosses the satisfaction of fixing something. "If I don't give them something to change, they'll screw something up that's really important," said one anonymous source.
Number 4 - Ask for input...then discredit it
One executive I worked with got to a point where the team was finally willing to give him some honest feedback.
"When you ask for my input, I'll start sharing, you start listening but then it's as if a switch flips in your head. It's like I don't matter and you've just used me to get some need met. I feel that you don't appreciate what I have to offer," one brave soul offered. The team agreed, and the leader uncomfortably fessed up that once he got a sense of where the conversation was headed, he didn't see value in continuing it but kept going out of a sense of politeness.
With some focused coaching of the leader and team, the leader learned to ask for people's perspective and then when he received sufficient information, request to end the conversation. At that point team members have permission to either agree, or ask for the leader to hear them out on the rest of their opinion. The leader and team member jointly determine whether that moment or sometime later is best to talk.
Needless to say, involvement took a big jump and remains high.
Number 3 - Compliment...then ask for better results
While working in a company in a leadership position, I was approached by several senior people who shared that there was a problem with unclear definitions of responsibility across the organization. Where there was overlap, the clients were confused and resources were often wasted. Where there was underlap, client were disappointed and fingers were pointed between functions blaming each other for dropping the ball.
In my spare time (as this wasn't my main job) I brokered a reasonable solution among the functional managers and went to the boss to brief him on the problem and get his authority to implement the solution. He showered me with compliments - "What a responsible, proactive, organizational thinker!" - and then said he wanted to give me some formal authority to get an even better result. I was flattered, and took to the assignment with vigor. After a few more weeks, I indeed had something better.
"This is great - yet I believe with your talents it can be amazing! Come back in a couple weeks with an even better version!"
After a few iterations like this the energy I had to do the work simply drained out of me. I didn't even realize that I had given up until the boss left a few months later.
During the first week when my new boss summoned me to report on the project. He'd heard about it and at his first staff meeting literally empowered me in front of everyone to implement the solution. When I got back to my desk I realized my old boss had hoodwinked me with smiling compliments.
Number 2 - Focus on not failing...and induce it through your actions
You get what you focus on.
I once worked (briefly) with a CEO of a mid-sized health care company on the East Coast who was driven by the fear of failure. He thought that by stamping out failure he would ensure success for his company, his team, and himself. He was so driven by this that he jumped on everything that even smelled like it might not work. Getting this unwanted attention didn't feel like help to teammembers - I one said it was "...merciless round-the-clock work, endless updates to the CEO, and him constantly breathing down my neck. I just wanted it to be over."
To avoid getting "rewarded" with this CEO's attention, his staff members did everything humanly possible to resolve issues without involving anyone - not even their other colleagues. Since most problems are system-related, individual efforts usually failed, and the CEO would eventually be notified - but only after things failed. This, of course, reinforced his perception that his involvement was critical and he doubled his efforts to stamp out failure. Until he was replaced by his board.
Number 1 - Assume everything is ok...and don't challenge that assumption
This is number 1 for a reason - every leader I know, including me, has done this.
Recently I did this with my staff. I was operating with some significant - and in my mind very reasonable - assumptions about how people understood my perception of their performance and that everyone was growing in and feeling good about their part they played the organization. Everything was going well - until a senior staff member came in to give notice.
It was a significant wake-up call for me to regularly challenge my own assumptions about how people are doing in the organization. I tend to operate in a no-news-is-good-news manner - and I hope I'm doing a better job of checking in to understand how people specifically see their role, the importance of their involvement to the company, and the amount of their engagement.
While these are plenty, anyone have any additional ways leaders discourage involvement?