THESE ARE HOW MANAGERS & LEADERS FALL SHORT OF REALISING CAPABILITY, WITHOUT EVEN BEING CONSCIOUS OF THE NEGATIVE IMPACT THEY’RE HAVING ON PEOPLE!
In my long career, I‘ve worked for or with a very wide variety of leaders from first line supervisors and managers in my younger days right up to reporting directly to CEO’s and Investors in my later years.
Regardless of management level, industry or size of business though, humans are humans so what follows are the 5 most common character traits or habits of behaviour that I have seen get under the skin of employees, demotivate many, kill morale, destroy culture and make good people leave.
Eliminating these particular character failure traits can enable managers and leaders to remove previously unrecognised productivity and profit killers to lift morale and performance.
In effect, this Monday Mind Hack is therefore really five mind hacks in one because removing any one of these could make a positive difference to management effectiveness and team results.
ONE: I’M RIGHT, OK!
· Why? Because I’m the boss, you’re beneath me and I’m more successful so I must know better.
· If I’m right, you must be wrong, which puts you in your place.
· I’ve been there and done it, even if the environment has changed, I still know more so you need to do things my way.
· Because I know, you don’t need to offer your opinion or input thanks.
NB. Often misunderstood as an arrogant trait, this is actually a totally ignorant one. It makes people feel undervalued and unappreciated, which happens to be one, if not the key value drivers of employees today.
TWO: ABUSING MY POSITION!
· I have the status, power and authority; therefore you don’t because you report to me.
· I might not lead by example but you still have to do what I say, even if you disagree, just do it.
· I may put you down but it’s okay because it makes me feel superior, which I am of course.
· You can disagree BUT I have the final say. I’ll bully you a little but it’s not real bullying so HR won’t be able to do anything.
NB. Using authority to demand action has far less positive or lasting effects than inspiring people to act. People want to contribute by being involved, not told.
THREE: THIS IS MY STYLE, IT’S ME!
· My style of communicating and doing things has served me well (up to now) so I will continue to manage everyone the same way, my way.
· I have to be seen to treat everyone the same so will not change my style or input, even with different people, skill levels, competence, experiences, situations or challenges.
· I set the pace when I did your role, so you need to follow my lead and operate in the same way, even though you’re different.
NB. Thriving in business today means being agile and adapting faster and better, staying the same will limit your growth and that of your team.
FOUR: SO, I HAVE MOOD SWINGS!
· So one day I’m up and another day I’m down, you’ll just have to deal with it.
· It may put you on edge, you may not know what’s going on, I communicate some things some of the time and then the next minute, I leave you wondering.
· You just need to show me some empathy, even though I know my emotions are contiguous and when I’m down, you may be too but I’ll tell you to lift your spirits.
NB. Emotions drive behaviour so be aware about what impact yours are having on morale, motivation and of course, results. Empathy is a two-way street.
FIVE: I CAN’T TRUST YOU!
· I micro-manage because I need to be sure things get done, I’m sorry if it offends you and drives you mad but hey, it’s my job.
· It’s the way business is these days, we have to drive people, drive results and succeed at all costs.
· Yes, I could direct, support, coach, counsel and lead more often, and I could cut you some slack but it’s easier for me this way, my own manager can see I’m doing something and it keeps them off my back.
NB. In short, this habit is often a cop out for lazy or incompetent managers and disguises weaknesses.
‘’When you choose a character trait as a habit of behaviour, you also choose the consequences of that habit of behaviour’’
And, in the case of any or all of the above, it usually means poor results and long-term damage. Individually these traits can harm results, in combinations they can destroy a team or even a business, and I’ve seen it happen in both!
Each trait can have a different impact on different people of course. In extreme cases, they can have destructive effects on people’s lives because their stress levels rise, they work below their true capability and can carry negative feelings home.
Often these management traits go unnoticed because managers may be getting (some) short-term results and don’t see how much more they could be accomplishing.
In my experience, this happens for two key reasons,
Ø Their people don’t tell them how they feel because they don’t like to give criticism up the line, i.e. fear of reprisals.
Ø Managers never think to ask or don’t know how to ask.
This is not just about two-way communication but connecting with your staff in a way whereby you can have honest conversations without either of you feeling uneasy.
The easiest way to resolve this is to ask what you could be doing better or how they feel you could help them more rather than asking them to tell you what you’re doing wrong. This way, you focus attention on future desired behaviours instead of past behaviours.
In effect, it enables you to look ahead to who you can be for your people and what they could achieve with new behaviours in place: ones that motivate and inspire them versus old traits that drive performance down or at best, keep it average.
Eliminate these and other morale and motivation damaging traits and you’ll clear the path for people to be at their best more often!
What research or proof of findings do I have other than my own experience and the feedback from hundreds of people I’ve spoken with over the years?
I’d say I don’t really need it do I because instinctively, we all know these to be true don’t we? Our inner gut tells us how we like to be treated and whilst everyone is different, we all crave one common thing and that is to be treated with respect as a unique human being.
If we expect this as a manager of leader, then we should afford the same respect to those we influence. We need to less controlling and be more mindful of the impact we have on people who work for us or around us.
It takes a strong mind to admit this but then, people with strong minds tend to make strong leaders.
TAKE NOTE OF THESE THREE SIMPLE KEYS TO UNRAVELLING THE DAMAGE THAT THESE IRRITATING TRAITS / HABITS HAVE ON OTHERS:
1. Awareness that these or any combination could be affecting your results so don’t just have a think or take a long hard look in the mirror but hack deep inside the mind of the people you lead to understand and remove the things that demotivate them and which, stop them from performing at their best for you.
2. Do this by seeking honest feedback from the people you lead. This means dropping the ego, letting go of pre-conditioned thinking or assumptions and genuinely seeking constructive ideas and areas to work on.
3. A sincere desire to improve who you are as a leader of people and how you can behave in ways that inspire and lift them.
“You don’t need to motivate good people, just stop demotivating them by removing the things that get in their way”
Typical case example of applying the above 3 keys to overcome any or all of the 5 demotivating character traits.
Situation: A Field Sales Manager (FSM) had issues with the attitude and performance of one particular Field Sales Executive (FSE) who was capable but whose individual results were puling down the team results.
Specific Issue: The FSE was underperforming on new customer acquisition numbers and the average order value of each order in terms of revenue.
FSM Objective: To create a more tailored approach for this FSE to turn around performance. This included each of them opening up about the impact they were having on each other and to set the foundation to move forward collaboratively.
FSM Approach: Took a more supportive stance to listen and understand in the next 121 and subsequent follow up rather than assume and dictate what needs to be changed, i.e. a less directive telling stance.
Outcome: The attitude and commitment of the FSE changed immediately as the FSM didn’t revert to type (character traits 1, 3 & 5) and she sold more in one week than in the previous month and more in one month than the previous quarter.
Key Learning: One way of managing all people just isn’t effective, some need support, others need directing, some need training, others need coaching, some need encouragement, others need training and so on. So, manage people how they need or want to be managed and not how you want to manage them because if you do, there may be a gap in understanding and consequently a gap in performance.
If you want to develop your leadership style to be more effective and influential, my online Strong Minds course on developing Personal Leadership Mastery is worth taking a look at HERE.
Best,
Reece
Mind Hacker & Author of the Strong Minds Book, Online Courses & Podcasts
‘Changing Attitudes — Changing Outcomes’
Originally published at reecepye.com.
