The Problem
A worker bee locates a rose bed, a new pollen source for the hive. Returning to the hive, it performs a dance, describing the location of this newly found pollen. Now other worker bees help harvest the pollen. The queen doesn’t interfere with any of the worker bees or other operations of this complex organization. She lets everyone do their job.
Unlike queen bees, leaders of human organizations get involved with their employees, and often times bad things happen.
Let’s look at what happens when a leader fails to maintain suitable conditions for the people working in their organization. Frank, the Director of Ambulatory Care, asks Samuel, a business analyst, to determine how to reduce patient wait time at the hospital’s clinics. Samuel determines clinics understaff intake during peak hours, delaying patient check-in time. After successful testing, the clinics reallocate their existing staff, without increased costs, diminishing patient wait time by 70%.
In a subsequent management meeting, Frank takes all of the credit for Samuel’s work, never acknowledging him or that he both identified and solved the problem. Samuel, infuriated, suffers his own reduced productivity. Frank’s leadership behavior spoils employee motivation, creativity, and innovation. It doesn’t matter about the source of Frank’s behavior. It’s plain wrong.
Most people get up every morning with decent intentions. They don’t start their day with a desire to harm others. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s not what this is about. Why do people harm each other? How do we stop this destructive behavior in the workplace and create productive environments without it?
The Solution
To begin with, just because an individual is a leader doesn’t mean they know how to lead. There are numerous instances where an individual holds a position of authority and they don’t know what leadership means. Training may help them understand their role and improve performance.
A variation on the training option includes assessing the leader’s performance and providing feedback. It also helps to engage a leader that is a peer, who can guide and mentor the problematic leader.
In the worst case, it’s time to replace the leader.
As a Change Agent for 45+ years, I’ve witnessed how hundreds of organizations operate with poor and destructive leadership as the norm. Many of these organizations are household names and standard bearers for success. Their leaders appear to know how to lead, but they don’t have an appetite for it. They choose to interfere in the work of their direct reports in countless disastrous ways.
Early in my life, my dad introduced me to archaeology and the discovery of ancient cultures. At the same time, my sixth grade school teacher inaugurated my entry into pre-Columbian civilizations in Central and South America. At that point and until well into college, I decided to pursue a physical anthropology degree. Ultimately, I did not continue this line of study; however, there is one thing I did learn. Human evolutionary history indicates strongly we inherited the concept of harming each other. While the roots of harming and even killing our own kind is part of our human lineage, so are our roots of selflessness and cooperation.
Struggling with this issue, at least for now, will not offer a viable answer on how leaders must manage their people without harming them. What matters now is a much more pressing need. The way organizations treat their employees determines if they succeed or fail. Talent is always hard to find, but now it’s even harder in the wake of the pandemic and employee freedoms delivered by working remotely.
So, if you’re a leader of an organization, start by listening to the viewpoints of your employees without judgement. Your employees will feel heard, understood, trusted, and respected. They will reveal information about themselves, informing you on how to embrace and sustain change where leadership mistreatment of employees is not the norm. Only after you start doing this, can you determine how best to lead the people who count.
Source
Harrison, Don. Introducing the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) A Practical Guide to Change Project Management. Lakewood, CO: Implementation Management Associates, 2017.
