The Problem
The Project Team expected to deliver the product tomorrow. JoAnn, the Authorizing Sponsor, halted the release for a second time, just moments before go-live. She then called a meeting with Craig, the Product Owner, and handed him a list of product features he’d never seen before. JoAnn told him these were missing features the Team must add to the product before releasing it.
Bewildered, Craig shared the list with the customer and then the Project Team. No one suggested the customer needed these features. The Project Team met and agreed to convene a special meeting with JoAnn to get a better understanding about the feature list and why no one else required or requested it.
During that special meeting, JoAnn seethed, “Who do you think you are? In our last Zoom meeting together, you had the audacity to swear at me, and in front of our customer.”
Craig replied firmly, “I never attended a meeting with you in front of any of our customers and at no time did I swear at you in any situation whatsoever.”
Everyone sat uneasily in this special meeting, while JoAnn continued to berate Craig. To make matters worse, Julianna, the CEO, was in attendance.
Everyone waited silently for what would happen next. And then it happened. Julianna spoke, “Many of us are more capable than others, but none of us is as capable as all of us.”
Everyone waited silently for what would happen next. And then it happened. Julianna spoke, “Many of us are more capable than others, but none of us is as capable as all of us.”
That was her response? What did it even mean? Was this Julianna’s only response to the toxic situation JoAnn created?
After her one comment, Julianna signaled an end to the meeting by gathering her phone and coffee, and prepared to leave. Team members squirmed in their seats not knowing where to focus their eyes, as if to say there’s no hope for this project. As everyone left, people muttered.
Afterwards, Craig received supportive text messages from every team member attending the meeting. In one example, Joyce texted Craig, “You don’t lie, so what’s going on?”
“My integrity is extremely important to me and JoAnn attempted to discredit it publicly,” responded Craig.
“I should have insisted that you and JoAnn reconcile your differences immediately, ” explained Joyce. “To be honest, I was afraid to say anything.”
Why was Joyce afraid to speak freely? What about the others in the room? Why did others not offer critical and frank feedback about individual behaviors in the meeting?
The Solution
While this specific problem is about workplace safety and trust, it’s indicative of a much bigger issue we currently face. Right now, many of us are asking ourselves what we can do to improve the world. The war in Ukraine, the growing threat on our democracy from our own people, the climate crisis, and the pandemic dominate our thoughts. These situations may fill us with dread, but there are countless opportunities for improvement. The problem: people do not feel safe to act.
Joyce could not speak out against public mistreatment of Craig without fear of retaliation from JoAnn, and Julianna made an insignificant and confusing comment. It’s a cue that the situation is not safe when everyone remains silent in the face of falsehoods, intimidations, and attacks.
Joyce was not responsible for failing to resolve the dispute JoAnn launched against Craig. It’s a leader’s responsibility to act immediately and stop employee retaliatory behavior. By not acting promptly, Julianna’s tolerance of and delay in stopping JoAnn’s egregious conduct reinforced behavior that creates a dangerous workplace.
It takes more than stopping retaliation to create a safe work environment. Leaders must do more than express and model suitable behavior. They must reinforce safe behavior by rewarding employee candor and critical feedback willingly, even if it exposes a leader’s own mistakes. For example, leaders act with intent, publicly and privately, by rewarding employee constructive input with prompt appreciation, gratitude, recognition, and so on. Employees then feel safe from retaliation because of this appropriate reinforcement, which empowers them to offer improvements, innovations, and breakthroughs.
When an employee speaks up in response to failed leadership, they frequently suffer ostracism, characterized by denied promotion, limited work assignments, or even job termination. Few of us can tolerate this, so we stay in our jobs and suffer indignities until we quit or endure debilitating physical and/or behavioral health issues.
Doing nothing when confronted with a problematic leader is often the response, particularly since most organizations discourage action in these situations. Yet doing nothing sustains and even promotes these unsafe and unhealthy conditions. While difficult to achieve, there are several options that overcome this problem.
One option is to wait for new leadership. Unfortunately, this takes time and there’s no guarantee the new leader will be any better than the old one.
Alternatively, stay true to your integrity, no matter the consequences, muster your courage and embrace your duty to become a champion for change. You understand the risks are high. You may lose your job or need to quit if you fail to achieve affirmative change.
As a champion, you have two options available for helping a problematic leader. Either seek help from those above the problematic leader or meet with the underperforming leader directly. Leaders quite often don’t know how to lead. Requesting educational input from the problematic leader’s supervisor or suggesting it directly, however difficult, may help the uninformed leader improve their understanding and performance.
Both options may fail, so it’s worth repeating that you may lose your job or sustain job-ending ostracism for expressing your concerns. Even if you receive a supportive response, education may not change the unenlightened leader’s performance.
At a minimum, try to prevent an adverse outcome by preparing a plan before proceeding. Factors that determine plan effectiveness include establishing a strong and broad alliance of supporters, scripting a narrative for the meeting, limiting the meeting participants to no more than the effected leader or their supervisor and yourself, and scheduling a time to meet in private. During the meeting communicate the facts calmly about the consequences of this leader’s behavior and request change respectfully.
If you succeed, the rewards are endless. If you fail, you retain your integrity, remain safe, and enjoy a healthy future elsewhere, knowing silence isn’t golden.
Source
Harrison, Don. Introducing the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) A Practical Guide to Change Project Management. Lakewood, CO: Implementation Management Associates, 2017.
