At
the risk of being repetitive (although at my age I'm allowed) I seem to be
seeing more and more issues with the behaviour of some senior people in
business.
We
have discussed this issue previously and regrettably on the basis of its
apparent frequency. It concerns the high performer who develops a bad attitude
and worse behaviour.
It
is certainly a factor in the management of people that causes more emotion and uncertainty
than many others.
Those
members of staff who are manifestly good or even great performers but whose
attitude and behaviour leave much to be desired undoubtedly have a toxic effect
in their colleagues and the business.
It
seems to be more common in external sales people perhaps because they are
essentially loners with only occasional contact with HQ.
People
like this are a problem at all levels of management simply because their bottom
line results are allowed to justify their erratic behaviour.
The question is, what is more important, the
bottom line or the toxic effect of bad attitude and behaviour?
It
is all a question of values. If the leader has determined the standards and
publicises the values of the business to which everyone is expected to
subscribe, then anyone stepping outside the norm, quite frankly, should have a
case to answer.
What
we want to achieve are people who genuinely want to go where the business is
going, who are engaged and in alignment with the values and the strategy.
However
the really serious problems arise when a senior member of the executive,
perhaps a director, starts to exhibit these negative symptoms.
Fairly
obviously this becomes a matter of decision for the acknowledged leader because
it would be generally inappropriate to discuss the situation with the
miscreant's peer group.
However
before any action can be taken it is essential to build a dossier of evidence that
in some cases can only be derived from hearsay and sometimes gossip.
There
is no question that everyone in the business will be aware of the problem and
probably affected by it in some way.
For
the leader, the problem is twofold; firstly there is frequently a strong
emotional attachment to the individual, often because they have been with the
leader for a long time and have always been loyal and secondly, because of the
possible effect on the overall performance of the business.
I
have seen several instances over the past years where this problem has arisen
and it can cause real distress in the leader.
Oddly while the miscreant seems to be comfortable about the situation it
is the leader who is experiencing the emotional upset.
As
a consequence there is a tendency either to tip-toe around the problem and live
with it, or alternatively to take some action that we hope change the
individual.
As
a matter of fact, we cannot change anyone just as we cannot motivate
anyone. The only person we can change is
our self. What we can do that is
positive is to provide an environment in which people can change and/or be
motivated – should they so desire.
Whatever
is decided, as Shakespeare said:
"If t'were done, t'were better done
quickly
The
worst approach is to close the eyes and hope that the problem will go away
because it won't; in fact the odds are that it get worse.
So,
once again it's JFDI (just do it) time. Perhaps even JFDS (just do SOMETHING)
is better than prevaricating and hoping that the problem will go away.
We
hope that people will change. Sadly it is an idle hope and the only solution is
action and that is the function of the leader.
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