Tags
Administration
Benefits
Communication
Communication Programs
Compensation
Conflict & Dispute Resolution
Developing & Coaching Others
Employee Satisfaction/Engagement
Executive Coaching
HR Metrics & Measurement
HR Outsourcing
HRIS/ERP
Human Resources Management
Internal Corporate Communications
Labor Relations
Labor Trends
Leadership
Leadership Training & Development
Leading Others
Legal
Management
Motivating
Motivation
Organizational Development
Pay Strategies
Performance Management
Present Trends
Recognition
Retention
Staffing
Staffing and Recruitment
Structure & Organization
Talent
The HR Practitioner
Training
Training and Development
Trends
U.S. Based Legal Issues
Vision, Values & Mission
Work-Life Programs & Employee Assistance Programs - EAP
Workforce Acquisition
Workforce Management
Workforce Planning
Workplace Regulations
corporate learning
employee engagement
interpersonal communications
leadership competencies
leadership development
legislation
News
Onboarding Best Practices
Good Guy = Bad Manager :: Bad Guy = Good Manager. Is it a Myth?
Five Interview Tips for Winning Your First $100K+ Job
Base Pay Increases Remain Steady in 2007, Mercer Survey Finds
Online Overload: The Perfect Candidates Are Out There - If You Can Find Them
Cartus Global Survey Shows Trend to Shorter-Term International Relocation Assignments
New Survey Indicates Majority Plan to Postpone Retirement
What do You Mean My Company’s A Stepping Stone?
Rewards, Vacation and Perks Are Passé; Canadians Care Most About Cash
Do’s and Don’ts of Offshoring
Error: No such template "/hrDesign/network_profileHeader"!
Blogs / Send feedback
Help us to understand what's happening?
Reason
It's a fake news story
It's misleading, offensive or inappropriate
It should not be published here
It is spam
Your comment
More information
Security Code
Might is No Longer Right
Created by
Jim Clemmer
Content
<font size="1">"The defining aspect of what we call 'civilization' is not art or architecture, fashion or furniture but how people with power deal with people without power." Noah Ben Shea, poet and scholar</font><br /><br />Richard Boyatzis, one of the founders of competency theory and a professor at Case Western Reserve University reports, "From my research I'm left with the impression that half of the managers in organizations are decreasing value, not adding value." One of the reasons for this serious performance gap is that too many managers believe that their place on the organization chart gives them power. They are in control. They are the boss. Their attitude seems to be, "I am really easy to get along with once you learn to do as I say."<br /><br />Of course, a manager's position gives him or her rank. But authority and true power to lead can't be given or commanded. It can only be earned. As Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister once put it, "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."<br /><br />A big reason for the poor performance of so many teams and organizations is that they suffer from ineffective managers who subscribe to the old-fashioned model of the "tough, take-charge boss." Traditionally, such individuals often used command and control, bullying, intimidation, and "riding staff hard" to get the job done. Generations of managers yelled their way up the corporate ladder.<br /><br />But the days of automatic deference to authority are long gone. We don't live in the world of might-is-right any more. Dictatorships are being replaced by democracies. Experts don't have as many answers as we once thought. We all have many more job or business options available to us. In today's workplace, a management style of pushing people around often pushes the highest performers right out the door.<br /><br />During a workshop designed to identify moose-on-the-table issues (see page 102 of The Leader's Digest), a manager was surprised by the very clear and strong feedback he got from his organization that his management group was not behaving as a team. They contradicted each other, waged petty turf battles, and reinforced departmental silos. His response was like threatening to cut off an infected arm rather than then diagnosing and treating the cause of the infection. At their next management meeting, he read them the riot act. In a variation on the age-old bully boss tradition of firings-will-continue-until-morale-improves, he warned them, "If you don't behave as a team, I'll replace you with managers who will."<br /><br />Unfortunately, such management mentality is not an isolated case. I once had a recently laid-off manager tell me about the horrible, soul-destroying organization he had just left. They had a 50 percent turnover rate and were struggling to stay afloat in the highly competitive automotive parts industry. He said that behind closed doors, one of the CEO's favorite comments about the organization's people was "use them up and throw them away."<br /><br />The "tough, take-charge boss" has long been associated with the military. "Well," snarled the tough old sergeant to the bewildered private. "I suppose after you get discharged from the Army, you'll just be waiting for me to die so you can come and spit on my grave."<br /><br />"Not me, Sarge!" the private replied. "Once I get out of the Army, I'm never going to stand in line again!"<br /><br />Lack of compassion and understanding can adversely affect a company's turnover as we see in a message posted on www.busreslab.com. "I used to be the Public Relations Coordinator and Editor for a local nonprofit organization& my grandmother became very ill. After a phone call from a family member I was told to come to her bedside, as death was imminent. I told my boss that I needed to leave for a family emergency and explained the situation and how close I was to my grandmother. My boss replied, 'Well, she's not dead yet, so I don't have to grant your leave.' And, I was told to complete my workday. Suffice to say I did not finish my workday."<br /><font size="1"><br /><br />Excerpted from Jim's bestseller, The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success.</font>
Copyright © 1999-2025 by
HR.com - Maximizing Human Potential
. All rights reserved.