Saying “yes” to accepting a leadership role is sometimes easy, but navigating its associated journey can be downright perilous at times. Who knows what’s hidden within the layers of the inherited ecosystem. While it’s not wise, necessary, or even useful, to try to inoculate oneself from the nasties that accompany the position, it does help to know the deepest and darkest co-morbidities that do exist, or are likely to be aroused, as time rolls on.
Two common co-morbidities are the culture of mistrust and the culture of fear. Often, these tend to be imbedded neuroses, where the employee community exhibits suspicion, skepticism and an inability to trust the words and actions of the leadership teams. This mistrust may be further fueled by fear of employees being targeted for “victimization” or unfair practices. Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. In some situations where community mistrust and fear exist, employees can point to evidence-based indicators of discriminatory practices.
Two common co-morbidities are the culture of mistrust and the culture of fear.
Another common co-morbidity, is the existence of a culture that is indifferent to employee detachment. Some environments have mastered the art of nonchalance when it comes to being connected to the needs of employees. No provision is made for employee forums, where needs, concerns and expectations can be expressed in a psychologically safe space. I am amazed at how many of these environments exist and worse, the leadership apathy that accompanies the disconnect. Some businesses have decided to stay in their cocoons and live with their existing levels of employee disengagement, as long as there is no escalation of the disquietude, into acts of public disturbance. This phenomenon is known also as “looking the other way.”
A widespread co-morbidity, is management-by-personality. This is so endemic, that it passes as the norm in many business environments. When managers manage their departments by personality, the outcomes fall along a continuum that runs from positive congruence, to negative congruence. Many businesses fail to realize that this usually comes down the pipeline as a toxic trait, showing up as a disjointed business unit operation, with a litany of employee complaints, poor communications practices and irregular service delivery.
The well-prepared leaders are intelligent enough to know that they will need a strategy for what is known, as well as for what is unknown.
A fifth co-morbidity can be found in the form of a business environment where the level of resistance to change is high and a willingness to upend the status quo is low. When a business is stuck in vintage and legacy mode, a momentum for innovation is not a strong suit and “this is the way we do things around here” becomes the rallying call for the faithful.
It’s very interesting to view how leaders walk into the lion’s den. Some are well prepared, others are ill- prepared, there are those who have convinced themselves that they are up to the task and, of course, there are the few who feel a deep sense of inadequacy, but are determined to push through the minefields.
The well-prepared leaders are intelligent enough to know that they will need a strategy for what is known, as well as for what is unknown. Their strategy will include halting the spread of toxic practices, outlawing behaviours that are divisive all across the business, implementation of authentic employee engagement practices and having the leadership courage to act in accordance with the saying, “If you can’t change the people, change the people.”
The tragedy here is that some leaders who are delusional, are afflicted as well, with the compounding issue of egotism and become so self-absorbed in their own beliefs, that they fail to listen to the voices of wisdom in their orbit.
The ill-prepared leaders will be prone to creating apathy. They may lack the self-awareness and the talent needed to not feel overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the multiple issues that are creating havoc within the employee community and impacting business success. The feeling of overwhelm may be so onerous, that these leaders may end up being buried under the rubble of inertia.
The leaders who may be under the delusion of their competence and adequacy, (that is, an overestimation of their capacity), may deepen the existing level of calamity. The tragedy here is that some leaders who are delusional, are afflicted as well, with the compounding issue of egotism and become so self-absorbed in their own beliefs, that they fail to listen to the voices of wisdom in their orbit. These conditions are ripe for the propagation of power terrorism, one of the deadly sins of poor leadership.
While co-morbidities exist in many businesses, one of the countervailing prescriptions is to create a rebalancing strategy that renews commitment to core values.
While co-morbidities exist in many businesses, one of the countervailing prescriptions is to create a rebalancing strategy that renews commitment to core values. I believe that a business, like an individual who has lost his or her way in life, can begin the process of renewal by re-connecting with life-sustaining values.
The problem of course, is that many leaders, tend to confuse co-morbidities with acceptable norms. The time has come to stop listening to the echo chambers that perpetuate these misattributions.