TOM Peters has written numerous books on management and is a modern-day management guru and, in February, I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar at which he spoke.
One of his gems – his many gems – for the day was that ‘leaders can’t afford to have a bad day’. This got me thinking about the consequences of leaders having a bad day.
Surely everyone should be allowed to express their natural feelings when things go wrong, so why should leaders be exempt? Just because they’re the boss, does it mean they have to be some sort of superhero?
Well, maybe not a superhero, but leaders do need to demonstrate the type of reaction and responses they would expect from people working for them – at the very least.
So, let’s look at the consequences of us, as leaders, allowing ourselves the luxury of wearing our hearts on our sleeves.
Firstly, by having a bad day, you’re giving permission to others to have a bad day. (We certainly can’t afford double standards, as that is certain to lead to a lack of respect for our position.) If we expect our people to leave their outside issues at home and to respond positively to negative situations, we must be mindful to set the example.
The ‘Fish’ series of books and DVDs, set in the famous Pike Place fish Markets in Seattle, perfectly demonstrated the principle of ‘choosing your attitude’. Employees are reminded that how they feel and act at work is their choice. If you have the option of feeling good and having a positive attitude, or bringing negatives vibes into the workplace and generally feeling lousy yourself, surely you would choose the more positive. However, if this is what we expect from our people, we must take the lead. (Isn’t that what leaders do?)
Then, having given people permission to have a bad day, what happens if a number of them have their bad day on the same day? What are the potential effects? Staff conflict, customer conflict, loss of revenue, losing people, losing profit and losing a part of your business (goodwill) are all consequences of a workplace where people are allowed to ‘have a bad day’. Poor form really, where that permission started at the top.
It’s fairly obvious then, that we should take every precaution to prevent this from becoming the norm – if it isn’t already. So, how do we prevent it or how do we turn the tide against something that already exists?
It’s largely a matter of self-awareness; being continually aware of your behaviour patterns and, at the same time, being aware of the effect of your behaviour on those around you – or, on your organisation chart, those who are accountable to you.
Last year, Stanford management professor Bob Sutton, wrote an article ‘Know how to project power’, counselling leaders to be aware of their power.
“Being a boss often resembles the role of a high-status primate: your subordinates watch you constantly, so they know more about you than you know about them. Likewise, anthropologists who study chimpanzees, gorillas, and baboons report that followers devote far more attention to their leader than he devotes to them. (Studies of baboon troops show that typical members glance at the dominant male every 20 or 30 seconds.) As Princeton University psychologist Susan Fiske observes, primates – including ourselves – ‘pay attention to those who control their outcomes’.
“Linda Hudson, CEO of BAE Systems, got this message after becoming the first female president of General Dynamics. After her first day on the job, a dozen women in her office imitated how she tied her scarf. Hudson realised, ‘It really was now about me and the context of setting the tone for the organisation. That was a lesson I have never forgotten – that as a leader, people are looking at you in a way that you could not have imagined in other roles’.”
Obviously, this process will require careful attention, vigilance and discipline on your behalf, but surely the benefits will pay dividends. (Maybe the consequences of not undergoing this change are enough to prove the necessity for the process.) It’s your business, so you’re in control; this means that you need to appear to be in control – all the time. Before you can assume effective control of the workplace, you first need to be aware of, and in control of, your own actions.
Coming back to the original point – you can’t afford to have a bad day.
