There are overprotective bosses, selfish leaders, and there are clueless managers. Each, and all, can get in the way of their employees’ growth and progress.
Here are some common destructive, or counterproductive, behaviors practiced daily in the workplace.
Talking too much: Making first opinions and observations dominant and absolute. Leaves the thoughts of others at the table and discourages constructive discussion or out-of-the-box thinking.
Better: Think WAIT (Why Am I Talking?) before opening your mouth. Up your curiosity about the other individual’s perspective, before you share.
Sabotaging ideas with a few hot words: The words “no”, “but”, or “however,” at the beginning of every sentence places the emphasis on you and not the original speaker. It prejudices others to dislike the original speaker’s idea.
Better: Monitor your opening words. They set the tone. Use “and” instead of “but”; “interesting” instead of “no”; and “another perspective” instead of “however.” Sound like you are adding to the idea, not shooting it down.
Always being right: Competing with the staff to win and be right rather than find the best solution.
Better: View yourself as a member of the team who cannot reach the goal without others (true most of the time). Use phrases like, “I am not sure if this is the best…” or “I’m not positive I’ve got this right, who can help?”
Using sarcasm or other destructive comments: Trying to appear superior, smarter, or wittier.
Better: Check in with yourself. Are you feeling insecure, threatened, or possibly a fraud? Where’s that coming from? Probably not from the person you just humiliated.
Punishing the messenger: Showing anger and blaming the staff member who gives you a head’s up, tells you the truth, or is the only brave one in the room.
Better: Be grateful someone, other than your supervisor, is telling you the truth. Foster openness in your team. Take in information rather than flash with emotion.
Failing to express gratitude: Fear of spoiling people, believing they will take advantage of you or you will feel embarrassment if you show you are grateful, is a fool’s game. It’s also rude.
Better: Acknowledging your gratitude is one of the cheapest and long-lasting forms of compensation. It is in short supply and is the key to many successful leaders’ success.
Why does this all seem so simple, yet hard to find? Two obvious answers.
- Many people are not self-reflective. They rarely, if ever, take the time to assess who they are, how they are perceived, and what is their contribution to a problem.
- Bad behavior becomes part of an organization’s culture. Employees begin to believe this is how one succeeds. The truth is there are not enough positive role models to counteract the negative, so those who are knowledgeable, need to be stellar examples.
The good news is these are behaviors, ways of acting, not in your DNA, that can be changed, altered, and tweaked.
The risk in not changing is to stunt your growth and the growth of your employees. It is the key to everyone’s success and satisfaction.
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