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Q:
What’s a manager to do about feelings in business?
Aurelio Collado Torres, Monterrey, Mexico
A: Why, manage them, of course.
Not to
mock your question in the slightest: We’re dead serious.
If there’s one thing that doesn’t get enough attention
for undermining productivity, creativity and the general
smooth functioning of business, it’s the mismanagement
of emotion in the workplace. Too many managers would
rather let people act, well, unmanaged.
Now,
we’re not even slightly qualified to opine on human
nature—well, maybe we’re as qualified as the next
guy—but you don’t have to watch reality TV to know that,
left unattended, people can fall into some pretty
dysfunctional behaviors. Maybe it’s because gossip,
ganging up, paranoia and the like were hardwired into
the human brain to ensure the survival of the species,
as some scientists have hypothesized.
But the
underlying reasons why groups of people can get so
terribly caught up in negative feelings don’t really
matter. All that does—from a manager’s point of view—is
that unhealthy emotions usually beget more unhealthy
emotions.
That’s
why you have to manage them—which, fortunately, takes
neither a degree in psychology nor more time than you
already have. It takes only an active commitment to
remove uncertainty from your organization and to instill
a purposeful approach to inspiration.
Uncertainty first. No manager knows everything about
each individual’s career trajectory or the company’s
future plans. But most managers know a lot more than
they say. Since we started traveling around the world in
2002, we have asked audiences for a show of hands in
answer to the question “Over the past year, how many of
you have received an honest performance appraisal that
really tells you where you stand in the organization?”
Typically, even with audiences that have been eagerly
participating until that moment, we get a 10 percent
“yes” showing; more often than you would believe, we get
less.
That
isn’t unacceptable: It’s outrageous. You may be running
a billion-dollar business, moving resources around the
globe and presenting stacks of fancy PowerPoint slides
to top management, but you simply do not have the right
to call yourself a manager if you are not regularly
telling your people, whether you have 3 direct reports
or 13, what they are doing well and where they need to
improve their performance. In fact, you should be so
clear in your evaluations that, should the time ever
come to part ways, no employee ever asks why, he just
asks about “the deal” and the logistics of a smooth
transition.
This
kind of candor doesn’t come naturally to many managers.
Some people would even say it’s cruel. We’d say the
opposite—lack of candor steals careers, because it’s
usually too late for an employee to start over by the
time he’s being told he has to with a pink slip.
As for
removing company uncertainty, sharing as much data as
possible is always the best practice. In particular, no
manager should ever commit the all-too-common sin of
announcing some layoffs—usually to appease investors
after the release of unfortunate results—without also
announcing the specifics about when, where and who. Even
when the news is bad, allow people to take their energy
off worrying and place it on constructive action, be it
restoring results or looking for another job.
Now, to
inspiration—or put another way, the transformation of
any sort of generic feelings about work into a true
passion for the mission. Everyone knows that nothing
great ever happens without passion. But too many
managers adjust for that fact with oversize, overheated
exhortations about the company’s “next big thing.”
Enthusiasm doesn’t hurt, of course, but authentic
passion is sparked by purpose—by people knowing why the
organization is taking a certain path and what the
journey will mean to their jobs and lives. Most people
don’t want to come to the office just to punch a clock;
they come to give their lives meaning and dignity. You
can help by showing your people how their work matters
to the organization, the community and even the world.
And not just with a speech once a year at the holiday
party, but every single chance you get—hallways,
elevators and parking lots included.
After
all, people are all a manager has to work with. Don’t
let their feelings get away from you.
****
Jack and
Suzy Welch are the authors of the international
bestseller Winning (Collins). Their latest book
is Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the
Toughest Questions in Business Today (Collins). They
are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and
challenges at work and look forward to answering your
questions in future columns. Please visit their new
website at www.welchway.com and submit questions through
the online form at welchway.com/Contact-Us.aspx. Please
include your name, occupation, city and country. |
