BEING a people manager entails not just overseeing a group of people but also dealing with different employee personalities and tendencies. One tendency your team members have, whether they are aware of it or not, is to try to impress you with things other than doing their work well, like complimenting your outfit or agreeing with your ideas all the time. This is more frequent for new members of the team who are still trying to understand what kind of leader you are and what will impress you.
While it may feel good for you, encouraging sycophantic behavior will effectively silence creative thinking and reasoning because your team will only wait on you to decide and follow what you want instead of looking for better ways of doing things. You also run the risk of other team members ostracizing the bootlicker for their behavior, and frown on you for rewarding such ingratiation more than productivity or efficiency. Your reaction to bootlickers will spell the difference between a group that says yes to you all the time and one that critically thinks what is best for the team and each other. If you want your team to do their best as a unit, you need to stop encouraging bootlicking behavior.
There are several ways to spot a bootlicker. One is their change of behavior when other managers, or others in higher position, are around. They fawn and pretend to be subservient when their manager is around, but otherwise they would ignore everyone else. These are the ones who always follow their manager wherever they can, or focus on their manager all the time rather than be with their peers. They rarely challenge their manager or present an opposing view, and would do everything they can to please their manager. Sometimes, these are the people who know something that would affect the team but would rather tell it to their manager first before anyone else.
If you want to discourage bootlicking, start by looking in the mirror. How you react to your own managers and how you handle their requests will show your team how they should also react and how to behave when asked by upper management. People managers directly influence the culture of their team by their own actions and how they respond to other departments in the organization. If you want your team to be recognized on their own merit and performance, you need to start with yourself and be recognized because of your own merit and performance.
To discourage a brown-noser, deliberately ignore them. The problem with brown-nosers is that they suck up because they either cannot do the work properly, or they are manipulating you in their favor. This takes a lot of self-control for them to fawn and keep you in their good graces. The danger in entertaining suck-ups and encouraging such behavior is that sooner or later, they cannot keep up appearances and would eventually end up either turning in substandard work, or being a nuisance to other team members. Evaluate and praise your team based on their performance as agreed in their individual performance scorecard rather than on how they flatter you.
Set clear expectations and performance metrics so your team can focus on achieving those more than finding ways to flatter you. Thus, even if they do find things to compliment about you, or they say something gratifying, you can thank them, sure, but you must be as objective as you can during performance evaluations. I know that as human beings we cannot be totally objective but clear performance measures and expectations can help you reduce subjectivity and bias. When performance measures are clear, your team can focus on deliverables more than flattering you.
There are cases when sycophantic behavior goes so far as to malign other people in their desire to be recognized and be the boss’ confidante. I know of a manager who has insinuated himself so much in management that he has alienated all the effective and productive employees in his team that all of them left. They now have new members who do not know the office processes, and no one to teach them because the bootlicker has gotten rid of all the senior managers. Now, they are having difficulties rebuilding their team and the bootlicker’s meddling has extended to other teams who have started losing their members too. I understand that leaders need to trust their managers, but you still need discernment in who you listen to. When an entire group loses their senior managers, that should be your cue to step in.
If the bootlicking persists, talk to them in private and discover what is causing the behavior. Some are doing it because that is the only way they know how to be liked by others, and they are not just fawning over you but others as well. In this case, you need to discuss with them how it is making you and others feel. Others flatter their managers in an attempt to hide their lack of skill and incompetence. Then, you need to send them to train or find someone to mentor them while they do their work. Some use flattery as a means of pushing themselves up so they will be noticed by management. When this happens, strengthen your performance management system so your team understands when they can be promoted. When you know why your team resorts to bootlicking, you can address their concerns properly and lessen the need to flatter you.
Your team resorts to flattery when they think it can help their cause, and when they think you are susceptible to it. A good people manager focuses on empowering their team to make their own decisions by providing principle-based guidance and supporting their team’s decisions. Flattery might sound good for a while but when left unchecked, it can develop further into a difficult problem. As their leader, it is your role to stop bootlicking behavior if you want your team to grow.