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| Office Tyrants and the JLC Learning Conversations |
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By Keith Riemer A recent article I read in the Wall Street Journal about ‘Office Tyrants’ really got me thinking about all of the people I worked with and for over my professional working career. We have all worked with associates or supervisors who were either irritating or downright detestable. They were the ones who would destroy office morale or any attempts at shared vision. Dr. Sylvia LaFair, a leadership coach and psychologist, identified 13 different patterns of office behavior, including the “office persecutor”, who micromanages or abuses others; the “denier”, who pretends problems don’t exist; the “avoider”, who is aware of problems but just won’t talk about them; the “super-achiever”, who is driven to excel at everything and breeding resentment by walking over co-workers; and the “martyr”, who does her work and everybody else’s, but drives co-workers away by constantly complaining. Barry Ginnetti, president of GMR Group in Pennsylvania, realized with coaching that the reason why he got little or no reaction from co-workers in meetings that he ran was because “he was speaking loudly and aggressively.” He also realized that it was intimidating to co-workers at meetings and thus there was no engagement or participation. Mr. Ginnetti states that he speaks more softly now; he listens and asks questions such as, “OK, tell me what’s on your mind.” Lars Dalgaard, CEO of Success Factors, states that he was so brutally blunt with his subordinates that only after coaching did he realize that he needed to be more considerate towards them. He says that he now goes out of his way to talk with his employees, and asks them to be “brutally honest” with him about how his behavior affects them, and apologizes for mis-steps. The JLC conversational guidelines of acknowledging and responding respectfully, which Mr. Ginnetti and Dalgaard now seem to be practicing, allows for the enabling of safe space and the goal of building common understanding. Consensus and alignment is now possible, and the best thinking of everyone in a meeting can be shared. As I wrote in my previous article, “The New Holy Grail – Engagement at Meetings,” as a leader, one of the most important changes to an organization is to remove the fear often associated with learning, which hinders engagement. To honestly express opinions and ideas, participants must feel secure and safe in their environment. Without this security, meeting members will not risk having the “wrong answer.” Only when they feel safe will participants expose their own thinking to collective inquiry. Creating safe space is paramount for the creation of a system with integrity and learning. Successful learning conversations require space that is conducive to openness, authenticity, and caring. It also creates focus, common understanding, and the ability to move the system toward the goals of the organization. The system will then begin to speak with one voice. By implementing the JLC guidelines of acknowledgment and responding respectfully, the office tyrant can begin to create a greater presence and create a system with integrity and learning, be responsible for convening conversations that matter, and create consensus and alignment.- the goal of any great organization. |
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Office Tyrants and the JLC Learning Conversations By Keith Riemer
A recent article I read in the Wall Street Journal about...
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