Vicki Anderson

I just read an article this morning that the New York state assembly is considering a law against workplace bullying. What makes me mad is that we need one!

In my years of work in human resources and consulting with management, it never fails to amaze me that workplace bullies get away with it. They are often people who have some special knowledge that the boss doesn’t think he can do without, so he doesn’t want to take any risk of losing him. Or, the bully has a protector in a power position. Therefore, there are no repercussions for the bad management. Instead, they lose good employees who refuse to put up with their shenanigans. Unfortunately, today many people are stuck because there aren’t many other job options for them to jump to.

The employers don’t want to have this law because they think it will keep them from holding employees accountable. However, I think there is a definite difference between being clear to employees about what standard of performance you want and bullying. There are, of course, employees who will abuse the system and put forth trivial suits that will cost money on both sides, but if you are doing your management right, this should be minimized.

Just as unions came about because people needed to be protected against bad management practices, now someone feels we need another law to protect people against bad management. It is just another example of lack of job ownership. Managers often talk about the need for employees to own their job and take initiative. I think it’s time that managers take ownership of their jobs and start training, coaching, and reinforcing good management skills. It is just dumb business to let good employees work under bullying bosses.

What happens after a mistake differentiates the people developers from the people limiters. I have always learned that after an accident, a mistake, or a failure of any kind, you ask three questions: 1) What happened? 2) Why did it happen? and 3) How can we keep it from happening again?

There is no “Who did it?” in those three questions. Of course, “who did it” is part of the “what happened” but the focus is on the situation, issue, or behavior, not the person. The assumption is that people don’t make mistakes on purpose. They more likely make mistakes because they were distracted, in a hurry, didn’t think a certain step in a process was necessary, or because they have always done it that way and no mistake ever happened before.

As humans, we all make mistakes, but the higher the cost of the mistake, the more we have a tendency to blame. However, as leaders we have the capability to help people learn from them so they don’t repeat those mistakes. The more that you talk about the three questions above, the less likely people are going to hide mistakes and the more likely you will get to the root cause of the problem to solve it.

Make sure that blame doesn’t come through in your voice tone even though you may be measuring your words. Your body language and voice tone convey much more than the words you use. If you tend to be one who gets emotional easily, perhaps you can learn to do a “slow blink” as a former colleague used to say. Stop and think before you react to the information just presented. It might keep you from having to go back and apologize later for overreacting.

If you are going to lead, you must learn to really solve problems because blaming is only surface problem solving. It does not keep it from happening again. It only tends to make the person hide problems until caught, which exacerbates the issue. If you are going to be a people developer you must make it safe for people to report problems so they can be fixed. Involve them in the process and help them learn for themselves.

I’m sure the CEO of BP has thoroughly regretted his offhand frustrated comment about how he’d like his life back. When you are in a leadership position and especially in the media, it is unfortunate, but you really have to watch what you say. When you are in management, what you say gets attributed to the company. You no longer have the luxury of being able to say something offhandly candid, off color, or snide. You really should watch it wherever you are because you never know who is listening.

A good rule of thumb is to think about whether you would want your words on the front page of the New York Times (because they could be), the lead story on CNN, or would you say them in front of your minister, your children, or your mother. Reticence is the better part of valor when it comes to tense situations.

Unfortunately, we are also human and when someone presses you constantly as the media tends to do, you say things under duress that given a chance to think about it, you wouldn’t say. I once did a training session for senior managers of a delivery company and we set up a situation where a truck containing hazardous materials had turned over and some media people just happened to be in the area and got to the scene quickly. It was very interesting to see how the managers in charge handled the simulated pressure. If you haven’t ever had any kind of disaster drill at your work, it would be good to set up one. What would you say if xxx happened there? Being a good leader means thinking ahead. BP has learned this the hard way. Don’t make the same mistake.

“Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world.”
Joel Barker

In our neighborhood last week we lost a lot of trees and limbs to some straight-line winds during a storm. In these turbulent times it can seem like we are also just willows in the wind—tossing with the next storm trying to keep our roots in the ground. Sometimes we are afraid to put out our branches for fear they will be broken off.

And yet, there are trees that go on to survive. I stopped to talk to a neighbor who had a willow tree severely damaged in the ice storm we had two winters ago. By the time they cut off all the branches that had broken, I wouldn’t have given you two cents for its survival. However, it has grown back and looks better than ever. We wondered if another tree that was severely damaged in last week’s storm will prosper as well.

The quote at the top of this article is relevant to the way we return to prosperity and productivity following difficult circumstances. We have to have a vision of what our businesses and our lives will look like after we recover. Just as a good tree service will prune the damaged tree properly for it to grow again; we must decide what we want our organizations to look like. Do you want to be a bigger stronger company or a smaller more agile company? Will you change your products or services depending on the demand? What kind of employees will help you achieve your vision?

Whether you are a department head or the CEO you have control over your vision. Most importantly, you, the leader, must make your vision known and take action to make it happen. There needs to be regular communication about the steps you are taking and how others can get involved to help. Empower people by giving them information and responsibility for action. Engage their commitment by rewarding accomplishment and weeding out non-producers. Support new thought leaders and encourage idea sharing.

I think good leaders help their organization grow and be resilient by being strategic about placement of resources. Make sure the resources support in the right places at the right times. Regular and frequent communication will help you know whether you are being successful at that. Like the tree that sprouts new branches, be on the lookout for new growth that needs to be supported. With nourishment, those limbs can become strong to help support the tree. Without nourishment, they are spindly and break off at the next storm. And, some branches should not be allowed to grow because they will sap the tree’s strength.

There is an old negative expression that goes, “Make like a tree and leave.” I suggest that it might become a good thing by saying, “Make like a tree and leaf.” Stimulate new growth systematically to achieve your vision and your future might be more secure by having the support it needs to weather the next storm.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Mothers are often our first leadership role models. They teach us how to be with others by the way they treat us. We see what authority looks like.

My home was pretty strict and my Dad was the boss, but my mother knew how to get things done. She was a hard worker and worked well with others. In my teen years she was the supervisor of a hospital kitchen. She was respected and loved by all her employees. She supported them and worked with them. My Dad used to ask her if she was going to take her suitcase up to the hospital when she would get a call that someone was sick and she had no one else to work, so she would go in and help.

My mother was all about service. She was kind, friendly, and helpful to everyone. In her last job as the manager of a bakery in a local grocery chain, the customers loved her. She would come around the counter and help people pick out what they wanted. She remembered their names. She rarely had personnel problems like in some of the other departments. The president used to say he wished he could clone my mother as her bakery was the most profitable.

My mother was honest and dependable. You could count on her to do what she said she would do. She raised five children and worked full time most of her life. She knew what it would take to make things work and she would get it done.

My mother was humble. She never really understood the gifts she had. She didn’t think she was special or talented. It wasn’t until my adulthood that I realized what a role model she had been for me as a leader. I learned that you can get things done by being nice as well as ordering people around. You get things done by knowing your job and doing it. You get things done by standing with others. You get things done by being someone others can count on. Thanks, Mom, for being such a good teacher.