My kids (employees) are perfect
1420
Good leaders build teams that are loyal, but when it is overused, it can have negative consequences for the leader and staff, alike. Like parents who believe that their kids are better than other kids, the leader who treats his or her team like their precious, perfect children, are going to run into trouble.
Here are some situations I’ve seen and how it plays out in the workplace:
A manager who tried to protect her own team from staff cuts, at the expense of all the other departments. As the management team was struggling through a mandated reduction in staff, she defended her people and claimed that the organization couldn’t function without each of them. Meanwhile, the other managers were making the tough choices, even though they felt strongly about their team’s contribution, too. In a private conversation, she told a colleague that if she lost her job, “all my people will follow me.”
This leader has an overinflated view of her team and herself. While they may like working for her—after all, she fights for them—she’s kidding herself if she thinks she is the most important reason they are working for the company. She has made loyalty to herself more important than the big-picture view--commitment to the needs of the company.
Another leader sees his staff through rose colored glasses. During a talent review, he staunchly defended his team and insisted they are all “above average or high potentials.” In spite of some contrary examples from his peers and boss, he insisted that they all could be promoted into higher positions in the company. When there is a conflict between a member of his staff and someone from another department, he usually says things such as, “Well, you know what I think of that department.”
When a leader is this blind to the faults of his staff, he isn’t doing them any favors. He isn’t likely to give much developmental feedback. Without the benefit of honest feedback, that would cause the employee to improve his or her skills, he is leading the employee to believe they are already good enough. Like the overindulgent parent, who tells his child, “They just don’t appreciate how great you are,” he sets them up for failure. The employee may not take ownership of their mistakes, may never learn why he or she isn’t getting promoted, and eventually become bitter toward the company.
Remember the girl in eighth grade, who kept friends in her little clique by gossiping and sharing secrets and bullying anyone who dared to resist her “charms?” Some leaders, who operate on the loyalty factor, share too much confidential information with their staff –even gossiping about peers and senior leaders.
These managers, in a misguided attempt to create a close, loyal team, have subtly influenced their team to side with them-- against senior management. Every company has some cultural warts, and it’s the manager’s job to get things done in spite of it, or work to change it—not to join in the criticism. The manager is part of the management team of the company, so is supposed to represent it—not turn people against it. This can create a cynical, anti-company culture, and isn’t fair to the employees.
Another leader made promises to his staff that he didn’t have the ultimate authority to execute, such as assurances about promotions and raises. Then when the raises weren’t approved, the leader blamed Human Resources and the people “above me.”
Like the other leaders above, he was trying to tell them, “I’m on your side, so you should be loyal to me.” Rather than representing management, this leader is pointing the finger at management. If the employee is smart, he or she will realize that this leader is the problem, not HR.
When one of his staff leaves, the leader takes it personally, turning against the person, even berating the departed employee to the rest of the staff.
Rather than scaring the remaining staff into more loyalty, it has quite the opposite effect. Like the eighth-grade queen bee, who kept friends through intimidation, this doesn’t work long term, either.
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Joan Lloyd is a Milwaukee based executive coach and organizational & leadership development strategist. She is known for her ability to help leaders and their teams achieve measurable, lasting improvements. Joan Lloyd & Associates, specializes in leadership development, organizational change and teambuilding, providing: executive coaching, CEO coaching & team coaching, 360-degree feedback processes, customized training (leadership skills, presentation skills, internal consulting skills & facilitation skills), team conflict resolution and retreat facilitation.
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