Guess what that jerk did today!?

I wonder how many bosses ever think about how their employees talk about them to others. I know that, on occasion, when I've asked this in leadership classes, some have said that they don't care, it doesn't worry them, they've got a job to do and are not there to win a popularity contest... and I can see a grain of truth in this. 

On the other hand, they do need to win a daily battle for hearts and minds if their organisations, teams or wrk units are to survive and thrive... and being considered a jerk might just suggest that they are losing this battle.

Anyway, given the well documented costs of incivility in the workplace (loss of productivity, increased turnover, increased absenteeism just for starters) it seems to me that it's worth considering whether, if you're a boss, you're the jerk at work who, in their minds, justifies putting in less effort, care or thought; who gives them a good reason for late return from breaks; for 'not-my-job' style shrugs & hand-offs; for an extra sickday (or mental health day) now and again... and whether these behaviours then fuel your frustration, and whether you use this frustration to justify your incivility and jerk-like behaviours... and so on.

If you are in a leadership role.. I wonder how long it might take you to turn things around and what your first steps might be... 

Hi, honey I'm home! Wait 'til you hear what the boss did today... I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such a great boss, especially when I hear what some of my friends put up with!

Pyramid Model: Manage the Work Processes

When supervisors and managers ignore their responsibility for managing AND developing the way work is done, waste increases, competitiveness decreases and knowledge workers - who can see better ways of doing things and opportunities to do things better, faster, easier - lose motivation and commitment.

So the challenge here is to make time to map, improve and radically change processes, in order to maintain alignment with the demands of the business, and the business environment. 

Given that most managers are Digital Immigrants and most technical professionals are Net Gen-ers and Digital Natives, the manager has to learn to let go and share leadership in this area of the pyramid, probably more than any other.