Why Good Conduct is Good Business - and Crucial to Your Success
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When someone consistently “rubs us the wrong way,” we often struggle to separate the behavior from the person. We see the act, attribute it to the actor, and the two become synonymous. What follows is a classic relationship slippery slope that usually ends up badly. What we forget in those situations is that behavior can change—and not always for the worse!
As leaders of our organization, we are responsible for our personal conduct on behalf of our company’s values and for the sake of our workforce. This might seem like an optional “soft skill,” but from what I’ve seen as a conflict advisor and coach to leaders, I believe it’s a crucial part of leadership success.
It’s just good business sense
It only takes one leader to lead a vision, motivate a team, boost productivity and increase retention. Conversely, one leader can disrupt a company, erode employee motivation, constrict productivity, and increase attrition—because of their chronic disrespectful and hurtful behavior.
Unacceptable conduct will exact a toll on a company’s business.
Both in bottom lines and work environments, bosses are critical to a company’s mission. For the people under them, it’s a daily reinforcement of good or bad behavior—they could be loving their job or hating it. For the people over them, it’s sustaining an engaged and productive workforce, or losing time and money stuck in eternal turnover limbo.
In the current “great resignation” period we are experiencing, a strong organizational culture that supports its people becomes crucial. There’s no room for ignoring or rationalizing bad behavior, because you stand to lose valuable talent who quit to find a better environment.
So how does a good boss go bad—and vice versa?
A person often rises to a leadership position because of their outstanding ability to execute the technical tasks of their work. Which is good!
However, an effective leader also needs to be able to “move people in the right direction...which requires interpersonal competence,” according to the Boss Whispering Institute. “Competent leaders...know how to relate to coworkers in socially acceptable ways to promote stable working relationships and ensure the smooth flow of work. They’re insightful enough to consistently interact in a manner that their coworkers perceive as respectful.”
This is the problem. A leader who hasn’t yet honed these interpersonal skills or capacity often doesn’t act respectfully or relies on aggression to motivate others in order to get the job done. Unbeknownst to them, their behavior causes emotional distress in their coworkers. Where the leader may see quality-checking, others see over-control; where the leader sees an example, others see public humiliation; where the leader sees instruction, others see condescension.
Next steps…
How do you know that someone’s behavior — or the report of someone’s behavior — is something that needs your attention?
As a specialist in working with abrasive leaders, I start by using a tool we’ve developed called the Abrasive Leader Diagnostic™. It’s designed specifically to identify the nature and scope of abrasive conduct.
If you see this behavior going on, use this tool. If you receive a complaint from an employee or team members, just have them take this questionnaire to give you the data you need to assess the situation. If you believe you might be a boss “gone bad,” this tool is a powerful first step to take.
The Diagnostic is a short, anonymous questionnaire which will provide you with an instant report on results and next-step recommendations. It’s free, no-obligation, and confidential (no personal info captured). I encourage you to take advantage of this tool — not only to help your company, but to make an enormous difference to that individual.
The good news: The situation isn’t hopeless, and they aren’t helpless.
When we join a company, partnership or team, our expectation is that everyone involved will exhibit professional behavior toward us and each other. Instead, it’s highly possible that we may become one of the more than 60 million adults in the United States who are affected in some way by bullying behavior at work.
What kind of behaviors are we talking about? Our definition is any interpersonal behavior that causes emotional distress in others sufficient enough to impede their productivity or disrupt organizational functioning. It isn’t just a personality conflict — it’s a chronic pattern of disrespectful behavior.