Bosses = Parents
October 2nd, 2008 by Cali & Jody
Picture this: We’re on our flight to Memphis to do the keynote at the TN SHRM conference. Jody runs out of “fun” magazines and reaches for the in-flight publication. All of a sudden, she gasps…loudly. She hands the publication to me and I see an article titled “The Family Practice: Supervise your employees as if they were your children - with patience, compassion and a bit of tough love.” Supervise your employees as if they were your children - just that much made us feel a bit nauseous. But just wait…here’s the thing that had us ripping our hair out:
“Be a Role Model: True leaders lead by example. They act morally and do what is right, so followers learn the correct path. If you want your child to share his toys, you’ll share the remote with your spouse. If you want your employees to come to work on time and put in extra hours when it’s busy, you’ll be at the office early and stay late.”
Are you feeling our pain? This is the advice to leaders in 2008?
Here’s our rant: We will continue to see things like this. We know that. This is a classic representation of the current work culture that we (and you) are trying to change. What we do ask is that when you see or hear leadership lessons - in publications, online, at conferences - that you ask yourself the following questions:
- Do these leadership lessons have anything to do with results?
- Will these leadership lessons help me attract and retain the best of the best?
- Do these lessons ask me to behave in a way that shows I trust my employees?
We (us and all of you) are responsible for creating the work culture we have. If we continue to work and live according to messages like those written in this magazine, we will remain status quo. If we decide to buck the system and try new ways of doing things that are based on common sense and are good for our lives and the business, we will see change. We own our present and our future.
One more thing: As you talk with people that are unhappy with the way things are in their work environment, ask them one question - what are you doing to change that?
