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Chana R Schoenberger
The question of who looks up to or down on whom is parodied by John Cleese,
Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett on Frost Over England. (BBC)
Q: The owner of our company and his sister are both executives here. While they
re both friendly when I meet them socially, they make life in our office quite
difficult. Perennially unhappy with the team s work, they frown and complain
constantly, and insist employees stop whatever they re doing to fulfill their
requests. What can we do about this?
A: This sort of hierarchical leadership ought to be as antiquated as an iPhone
3 by now. Companies these days generally understand that good ideas can come
from anywhere in the ranks, and they try to make employees feel as though their
contributions are important. A company that doesn t get this is a tough place
to work.
What you re experiencing is stiff neck syndrome, a condition employees
developed by looking up and waiting to be told what to do, said Frank R van
Vliet, an executive in residence at the University of Baltimore s Merrick
School of Business, in Baltimore, Maryland.
If your managers demand that employees stop what they re doing to tend to their
whims, you and your colleagues will continue to suffer from a case of stiff
neck. Why would someone want to start a task on his or her own accord, when
they know that the boss could come around the corner at any moment and change
the scope of work that the employee was planning to tackle? van Vliet asks.
This kind of behaviour can sometimes be found at start-ups where the
entrepreneur is still in charge but the company has grown larger. In the early
days of a company, the founders have to make all the decisions and do all of
the work. The problem comes when they have trouble trusting the employees they
hire later on. At some point, a manager has to back off and let people do their
jobs.
First, think about your own behaviour, just to rule out the possibility that it
s actually you who are the problem. Do you work in a self-directed manner? Get
all your work done? Take the initiative? Do you complain about other things in
the office, or just this one aspect of workplace life? Maybe your performance
is what s wrong in this situation.
If not, you ll have to seek some sort of conflict resolution. If your company
has a human resources department, consider discussing this situation with them
first Allowing the management team to belittle employees, either one-on-one,
or worse, in front of others, should be not be tolerated, van Vliet said.
If there isn t an HR department, or if that function is filled by the boss who
s bothering you, van Vliet suggests sitting down with that manager and having a
calm, rational discussion. Because you said your two executives are friendly in
social situations, they may be amenable to this approach. Explain how all the
interruptions to your work are getting in the way of your productivity and
morale and that of your colleagues. With introspection, and perhaps some
coaching, it s possible that your bosses could change their ways.
Maybe not, says van Vliet. It s often true that you can send a duck to eagle
school, but at the end of the day you still have a duck. In that case, you may
have to look for a new job.