Vedere Consulting

One of my favorite clients is Celes Glover. As an administrative assistant to a vice president, Celes is in a unique position, as she puts it, to “spread something.” She literally sits in the middle of the department. People come to her all day long, usually because they want her help. She has to stop what she’s doing and take care of them. One of her insights, she told me, is that she can choose what she spreads. If she’s having a bad day, she can choose the spread the suffering by being short with people or ignoring them. Or she can decide to spread good will. She can listen, she can respond respectfully--even when she’s feeling irritated at an unreasonable request.

Celes has learned something every boss needs to know. Each person who supervises someone else is in a position to “spread something.” Their responses to the people around them are contagious. If they choose to spread the suffering by being short-fused, critical or ignoring others, their behavior will set the tone for the whole office. Their people will shut down, will be less creative. If they choose to spread good will, the office mood is more relaxed and supportive and creativity can flourish.

Let me hasten to add that supportive doesn’t mean soft. There are still too many bosses out there who confuse the two. Soft means you don’t rock the boat. You don’t confront when you need to. You sweep problems under the rug. Reacting with good will means you control your temper, you respond respectfully, you wait until you calm down to act. When President Obama said he wouldn’t “govern out of anger” he was paying attention to what he was spreading.

Right now, there’s plenty of suffering going around. There’s no need to add to it if you can help it. Calm yourself, then act. Say you’re sorry if you make a mistake. Listen. Managing your emotions is good for business.

Plum Cluverius is an executive and leadership coach located in Richmond, Virginia.

Labels: Leadership Development

Click for more information on executive coaching with Vedere Consulting. You can also follow Plum on Twitter.

Got a bad apple on your team? Read on to find out what you can do about it.

In one of my first jobs out of college, I had a co-worker who was the classic drama queen. She complained—about management, about clients, about her co-workers. She was chronically late and often absent so that others were stuck doing her work. She gossiped and was usually mad at someone or taking up their time with her tales of woe.

Three things make her interesting. First, she did all this in such a way that she was able to skate right below the surface of actionable offense. She drove management crazy, but it took them forever to address her issues because her excuses were good enough or she managed to do enough to get by. Second, she had a huge effect on morale. She managed to keep the office stirred up—when she was around someone was always upset about something or people weren’t speaking to each other. We all started complaining and gossiping. Third, there are far too many people like her in offices around the country. Maybe there’s one in yours.

The American Public Radio program, This American Life (www.thisamericanlife.org ) chronicled an experiment that offers hope to any office stuck with a dysfunctional drama queen. In the show, host Ira Glass interviewed Will Phelps, currently an assistant professor of management at the Rotterdam School of Management. Dr. Phelps wanted to know if one person could destroy the productivity of a group. He set up a series of experiments where he paid an actor to engage in one of three “bad apple” behaviors in a group. The “bad apple” behaviors were attacking or insulting others, doing less than they could, or acting depressed and pessimistic.

The results. Every group—but one—where the actor was present performed 30-40% worse than the control groups. Even more surprising, people in the group—initially enthusiastic and engaged—started taking on the actor’s behaviors. If he was insulting and attacking, they began attacking each other. If he slacked off, they did too. All this took place within the 45 minute time allotment for each group.

That’s powerful stuff, isn’t it? But if you’ve ever been in an office with a drama queen or a bad apple, the results of this study aren’t surprising. Bad apples can spoil the whole bunch.

But wait. One group managed to resist. What happened there? Dr. Phelps said that in this group, one person, a natural leader, turned the whole thing around. During the group exercise, he asked questions, listened, engaged others. He was able to diffuse the conflicts that arose. That group performed well, despite the bad apple behavior.

So what could this mean? It means that listening to each other, making sure everyone is heard, soliciting opinions, trying to understand each other is powerful too. It means that it’s as possible to reach our better selves as it is to appeal to our baser instincts. And it takes leadership. Someone willing to step up to the plate to help the group perform.

Plum Cluverius is an executive and leadership coach in Richmond, Virginia. Contact her at plum@vedereconsulting.com for a free half hour consultation.

Labels: Teamwork

Click for more information on executive coaching with Vedere Consulting. You can also follow Plum on Twitter.