I work in an accounting firm. I work for a boss, who has a good combination of technical skills, communication skills, and goal-oriented personality. To his credit are the accomplishment of taking tough tasks, turning it around, and exceeding the client’s expectations.
During one of the assignments, this was most sought after assignment that the organization was eying for, he agreed to stringent client requirement. In this assignment, multiple professionals across the industry were involved, so stakes were high as long as organization goodwill or his brand were concerned.
The number of years of work experience of my boss had was greater than the combined years of work experience of the entire team. So he was responsible for deciding to take forward this assignment, allotting tasks to each team member, and ensure the intellectual sanity of the assignment. In short, the entire team was dependent on his instruction and long work hours could not be ruled out.
As the deadline neared, work pressure increased. My boss was cracking under pressure, his anger, irritation and frustration was apparent each second. However, tough timelines made it difficult to conduct multiple layers of follow on review and it became imperative that parallel review be conducted to meet timelines. However, multiple changes in input data by client, add to the misery.
As a result, during most of the review sessions planned for the assignment, there were instances of his emotional outburst, blaming the team for not having adequate technical skills, and taking longer to complete tasks in hand. The lead to a high-stress level among team members. This gave way to some verbal abuse and some morale destroying comments from seniors to juniors.
The assignment concluded within the stipulated timeline. However, the key team members working on this project decided to leave the organization and join the competitor firm.
Does this scenario sound familiar? Have you experienced or witness such scenario in your team or organization
At the closure of the assignment, I narrated this to my friend. He summarized this in one statement — the fort is captured, but the lion is dead.
He gifted me a book — What got you here, will not get you there by Marshall Goldsmith
I decided to evaluate the scenario on lines of some of the principles given in the book
- Goal obsession: His goal was to meet client requirements and earn brownie points for his performance, which will build his career. During the assignment, he was nice to the client and other industry professionals, however, he mistreated his team to the core. Over the period, he became a self-absorbed schemer. In his dogged pursuit to achieve his goal of catering to the client’s requirement, he forgot basic manners of dealing with the team. So, even though this assignment allowed him to display his professional prowess, but he did not have his team with him at the end of the assignment to celebrate.
- Making destructive comments: My boss usually passes destructive comments on individuals in front of the entire team on his / her technical competence. He justifies his comments by saying that it’s his style of making his team acquaint with their shortcomings. That’s when the real problem begins — because once the comment leaves your lips, the damage is done and it’s very hard to undo. You can’t take it back. No matter how fervently you apologize — and even if the apology is accepted — the comment lingers in the memory
- Speaking when angry: Post completion of assignment, the resignation of Core Team member highlighted that
o His anguish nature at each review session indicated that he is not able to manage his emotions, work and team — Erosion of professional reputation
o Team is no longer willing to work with this boss — Damage to his brand
o Resignation of core team members hampered the morale of rest of the team member
Given an option, who would wish to work for a Boss who has poor self-Emotional Quotient?
Throughout the assignment, it led to a situation where the team has become non-responsive to his comments. Let me highlight a Buddhist story shared by Marshall Goldsmith in his book
A Buddhist legend tells of a young farmer who was covered with sweat as he paddled his boat up the river. He was going upstream to deliver his produce to the village. He was in a hurry. It was a hot day and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked ahead, he spied another vessel, heading rapidly downstream toward his boat. This vessel seemed to be making every effort to hit him. He rowed furiously to get out of the way, but it didn’t seem to help.
He yelled at the other vessel, “Change direction, you idiot! You are going to hit me. The river is wide. Be careful!” His screaming was to no avail. The other vessel hit his boat with a sickening thud. He was enraged as he stood up and cried out to the other vessel, “You moron! How could you manage to hit my boat in the middle of this wide river? What is wrong with you?” As he looked at the other vessel, he realized that there was no one in the other boat. He was screaming at an empty vessel that had broken free of its moorings and was going downstream with the current.
The lesson is simple. There is never anyone in the other boat. When we are angry, we are screaming at an empty vessel.
I decided my behavior to my team, irrespective of my boss’s behavior towards me and my team. I evaluate my behavior on the following 6 questions
- Did I do my best to increase my happiness?
- Did I do my best to find meaning?
- Did I do my best to be engaged?
- Did I do my best to build positive relationships?
- Did I do my best to set clear goals?
- Did I do my best to make progress toward goal achievement?
How do you manage tough situations in your team or organization? Are you focussed on capturing the fort and don’t care about lions or do you believe that there are multiple lions, can pick one for capturing each fort?
