Mind The Gap

I sold a piece of artwork yesterday!! Woooooo!!

This is the lucky picture that is going to a new home:

Drew this on an index card at work today, during a break just after drafting a slightly complex technical implementation estimate for a billing system add-on. Thought it was pretty cute. I’ve been fond of the phrase ‘get those bits moving’ ever since I read this, and the image below is basically the mental image I have every time I see or hear the phrase.

Fear of Being Surpassed

There comes a time where a manager who is not entirely secure in their skills as a leader may begin to feel threatened by others, and fearful that they will be surpassed in power, level of control or range of authority. Managers who reach this point may begin to make irrational decisions, and may exhibit behaviors that indicate a fear of being shown up or out skilled by another, especially an employee of lesser rank. These behaviors often seem aimed at suppressing ideas for change, or slowing, and even stopping the development of skills in the employee that is seen as a threat. Eric Sink says a very wise thing: Don’t work for a manager who is actively hindering your practice of constant learning. Just don’t do it.

The question that should be asked when a manager seems to be exhibiting oppressive behavior against an employee is this: do these managers make these decisions consciously, and intentionally act with the intent of slowing a person’s development, regardless of the greater good for the company, or is it an entirely subconscious sabotage? Of course the action is no more or less acceptable either way, but in diagnosing and solving the problem, it will be important to know if the troublesome behavior is being done willfully and intentionally, or if the manager in question doesn’t realize how their actions are impacting others and how they are being perceived.

The following is a scenario to demonstrate how a manager who fears being surpassed might subtly begin to break down a perceived threat. This is describing no single manager in particular, but rather is a collection of many character traits, and a demonstration of how those traits might influence behavior within a situation.

A new employee is hired to work in a position where his job requires him to work under/with various managers on different projects, on an as needed basis as determined by the department head, we’ll call him the New Guy.

Some of the managers see this role as a valuable part of the project, and see the New Guy as a team member who can play a part to help ensure that the product delivered is the best it can be. One of the managers does not see value in the role the New Guy has been hired for, or does not see any value in the New Guy himself, and lets this show in her behavior; this is the challenge this new employee must face while trying to do his best for the project, the client and the company.

Let’s assume that this fictional manager, has heard of the New Guy’s previous contributions on other projects, and instead of seeing his skill as a boost to the project, and thereby a compliment to her own skills as a manager, sees him as a threat to her authority. The manager is afraid that the New Guy will show her up as a member of the project team, and will appear more skilled or knowledgeable, which could lead to any of a number of unpleasant results.. With her authority and prestige on the line, the manager feels that she must do something to keep him from appearing as the stand out from the field.

Whether intentionally or not, the manager begins to, little by little, do things that eat away at the rest of the team’s perception of the New Guy’s credibility and knowledge. It is possible that she is entirely unaware of the true cause of the uneasiness that flavors her behavior as a manager on the project. What is certain is that she senses danger and is trying to ward it off, she may honestly feel that the New Guy might steer the project wrong, and so is trying to keep the team from placing blind trust, and is acting without examining why she feels that way, or she may consciously see him as a threat to her own position, and so is actively trying to keep him from progressing any further, to prevent herself being surpassed, or usurped, as she may see it.

At first the activities are small. The manager asks the New Guy to copy her on every email he sends to anyone about the project. Maybe she might even ask him to copy her on emails that are not even relevant to her position to create the impression to him that she is his boss, even if she is not. The manager also begins to be more questioning and non-decisive regarding the New Guy’s recommendations in project meetings, openly indicating that she doubts his ideas, without presenting reasons why or other ideas to consider. As other people begin to wonder if the manager is correct in expressing doubt in the New Guy, they can begin to let their perceptions become prejudiced, even without seeing the New Guy’s work. He could start being passed up when he is considered to work on the big projects, and pigeonholed into the projects that are not as important, where there is not much risk of serious consequences if he does not do a good job.

The New Guy of course sees all this around him, and hears talk of what the managers are saying about him, and considers how he is being watched so close and obviously not trusted by this manager, and he may begin to doubt himself. It is well known that people who doubt and second guess themselves often make poor decisions, or fail to make decisions at all. In his fast paced work environment, the New Guy cannot afford to refuse to decide what to recommend because he is afraid he might be wrong, and so his delays begin to rouse the suspicion that maybe he is not working very hard to find solutions, or is not able to find them and just will not admit to it. The failure to make decisions, or the badly made decisions to take the least risky path because of his fear and insecurity, of course have negative outcomes for the projects and the clients. The manager has effectively made the New Guy into the employee she painted him to be with the original unfounded doubts that she voiced, because other people at the company took her word as a manager, without asking for her reasoning and evidence behind the opinion regarding the New Guy.

Now, rarely does it happen that a manager is so blatant in their attempts to undermine or discredit a direct report employee or other political threat in the workplace. We all of course hope that all bosses are good bosses, and that sabotage by your boss is rare. Just the same, it does happen, and the results described in this article are the most common. The employee’s career just inexplicably stagnates, with no explanation, the opportunities just dry up. In more extreme cases, the boss may be so bold as to make efforts to get the threat dismissed if any opportunities arise to do so.

The above story is a collection of behaviors that may be exhibited, but hopefully aren’t all exhibited at the same time. Warning signs to look for, one might say…most of them indicate the boss doesn’t trust you, and that sort of thing can spread like a virus to the rest of the management layer, so you’ll need to figure out if your boss’ behaviors are intentional or not, and do what you can to address it. If the behavior is unintentional, then an honest discussion about building trust might be just the thing. If the behavior is intentional, especially if it’s public to others at your office, things are a bit trickier. You’ll need to evaluate how likely the situation is to get better, what you can do to improve it, and how willing you are to work through the situation, this part has a lot to do with your commitment to the company, the ease of finding other employment, etc.

The best advice I can give you is this, determine what really matters to you in this situation, how much you are willing to compromise to find a workable solution and how much you are willing to tolerate in the process of getting there. Never let a bad situation turn you into a miserable person, because it damages not only yourself emotionally, but also your learning capability and productivity, which damages your career – define your walk away point, and do everything you can to be reasonable and adhere to the standards you set for yourself.

When one thinks of management or leadership that is driven by fear, the first assumption is a situation in which a despot may keep his or her subjects so fearful that they do not dare to question, and always obey. History has certainly seen many such cases, and we still see them today on both large and small scales. However, a second breed of leadership by fear exists, a sect in which a leader’s own fear pollutes rational thinking. Fear can leak into a person’s decision processes much like contaminants can leak into a water supply, and eventually decisions are polluted, just as the water would be, and sometimes no one knows about it until it is too late. This pollution prevents optimal decisions and can result in negative outcomes for the growth of the people being lead and for the company that the leader was hired to take care of and grow.

Many types of fear exist that are faced by managers, and far too many leaders succumb to those fears, perhaps without even knowing it themselves. The most common of these that I have found are the fear of being surpassed, the fear of no longer being needed and the fear of failure that keeps a person from taking risks and making changes which might be beneficial. Over the course of an undetermined amount of time, I’ll write briefly on each of these fears, and maybe any others that I discover as I go along.

Management of people and projects is a daunting task to any person, and the greater the power a manager is given to lead, the greater the responsibility and accountability they feel from their own superiors, and hopefully, from themselves as well. Because of this ever increasing pressure, without the knowledge and tools to distance themselves emotionally and make rational decisions for the business and for their employees, many managers may eventually reach a level in their career path where they are no longer secure in their own capability, and so fear starts to creep in and present itself as a silent variable in decision making.

I’m not, by any means, saying that managers shouldn’t have emotions, or that they shouldn’t consider them, but managers do need to step back from the situation and dissect those emotions scientifically. If an emotion doesn’t belong and isn’t contributing positively, then it needs to be removed from the factors being considered when making a decision. Fear is one of those emotions. The operations of a business sometimes put people in situations that can be confusing, bewildering, and downright unpleasant, and allowing the fear of discomfort to keep yourself from making the most logical and beneficial decision you can based on the information you have, is not terribly productive in the long run.

If you review a situation and realize you are afraid to make a decision, and that this is because you don’t feel you have enough information, and then you discover you really don’t, go look for some more information, and invite other people into the decision making process if they have knowledge or instincts that you think can help. The same sort of analysis can be applied to every situation where you discover fear is influencing your choices, rather than the real probabilities and risks associated with the decision that needs to be made. In order to lead, you can’t be afraid to ask for input from others, and you can’t be afraid to be made uncomfortable…in fact, perhaps you need to thrive on being pushed just beyond your comfort zone over and over again.

The artwork is up!! Ryan took some pictures and made a bit – go here to see: ClickMe!

What do you think business is all about, what is the foundation it sits on top of? Not the business you read about on Court TV’s website, but the business that provides something people want or need in a manner that’s fair and ethical. I think the cornerstone in the creation and operation of any good business is trust. The more I think about it, the more it becomes apparent that trust underlies and affects every facet of business.

People buy because they trust the vendor will deliver, and vendors extend credit because they trust the consumer will make good. Employees work because they trust they will get paid, and employees invest and commit themselves when they believe in the goals of the organization and trust their leaders to strive for the stated goals.

For the last couple of months, I’ve participated in a training program called Integrity Selling. While this course is aimed at salespeople, it is also beneficial for managers because the course focuses on communication and listening skills as a way to build trust and enjoy sales success.

For the last few years I’ve worked in the software business, on a highly customizable utility billing system. This differs from other areas of management and sales in that the product is not pre-defined or tangible. Like much custom software, if the product is good, it also isn’t often cheap or fast.

I’ve found that businesses hesitate when it comes to buying software because of the risks they are taking with it. The client must trust you, because in many cases the product you are providing is an integral part of the plan to meet some business goal, and so in purchasing from you they are putting their faith in you beyond the sticker price of the code you’ll be writing. They are putting a piece of their organization’s future in your hands.

After realizing this some time ago, I began taking this seriously, from the business’ perspective it is easy to see why one day late is a bad thing…they have ad campaigns planned around your product shipping and them being enabled by you to offer something new. I’ve never really been much for sales, and about 6 months ago I was inadvertently pushed into the arena, as a more senior project manager left the company and I began managing an account she had previously worked with. These clients were just entering a growth period, and so I got the opportunity to begin building trust by showing them that I took my responsibility to them seriously and doing my best to advocate them in the resource pool at our shop. Building this trust helped make the transition period easier for both myself and the folks I was helping with their system.

Going through the sales course really renewed all this for me, as my fire had perhaps died down a bit, so it is with that revived vigor that I am now writing about the topic of trust in business dealings. Making a genuine effort to understand a business partner’s needs will help you gain their trust, and this will aid your success in every way. In your career, whenever you can, seek to earn trust, and to surround yourself with people you can trust.