Managing Leadership^®

Some years ago, while walking down a hallway in a well-known and highly regarded organization that I was visiting, I unexpectedly observed this scene: Some way ahead of me was a junior manager, looking authoritative and in control of events. It seemed to me that it was such as these, so imbued with confidence and competence, who produced the international respect in which this outfit was held. How did they create them?

A new employee approached from the opposite direction. Like all of his cadre of recruits to the firm, he was quietly but irrepressibly smiling with anticipation about his day, his future in this exciting, dynamic company. I saw the back of the manager’s head turn as he crisply spoke the young man’s name. I could clearly see the latter’s face look over, eager to learn, to be of some service, excited to have been singled out.

But the manager only spit out something staggeringly stupid, personal, pointless, and gratuitously demeaning. Then he turned his head forward again, and strode on without having missed a step, proud of himself for the lightning-sharp display of unanswerable power.

It looked to me as though the impact of his wholly unanticipated words nearly stopped the young employee momentarily in his tracks. And I’ll never forget his face, the flicker of emotions; shock, confusion, disappointment, helplessness. By the time we passed each other, his head was lowered, and his expression had resolved into bitterness and anger.

Seems like an odd thing to recall so intensely, doesn’t it? Certainly, it was almost instantly forgotten by the manager who provoked it. But I’ll warrant the employee never forgot; I sure didn’t, and I was just an observer.

Possibly the most forcefully striking thing about this incident was its aberrant occurrence in an outfit the young initiates of which had joined largely due to its reputation for having the highest possible standards in this area. And fortunately, it was indeed far from characteristic of the practice of leadership in the organization. Nor, moreover, is it of the military, governmental, or civilian organizations I have known. And, surely, neither is it of those that you are familiar with.

Nevertheless, it is likely that each of you reading this recalls something very much like it meted out by a nominal senior to yourself or a colleague early in your careers. Even now, look around you and note the bad-attitude employees you may see, the nervously skeptical atmosphere that seems to pervade some organizations or teams, or the peculiarly eager turnover.

Or, consider your management peers with the classically caustic “they’re going to have it as tough as I did” approach. You may have noticed others who seem to think that it is perfectly normal to give instant and thoughtless expression of their personal aggravations through their positions of seniority or authority upon their hapless juniors.

You can see, of course, the very gloom they spread, the tremendous energy required to counter their poisonous influence on an organization. But there they are.

Where do you suppose they come from?

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Today’s tip: One of the chief proponents of the modern leadership movement, Marshall Goldsmith, recently addressed today’s general topic in his BusinessWeek column. While clothed in the standard leadership atmosphere and jargon, the case is made effectively and forcefully, and the lesson offered is right on target.

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