Today a leader asked me, “Why is everyone so angry?!” in reference to her team. After thinking on it, I decided to remind her that the staff’s morale/countenance is a reflection of her leadership. They are reflecting what they perceive/receive from leadership. I don’t think she has negative intentions toward her team, so how does it happen that your staff is not as happy as you would like them to be?
In some cases, this happens because leaders at the top are passive/indifferent about taking authority for the climate in their organization. There may be adult bullies who negatively impact morale and go unchecked. This can mask itself in the most seemingly dedicated and well-meaning professionals. Sometimes it happens because leaders, whether knowingly or otherwise, comfortably limit their communication and interactions to a select group of folks who feed/reinforce them and generally agree with whatever they say. It can be a tough pill to swallow that health flows from the top down or that there are no such thing as bad teams, only bad leaders.
Whatever you want to see in those you lead, should be modeled and positively reinforced by their leader. Equally important is dealing with behaviors that you don’t want to see. Through explicit expectations on behavior and fair performance management systems, it should be crystal clear to people what kind of behaviors/attitudes are welcomed to thrive on your team. Your hiring processes need to ensure that interview questions and activities, examine character. Good results and impressive credentials should score a big fat zero if a person negative, nasty, and doesn’t play nicely with others. It’s a drain on the energy and effort that your organization/team needs to be great.
In sum, protecting your people and your climate are vital to your success. Include them at the forefront of your strategy.
Keeping it real true and free,
Garland Darling