Unprofessional management often drives a manager (even a strong, successful and experienced one) into a state of dependence on employees. And, it happens like this:
A new leader comes to the company. At first (the period of formation of a new boss), he pays maximum attention to employees: he gets to know each other, establishes contact, sets up the optimal distance, “tames” them to himself and his principles. All his actions and decisions that may affect others, he carefully thinks over and weighs.
During this period, employees are priority # 1 for him. Not because this is his management style. Not! He understands that his future will depend on them. And if he wants to succeed, he must earn their trust and authority. Or, which is also not uncommon, he is simply afraid to be not democratic (at least not yet).
During this period, the new boss really pays enough attention to each employee and can rightfully call himself a leader.
Time passes, and the new boss is no longer considered new. He already feels confident on the throne, they are accustomed to him, work is being done somehow, people are working somehow. Everything is stable and good! The boss begins to relax and his priorities change. People who previously occupied the first line of its ratings are rapidly losing their positions. This, of course, does not apply to everyone. Some people remain important to him, because either they are beneficial to him, or it is just pleasant to drink coffee with them. He continues to pay attention to them. The rest are content with "crumbs from the table" and humbly wait for him to remember about them.
He organized himself results and credibility before senior management and colleagues, and people stopped playing a significant role for him. He forgets about them and lets go. No, he certainly does not completely break contacts. He continues to set tasks, control, hold meetings. But, if earlier, he passed all actions through the filter “the opinion of people is important to me”, now he stopped listening to them. There is more coldness in the relationship. He ceases to be interested in the state of people, informal communication practically stops, the distance between him and the employees increases ...
If earlier the head was the heart of the structure and regulated its blood circulation (state and relationships), now he was torn alive from the body and the organs (employees) began to suffer.
Problems begin in the team ... Here and there, demotivated employees appear. They go to work and infect others with their "disease". Over time, whole foci and breeding grounds of infection appear. Previously, when the boss was attentive and active, he would immediately notice such an employee, “heal” him and prevent the spread of the disease. I will say more, since all the "illnesses" of employees are the result of incorrect and unprofessional actions of the manager, such a situation would not have happened if the boss, as before, prudently approached his decisions. But, he considered it unimportant and changed his priorities ...
Problems are followed by bigger problems. Employees start leaving the company. And it would be okay to leave the weak and not important. But, they leave, either strong middle peasants, or the stars on which everything rests. And it would be fine one, well, or two. Not! A number of experts leave the company in a short space of time. The boss begins to smell the roast and brings people back to the first priority of his ranking, but it's too late. People are disappointed, people are demotivated, people do not believe and will not believe that everything will be fine.
The boss begins to feverishly pay attention to the employees, but they notice this change and understand what it is connected with. And they start to use it. They understand that the boss is tied hand and foot, that he will not fire them, that he will not punish them, that he will run around with them. It is enough for them to pretend that he will run to please them (to whom he will give the day off, to whom he will help to do the task, to whom he will write out the prize).
This is where the culmination of my story comes. The leader becomes limited in will. He can no longer demand high-quality work, he can no longer criticize, he can not even entrust any work to employees - so that they do not take offense. He has to smile at everyone, choose his words, apologize and make excuses. All of this is felt non-verbally.
PS I am by no means saying that an affectionate and accurate relationship with employees is bad, and that a manager should be rude to communicate “from top to bottom” and sit with an arrogant look. Not at all! The bad news is that the leader loses one of his key tools - power. He becomes limited, afraid, and indecisive. And these are not the best qualities for a leader.
I leave the further development of the story to you to think ...
Why don't leaders make people the # 1 priority on their to-do list?
People are the least favorite part of a manager's job (as odd as it sounds). No wonder there is a joke: "it would be good to work in management if it were not for the people."
People always mean more stress, more energy consumption, more effort. It's not the projects that scare the managers at night, but the people who may not be able to fulfill them ...
It's difficult with people! Each of them has its own cockroaches, each requires a unique approach ...
People, unlike machines, are not stable. Today they work at 100%, and tomorrow "something is not in the mood ..." ...
All this makes the work of a leader not as colorful as it looks from the outside. Therefore, managers try to bury themselves up to their ears in projects so that less time is left for people and, as a result, so that they have an excuse (at least for themselves) why they do not devote enough time to employees.
General conclusion: when a leader does not prioritize his main function (people management), he will certainly receive a number of negative consequences. And one of them can be - limited will and dependence.
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