Dick Tator - Warning signs
"We have told them many times, so they have no excuses"
"Tell someone who cares"
"That's not how we do it around here"
"This is what we are going to do. I don't want any more resistance"
"Heads are going to roll over this"
The above are from the lips of Dick Tator. Some of Dick's more subtle acts are
- Lobbing fiercely behind the scenes to ensure they get their way publicly
- Making decisions that suit themselves making it look like a majority of people agree
- Seeming like they are doing the right thing when actually they are manipulating us or at least trying to
- Denying they are a bully
- Telling us what to do!
Neville Know-it-all - Warning signs
"We tried that once, but it didn't work"
"You may have a degree but you're in the real world now"
"What are you stupid or something?"
"If I were you I would .........."
"I didn't get where I am without learning a few things along the way"
The above are from the lips of Neville Know-it-all. Some of Neville's more subtle acts are
- Always holding court espousing their so-called knowledge
- Believing their way is the only way
- Getting annoyed if their way is not adopted
- Enforcing their way in an organisation
- Telling us what to do and how to do it
Peter Profit-pusher - Warning signs
"Will this make me more money?"
"Has anyone done an inventory on stationary recently?"
"Just up the price; we'll find plenty of suckers willing to pay"
"Yes, but how will that impact the bottom-line"
"I know this will be tough, but if we don't let some people go, we won't hit our targets"
The above are from the lips of Peter Profit-pusher. Some of Peter's more subtle acts are
- Using buzz words like reengineering and downsizing
- Cost-cutting or firing people before we know about it
- Believing economic prosperity is the only outcome that really matters
- Thinking cheaper coffee, monitoring phone calls and photocopying etc are really major issues
- Telling us profit comes before people
Bronwyn Bureaucrat - Warning signs
"We'll take that to the group and see if we can get consensus."
"Our policy has always been clear, we just haven't communicated it."
"You have to be more careful with your writing. Your last document had 37 commas in the wrong places"
"It sounds great but looks terrible. You will have to redo it"
"Our extensive research indicates .........."
The above are from the lips of Bronwyn Bureaucrat. Some of Bronwyn's more subtle acts are
- Obsession with committees and meetings that achieve nothing
- Loving reports, particularly long ones
- Adding as many steps as possible to a process
- Not considering anything that hasn't been written down and circulated ad nauseam
- Telling us what the policy says we should do
Sam Snakeoil - Warning signs
"I just make it happen; I'm not into the detail"
"I am sure that's right, I read it in a book somewhere or heard it on some training course we did"
"Leave it with me"
"Everybody is doing this so why aren't we?"
"This is the best thing since sliced bread."
The above are from the lips of Sam Snakeoil. Some of Sam's more subtle acts are
- Trying to sell us everything
- Liking anything that is glossy
- Thinking substance is something we take
- Always commenting on how well things are going
- Telling us why it would be good for us to do something
Ollie Opportunist - Warning signs
"I've heard all of your suggestions and I have come up with a great idea"
"What is in it for me?"
"I thought of it first, I just didn't say anything"
"Didn't anybody get my email?"
"You get this and we will work out who pays for it later" (much later)
The above are from the lips of Ollie Opportunist. Some of Ollie's more subtle acts are
- Always looking for the easy way
- Cutting corners and taking short cuts
- Trying to take the credit for all the good ideas
- Trying to be the centre of attention wherever possible
- Not telling us anything
Jacqueline Hyde - Warning signs
"I know we agreed, but I changed my mind"
"It's been really great to spend time with you"
"My door is always open, just see my PA"
"This would be a really good place to work if you guys weren't so incompetent"
"I know you told me in confidence, but I thought it best for everyone that the board should know"
The above are from the lips of Jacqueline Hyde. Some of Jacqueline's more subtle acts are
- Saying one thing and meaning another
- Seeming to be our friend one day and our enemy the next
- Showing their inner confusion through their words
- Thinking they are good coaches and mentors
- Telling us one thing one day and something different the next
Tony Technocrat - Warning signs
"We'll have to shut down the whole system until it works"
"It's a hardware or software problem, or both, I'll come back to you"
"It worked in theory so there shouldn't be a problem"
"You just have to accept that glitches are how it's meant to be in IT"
"Just turn it off and start again"
The above are from the lips of Tony Technocrat. Some of Tony's more subtle acts are
- Only telling us half an hour before shutting down the system for maintenance
- Wiping out our hard drive and simply saying "I'm sorry"
- Not fulfilling promises
- Providing us with solutions we didn't ask for or want
- Telling us how to do something in language we can't understand
Noah Responsibility - Warning signs
"I didn't get that"
"That's not my problem"
"We've got to do something about this"
"We wouldn't have any of these issues if ..........did their job"
"These new government regulations are killing us"
The above are from the lips of Noah Responsibility. Some of Noah's more subtle acts are
- Rarely meeting deadlines
- Blaming others for their failings
- Being absent from important meetings
- Using 'them' and 'they' language instead of 'I'
- Telling us what he thinks we want to hear
Disclaimer
I swear I have heard and seen all of the above; and most in the past month sadly! Names have been changed to protect the ignorant.
Summary
Simply telling someone what to do, or telling them what and how, is acceptable behaviour in the context of training or coaching where there is agreement to learn a new skill or improve a current one. As a general rule, telling is not real leadership. Real leaders ask not tell.
Telling someone profit comes before people is a gross misunderstanding of what business is actually all about. Profit is a result of being good at business, not a reason for being in business. Real leaders understand when we put people before profit we actually make more money!
Telling us what policy says we should do suggests significant problems in hiring, induction, training, learning and development, performance management, and a host of other essential ingredients for sustaining a remarkable workplace. This kind of telling is also an insult to our intelligence. Real leadership is about co-creating such a workplace culture that everyone is continually contributing to policy and therefore owning it. When we own something we do not need to be reminded about it.
Telling us why it would be good to do something misunderstands the fact that motivation comes from within. Real leaders are such excellent, inspiring communicators and role models that people work out the why for themselves.
Not telling us anything is a sign of immaturity and insecurity. Real leadership builds self esteem and is about co-creating environments of openness, frankness and trust where eventually no one needs to feel insecure or unable to speak their truth.
Telling us one thing one day and something different the next means we learn not to trust these kinds of people and eventually we avoid them. When trustworthiness is lost, it is the beginning of the end of influence. Real leaders are consistent in what they both say, and do, and hold trust central to all relationships of high value and mutual reward.
Telling us how to do something in a language we can't understand is approaching service from the server's perspective rather than the receiver's. Real leaders are always helping us achieve what they know is important to us, in ways they know we appreciate.
Telling us what it is thought we want to hear is a short cut to loss of credibility if there ever was any. Real leaders speak their minds and the truth from their perspective.
How to influence the fakes / Possible action
- Take a good, hard look at yourself. If you are guilty of any of the above fake actions, start feeling, thinking and doing differently today
- Stand against the fakes and the frauds by being the best you can be
- Speak out against tyranny
- Dob in bullies (be prepared for the backlash!)
- Protest against unfairness
- Engage a mentor
- Join a peer group or the right kind of support group
- Don't accept fakeness anymore; be assertive
- Find your calling somewhere else
Buy Ian Berry's Audio Seminar CD from the Resource Centre:
What Real Leaders Do And Fake Ones Don't