The following list is from a December 13th webpost by Fast Company on leadership in the workplace:
The old adage that "People are hired for their talents and fired for their behavior"is true. People often fail at work by exhibiting patterns of behavior that are toxic to the organization. The following six varieties of toxic organizational behavior (TOB) top my list of offenders:
1. Aggressiveness. It undermines safety and requires people to divert resources from productive work into defensive operations such as fight and flight.
2. Narcissism. An excessive of self-focus interferes with the development of a positive and flexible culture of balanced negotiation and give-and take compromises.
3. Lack of credibility. When people don’t do what they say they will do, they lack credibility and breed mistrust.
4. Passivity. The opposite of the initiative and ownership needed for optimal performance.
5. Disorganization. Operational requirements for focus, structure, and discipline will not be met when people exhibit a lack of personal organization.
6. Resistance to change. Since the world is always changing and requires continuous adaptation, rigidity and resistance to change guarantee eventual obsolescence and failure.
As I read through this list I started thinking, how often do I exhibit those traits? It was a reality check of sorts. I know at times I can push too hard for something I want. I also know at times I am too quiet and don't speak up when I know something is wrong. On the flip side, I go out of my way to not be narcissistic. No matter how I feel about this though, the fact remains that all too often people lose their way because of one of these traits. As the quote above states; people generally are let go because of behavior, not because of lack of talent. I have been fortunate to work in many places where the leadership has encouraged me or helped me to keep those traits in check. Unfortunately, many times people fail because of a lack of leadership.
I want to address number 6 briefly. We are currently going through some changes in education, as it relates to integrating technology in the classroom. Devices and applications are revolutionizing the way content is delivered in the classroom. This can be a daunting challenge to ALL teachers, regardless of age or level of expertise with technology. This is a tough one, because in my opinion it is a fundamental change. This is not a new fancy way to write a lesson plan, or debating techniques for teaching literacy. This is fundamental to the "How" or art of teaching. Taking that into account, along with the human tendency to be afraid of technological change, this can seem like a daunting challenge, indeed one that people often resist. As the Borg drones in Star Trek so famously state "resistance is futile". You can gripe, complain, sulk and pout about these changes. At the end of the day though, if you do not ride the wave before it crests... it will come crashing down on you! Just remember, it is not about the technology, it is still about the content.
If you are a leader in your company or institution... challenge your people. What do you do as a leader to encourage your employees when you see any of these behaviors start to surface? It is incumbent upon the leader in the building to build the talent in the organization. That cannot happen when people are not challenged to check their behavior(s). The first part of this is recognition. This can often be difficult because employees will at times mask behaviors. This is where it is vital to have your finger on the pulse of the building or facility. Last week in one of my classes, I was teaching a lesson on communication in management and we discussed informal networks and informal communication. As the lesson progressed, we started discussing the "water cooler" or grapevine talk that bubbles up in most buildings. As a leader, are you aware of what your employees are talking about in these scenarios? Leading is hard work, are you up to the challenge?
So today I challenge you to ask yourself the question... are you a toxic employee? Are you the one in the office that tries to "impose" his/her will? Do you cower to competition in the workplace? Are you the gossip monger that adds no value to the communication channels in the organization? Do your daily operations run like a well oiled machine, or does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing? No matter what, I think we can all admit that we need an attitude check from time to time. It may be the difference between keeping and losing your job!
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