Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Recently there have been a few cross departmental issues and certain members of our team have gotten a little crazy with sending nasty emails to other departments. We also had a problem in a meeting in which one of the managers in our department became really sarcastic towards another manager over an issue. In our most recent monthly staff meeting my boss conveyed to the management staff how he expects everyone to work on being more professional and respectful in response to some of these issues.
My boss is right in bringing this up, but he is a classic example of do as I say, not as I do leadership. Later that day I walk by my boss, who is talking to our department assistant about a report one of my fellow managers submitted. My boss made the following comment to our DA as I walked by:
“I guess dipshit forgot to add that to the report.”
Better yet, the manager he was referring to as “dipshit” was sitting a few cubicles behind our DA and my boss didn’t know that. Guess my boss forgot his own words about “being professional and respectful”.
As usual, my boss can’t connect the dots and realize the example he sets daily by making rude and disrespectful comments sets the tone for the team. People tend to take on the positive or negative attributes of the people they are led by. The newer managers, with less experience see his behavior and have started to mimic it (sarcastic comment, nasty emails, etc). As an experienced manager, I see it and cringe, realizing that he is not only rude and disrespectful, but a;so hurtful to his own staff. Luckily as a Turtle at Work I use my shell to deflect his crap, but at times it is difficult. As for the manager he recently insulted, he has been officially initiated as a Turtle at Work. Being called a “dipshit” by your boss tends to lead you down the path to becoming a Work Turtle.
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