Actions Speak Louder

Humor works best when it contains a grain of truth – which is probably why I got such a hearty laugh from this Dilbert cartoon from late last year.

Yes, the “pointy-haired” boss at the center of Dilbert’s on-going storyline is an extreme and farcical version of the clueless manager, the kind of a manager who peruses the latest best-selling business book for new ideas, while ignoring all that goes on around him.

            We might infer here that he read that his best, most important communications are through his actions. We’ve all known people like this – though I hope, for your sake, that your boss isn’t like this guy.

Satirized Bosses
He stands there, coffee mug in hand, and claims to be a role model his employees should emulate – or at least admire – all the while wondering why it isn’t so. He reminds me of the Michael Scott character in NBC’s “The Office” or Bill Lumbergh in the movie, “Office Space,” managers in title alone.

            Lumbergh ostentatiously parks his Porsche in front of the “Initech” offices as though it will inspire his employees to strive for the same for themselves. He presents himself with a phony aura of concern when, in fact he has none and, in the film, is singularly focused on cutting his department’s payroll.

            Scott is the kind of boss who thinks his weird sense of humor endears him to his staff when the opposite is true. He is blind to his oafishness and lack of genuine empathy for his employees.

            Bill Lumbergh and Michael Scott, like Mr. Pointy-Hair, have been elevated to management positions and conclude that they have license to be thick-headed bores, out of touch with the daily struggles and challenges their employees face. They are full of false bravado derived from their belief that their job title alone bestows upon them unique vision and wisdom.

The Peter Principle
Unfortunately, in many places, that’s true. People are elevated up the management chain for a number of reasons, not always the right ones. It’s the “Peter Principle” in action: “every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

            So Mr. Pointy-Hair probably read his new management book and concluded that his employees need to pay more attention to his non-verbal cues since, he imagines, he’s such an amazing guy with so many talents that should be emulated. But he skipped the lessons about engaging them in the first place, giving them reasons to trust him. He fixated on the desired end result of reverential and attentive employees.

            The other truth embedded in the cartoon is that the employee has a role in communications. Organizations that cultivate that truth by encouraging two-way communications are far more likely to be successful in the long run than the business that sees communications as a one-way, top-down affair.

            In fact, communication is an in-the-trenches kind of thing. The boss that is the best role model is the one who models the behaviors he/she expects to get from employees. They never tell their people what they want them to do and be. Rather, they demonstrate it through their own actions. 

Cases In Point
Over the past three-plus years, this blog has cited numerous examples, including:

• McDonald’s former CEO, the late Ray Kroc, who often visited franchises and, before setting foot inside, would pick up litter in the parking lot.
• Former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher, who pitched in loading baggage on and off planes when he saw that a crew was short-handed or the plane delayed because of it; or he helped out at the gate check-in, if he happened to be in the airport and saw that the lines were getting too long.
• The paper machine manager, who walked his plant twice a day and came to understand deeply, and on a personal level, the challenges his employees faced, as well as their insights and ideas for achieving greater productivity.
• Paul O’Neill, former US Treasury Secretary and former CEO of Alcoa, who inculcated a doctrine of safety throughout Alcoa, increasing worker trust and, at the same time, productivity.
• The manager of the luxury hotel who, in his first six months on the job, worked in every department of the operation and came to understand the many daily challenges that his employees faced in assuring customers’ stays were pleasant and enjoyable experiences.

There are many others, but the common thread throughout is that these managers and leaders made it central to their jobs to learn as much as they could about their operations and employees as a path to getting the best performance out of them. These people saw themselves as part of the larger team, not above it.

            Employees emulate their managers and leaders when they feel there is a genuine sense of interest in them. As a result, they come to trust their leaders and see them as authentic role models.