Issue 374, February 24, 2010
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SpeakStrong and management insights from CBS’ “The Undercover Boss”

If you ever think upper management doesn’t know what you do, or you suspect you might not know what goes on with the people you manage, you’ll find The Undercover Boss to be an interesting show. CEO's of organizations work in entry positions of their own companies to see what it’s really like out there. Whatever its flaws, The Undercover Boss shows how illuminating it can be for leaders and managers to shadow their employees.

The main value isn’t that they uncover problem behaviors , although that certainly does happen. (The Hooters episode exposes a doozy.)  The experience allows for management to see how their policies affect their front-line employees… and for management to see how great many of their employees really are. Unlike most reality shows that strive to catch people at their worst, this show catches many people in their goodness.

Women, Gen Y, social media and globalization are creating a growing trend toward synocratic interaction in the workplace. This show illustrates how useful that can be.  
Check it out. And consider shadowing people who work for you… although in your case you probably won’t be undercover.  (I provide phrases to announce your intentions to shadow in Perfect Phrases for Managers and Supervisors.)

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Last week to register for SpeakStrong Conflict Management Training in Denver

Register now for my CTAT SpeakStrong in conflict management training in Denver. I'm excited to announce that Dr. Howard Nornes, a professor of Developmental Neuroscience, will talk about how brain structure affects how we manage conflict. I'll present my brainlet communication dream team, and Dr. Nornes will go into the science behind my communication techniques. It will be a fun, factual and fruitful day.

You can read more about it here and here.

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PowerPhrase: I would not feel comfortable with my daughters working under your management

The Hooters episode of The Undercover Boss exposed a manager who (in my opinion) should have been fired on the spot. Management decided to retrain him instead.

When confronted, Jimbo defended his hostile style. The Hooters CEO showed him a photo and told him,

• These are my two daughters. I would not feel comfortable with them working under your management..
  

That comment got through Jimbo’s defenses. Personalization often succeeds when abstract explanations fail.  

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Poison Phrase: Layoffs happen. Get over it.

Whether it’s a loved one who passed on, or a coworker whose employment was terminated, it’s crazy-making to be expected to act like nothing significant happened. Comments like,

- Layoffs happen.. Get over it.

...negate the reality that people react emotionally when someone they worked with is laid off.

In her free ebook Leading After Layoffs, Wendy Mack writes about how essential it is to allow for the natural cycles of grieving after layoffs.

Allowing for and making comments like,

• It’s strange to come in after so many years and have Chris not be here.

...can pave the way to healing, regrouping and productivity.

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Reader question: Delivering other manager's feedback to my team

Meryl,
My team reports TO me, but doesn't necessarily work FOR me, so I receive a
lot of performance feedback from their project manager or other people
associated with that project.  What can I say to improve the effectiveness
of this feedback, when they know it isn't coming directly from me?

Suggestion,
Since you both know this isn't your feedback don't pretend it is. Deliver it authentically as coming from them through you. Deliver it as, not the absolute truth of their performance, but the absolute truth of how the person it comes from perceives their performance. Your team needs to both maximize performance and manage the perception of what they're doing. After you deliver the information, if there is an issue, you can ask,

• Is this a performance issue or a perception issue?

Then work together to decide how to incorporate and respond to the feedback.

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Blog comments

Reader seeks PowerPhrases to get food nazis to back off

Find the Lost Generation, and the opportunities in the argument?

Smooth Verbal Aikido Comeback response on Facebook keeps posts on track

 

Got a comment or question? Comment on my blog and Ask Meryl.