A Real Stinky Locker Room!

Organizational culture Respect Teamwork

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Key Point: You’ve likely heard about the bullying by Miami Dolphins football player Richie Incognito against someone who is supposed to be a teammate, fellow lineman Jonathan Martin. Incognito was allegedly so abusive that Martin walked out on the team, apparently overwhelmed and fed up by the continuous harassment . And journalistic research concludes that this is a repeat pattern of behavior for Incognito (see the timeline here). The locker room buzz was that Martin, a Stanford grad, was considered by both coaches and other players as less gung-ho than desired. His nickname was “Big Weirdo.” This somehow became license for Incognito, blindly encouraged by management, to exercise the motivational technique of bullying, including but not limited to leaving “inspirational” voicemails for Martin with repulsive name calling, including the “N word” to fire him up. Frankly, I find this situation disgusting and a failure in leadership at every level.

I’ve seen this in action myself. I played college football and in one year saw the locker room transition from positive leadership based on respect and good natured fun, to one dominated by mean spirited pranks and bullying. The cool guys in the constructive locker room demanded collegial respect and led by positive example. The so-called cool guys in the dysfunctional locker room fueled an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. What happened? In both cases the best players were the leaders establishing the locker room culture and the coaches knew it. The fact is that no one wants to really get on the bad side of negative leaders who like to roam locker rooms, hallways and offices like delinquent bull elephants. However, the time is right to open up the dialogue on this totally reprehensible behavior in schools and/or the workplace.

Incognito may be a decent football player but he is a lousy behaving human on the matter involving Martin. Today I’ve heard on sports talk shows some ridiculous rationalization for condoning his behavior. Some are even blaming Martin for being weak and not standing up to fight the bully. The real sad aspect is that Martin shouldn’t have to fight Incognito to be a real “man.” The leadership culture should be strong enough to recognize, stop and remove any behavior that disrespects another person. Anything attacking people is flat out wrong. And if harmful disrespectful behavior is coming from talented people, that is irrelevant. Bad behavior is bad behavior, regardless of the source. Disrespectful people must change behavior or leave the group. Abuse is so insidiously destructive that the team will ultimately lose.

Already, stories are emerging how veterans on the Dolphins team force young players to pay for extravagant meals etc, running up restaurant tabs in the 10s of thousands of dollars, just to show who is “boss.” Some of this is condoned.

Former Jets linebacker Bart Scott tells ESPN radio, “I saw some reports about some of the big bills that some of the rookies get. You do that one time… Then for the rest of your career, it’s going to be done for you… I’ve never heard of a dude like this, ever.”

Keep in mind, Martin was no longer a rookie. The bullying will likely continue to escalate until it is finally weeded out. If I was the owner of the Dolphins, I would fire both the coach and general manger for being culpable, ignorant, or both. It’s no excuse they didn’t know what was going on. Their leadership responsibility is to “know.”

Even legendary coach, Mike Ditka tells Sportscenter, “if you see this happening, I don’t know how you can take it. There’s no place for it in sports or anything… I don’t know how this guy got this far in life.”  

Character Moves:

  1. Being good at getting results is no reason to keep on employing selfish, mean spirited, negative people. In the end, as proven by Incognito, these people destroy more than they build. Have the courage whether you are a team member or boss to demand the behavior stop and change.
  2. Expect leaders to demonstrate and insist on respect at every level. If not, they can’t be leaders. Make sure the expectations are clear and people can recognize unacceptable behavior. This is NOT being politically correct. There is a well-framed outline of minimum respect in the workplace. If people aren’t getting results, coach them by understanding, teaching and inspiring. Threatening and abusive motivation does not work in the long run. The respectful thing to do if people don’t get results after reasonable coaching and patience is to fire them, not abuse them.
  3. Be aware of your “locker room” culture. Is it positive, constructive and truly team building oriented? If not, you have a real problem. Have the courage to make the right decision and get rid of this person(s) that are negatively pulling others down. Even if they’re the “best players,” you and the culture will benefit in the long run. Beware of rationalization like… “He may treat other people badly but he gets results.” And even if you’re not the boss, show up and confront disrespectful behavior by anyone.

Positive locker room culture in The Triangle,

Lorne

 

Tug on Superman’s Cape

Abundance Contribution Teamwork

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Key Point: If you or someone else is the constant “go to” person for getting things done, ask yourself why? I’m not talking about someone good at executing and getting results for what they’re expected to do. I’m talking more about over-reliance on someone, coupled with the other’s well-intended heroic service and desire to be really needed. When this situation continues for extended periods of time, it often becomes a collusive relationship and one that will likely build mutual, unhealthy dependence. It is also likely to have an unhappy ending.

It is so easy to get stuck in our ways. A process or system that relies on a named person and has not been changed for a while is ripe for improvement or elimination. If we don’t step back and determine if a process can be done more effectively, someone else or an external influence will likely force a change. We see that happening everyday with technology intrusion. For example, in an Apple store everyone is a cashier. You give them your credit or debit card, they slip it through the Square on their iPhone… Boom… Done. No more singular cashier roles.

Character Moves:

  1. Be wary of “Superman” roles for yourself or others. If an individual, group or system is over relying on one person to get things done, it is often a signal that something is broken. I have seen this often when people are challenged applying technology and/or analytics. Rather than making the technology or number crunching more useable and scalable, we rely on a “Superman.” (I’m not talking about highly complex skills requiring specialization). We let someone else do our job because it’s easier (but not better) for all involved.
  2. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is really of sustainable value or is it because only you have the knowledge to work the system at this point in time. If it’s the latter and you’re the Superman, your cape will get tugged. It’s only a matter of when. If everyone needs to have access to what essentially only you know, be abundant thinking enough to figure out ways to scale it. Don’t be a bottleneck by having people being dependent on you. It’s counterintuitive but you’re more vulnerable to get replaced because of artificial dependency.
  3. Become highly valued for your attributes, critical thinking, ever-evolving masterful knowledge on a subject area and ability to teach others. Avoid being valued because the system becomes dependent on you. It’ll feel good for a while, attract lots of recognition, but a sucker punch is coming.

Better than Superman in The Triangle,

Lorne

 

Why 82 CEOs Failed

Accountability Management

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Key Point: My last few blogs have been about the acute importance of continuous personal development to remain valuable and relevant to the company and boss we’re working for. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Ram Charan, one of the world’s preeminent advisers to CEOs and boards. Charan has spent the past 35 years watching hundreds of executives deal with their toughest challenges. He is a highly respected academic, consultant, speaker and author of several best-selling books. I pay attention to his insights:

“When I studied 82 CEOs who failed, I saw that the most common reason for failure was putting the wrong person in a job and then not dealing with the mismatch. I’ve seen CEOs take staff people who are in the succession pool because of their brilliance, energy, and business acumen, and give them big line jobs to test them. Then the CEOs get busy and lose sight that these inexperienced people are killing the company. In one situation the person put in charge of the largest division took the company into a negative position in less than two years.

It’s usually obvious who needs to go, and most of the time CEOs know it in their gut but don’t do anything. It’s hard to admit the error, or they have a psychological bond with the person or think they can coach him or her. Sometimes it’s a matter of misjudging performance, because they don’t dig into the causes.

Today most if not all industries are impacted by digitization—mobile technology, big data, and the like. It has a tremendous effect on which people are more critical than others…”

The impact of Charan’s advice to you and me is that CEOs will be moving and replacing more executives at the top faster than ever before. This is not the classic shuffling of the “deck chairs,” but connecting leaders with the skills (and attributes) to where the company must go. And of course the environment is changing so rapidly that skill requirements change accordingly. So when the top shuffles, it ripples down to every role in the organization, including your’s and mine.

Character Moves:

  1. Write down the key strategy and challenges facing your organization. Clearly define how you fit in, add value and help now, as well as preparing for the future. As you do this, if you cannot understand digitization, big data and mobility and their impact to your business, you’re likely not preparing for where you and your organization must go.
  2. It is YOUR responsibility to understand the big strategic picture and how you align at a daily level. Do not expect that it will be handed to you in a clear, nicely stated brochure and/or the annual report. By the way, most annual reports and strategic plans are out of date the day they are published.
  3. If you have people who report to you, make sure you are not caught into the same trap the 82 failed CEOs made. Hopefully you will be fair, and highly respectful when you replace people BUT make the changes you need to. Otherwise, someone may conclude that you are unable to make the tough assessments and decisions.
  4. Understand digitization, big data and mobility at a consumer level. For the first time consumer trends are often more advanced than industrial trends. That’s why you and I need to understand leading technology and how it has relevance to our personal work skills. Being “old” will not be defined so much by chronological age, but by our use and understanding of technology. 

Tough decisions in the Triangle,

Lorne