I’ve written about some bad bosses in my new book, but former England rugby coach Eddie Jones takes the biscuit. In his autobiography scrum-half Danny Care said that under Jones’s leadership, players felt like characters in a dystopian novel. Jones led by fear, he writes, the players were ‘bloody terrified of him.’
He describes one episode when Jones tore a strip off a staff member and then apologised, saying: “Here’s some steak for you and the missus, sorry about how I spoke to you yesterday.” When the staff member got home and opened the bag it turned out to be sausages. Jones then sent him a text saying, “Mate, you’re a f***ing sausage. You don’t deserve steak yet.”
It goes without saying that managers can’t get away with treating people like this, even in sport. Never try to desensitise yourself to a toxic work environment.
Management styles that might once have been considered tough love, or clever mind games, are now totally discredited. People speak up. They switch on their cameras. Organisations can’t turn a blind eye anymore.
However, there’s a flip side. Too much harmony doesn’t make us psychologically safe either.
Are you too agreeable?
Agreeableness is one of the ‘Big Five’ personality traits. The others are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism. All of the traits are helpful to a certain degree, even neuroticism, but problems occur when you score too highly.
Agreeableness is a very positive trait. It makes you cooperative, compassionate and optimistic. Being overly agreeable will make you avoid any type of conflict. You can’t bear upsetting anyone or not being liked. It can lead to being taken advantage of and a lack of assertiveness in decision making.
Psychologically safe teams actively encourage friction and constructive debate, vital for innovation. People who are too agreeable can’t bear even a whiff of dissent. They dislike tough choices and struggle to push through improvements because they seek total consensus.
In my Crazy Busy sessions I see the agreeableness problem all the time. People who are too agreeable struggle to put their own priorities at the top of their list. They commit to more work than they have time for and risk burnout. Their lack of decision making slows down progress. People who are lower in the trait are much better at setting boundaries and controlling their own and their teams’ workload.
What’s next?
I’ll send a copy of Badly Behaved People to anyone who can match that Eddie Jones bad boss story.
My talks change behaviour. Please email me to discuss how I can make a practical difference to your business.
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Warmest wishes
Zena