When something or some phenomenon catches our attention, we inevitably start noticing more similar things around us. In the past few weeks, I’ve come across several old and new stories about how employee motivation changes in the light of managerial attitudes. I’ve gathered these stories to a good discussion.
The first is an old story. About ten years ago, after a short coaching course, I arranged a coaching session with a close friend. He had joined a new company, had a new team, and many problems, while I needed practice. We sat down, and he began to tell me why out of his six subordinates, each one was unsuitable for the job, why they wouldn't succeed, and who should be let go. I listened, counted who would be left, and desperately searched in my training material for what I could say or ask to make the conversation productive. In the end, my inexperience and personal connection led to the perfect question: “So, are you the only helicopter?” I didn't follow up on this story; to put it mildly, it was not a successful coaching session.
In the second case, I was an external observer. A young, enthusiastic team, faced with a tremendously difficult task, with many interdependent actions hindering each other, was truly struggling for every step. Progress was slower than the foreign manager expected, so during one of his visits, he exploded, calling them helpless, incapable of solving anything, unable to take responsibility, and claimed that all Hungarians were like this, which is why Hungary only had services, not real production facilities (??). The team froze, and the disappointment and frustration became palpable. Since then, I've heard multiple times: “Today, I learned again why we are idiots.” The question lingers: what keeps someone in this atmosphere, and for how long?
The third story is quite absurd and, to use modern slang, epic. Ten months after a new sector leader arrived, the office staff of the production unit decreased from eight to one and a half people due to the managerial style. One person remained from the old team, and a new part-time administrator was hired. These two had to handle their original tasks plus the essential duties of the other six, all requiring completely different competencies and experiences: production planning, procurement, customs, customer communication, production management, maintenance, and invoicing with the accounting firm. The leader asked the remaining team member to hold on and try to manage things for the next few months. They agreed. The following week, a harsh reprimanding email arrived, criticizing the colleague for not communicating properly about the status of orders in production. The unfortunate employee was working with the company’s ERP system for the first time, creating production technology, issuing work orders, managing a larger team, happy if something succeeded, and keeping things running despite learning each area autodidactically and constantly firefighting. Will he hold on despite the perfect lack of support? What was the leader thinking when sending that email?
Finally, the last story. I worked a lot with this colleague, and he was a great employee—reliable, diligent, smart. After spending a long time at home, he finally got a job and would occasionally tell me what was happening. Within a few weeks, he understood why the team changed completely every six months: their boss was absent, not supportive, not competent, and aimed only to maneuver through the company with minimal work. The team's motivation level was near zero, and cohesion was nonexistent. Recently, I heard that he quit before his probation period ended, with no new job lined up yet. I asked why: “I’d had enough, the boss’s nonsense was no longer funny…”
And the common question of the last two stories: whose responsibility is it that such a leader can stay in position long enough to harm the organization through team disintegration? If there is a possibility for escalation, do we, as subordinates, take it, and is there attention to this at higher managerial levels?
Neither as individuals nor as leaders do we see ourselves perfectly clearly, and we often make mistakes or react poorly to situations. However, our colleagues are there, constantly holding up a mirror through gestures and behavior, and if there is trust, they might even give concrete verbal feedback when something is wrong. We can also seek the help of a professional who can guide us based on their outside perspective and experience. These are opportunities to learn, change, and improve because there’s some truth in the cliché: people join organizations and leave leaders. You never know how many punches it takes before they decidet o leave the boxing ring.
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