Lead without Bullying

We read a lot these days about leaders who bully.  Conflict style awareness gives a better way. 

In "When the Boss is a Bully", a NY Times article points out that aggressiveness has its rewards for leaders.  Many people like having a task focused leader.  Better to have someone in charge who gets the job done, albeit rudely, than one who is nice but fails to deliver.

People tend to go along with a leader who acts decisively.   One researcher calls this the "leader's rosy halo" effect, a tendency for others to fall back and follow a leader who is bold, decisive, and confident.  It's not that pushy leaders are smarter or have better solutions than others; simply that people are attracted to decisiveness and tend to follow.  

This comes naturally for people who score high in the Directing style of conflict management.  If that's not you, this post will help you strengthen your skills in it, since life will bring moments when you need it.   If you scored high in Directing, this post will show you how to use it wisely.

Conflict Styles and Strong Leadership

A key concept in the conflict styles framework is that every conflict style has strengths and weaknesses.  We need all five styles.   

But It's Not Nice!

Don't write off toughness just because it's does not prioritize being nice.

In my twenties I came to regret that I had not been more firm with my young dog in training.  One day she ignored my call, as she often did.  She ran onto a road, and died under a car.  I grieved her loss and felt I had failed her. 

Not long after this I became a parent with wandering children!   Like every parent, I came to realize that there are moments when failure to be strict can put a child's life at risk.  When a child wanders towards the street, parents have a duty to stop them, no matter how unhappy this makes the child. 

Similarly, in a health emergency, we want a doctor who takes charge and give orders to co-workers, not one who makes nice dialogue with colleagues about what to do.  There's a reason why emergency services are set up for Directing leadership, not Cooperating.

Everyone has moments when insisting on something, without worrying about relationships or feelings of others, is the only right response.  We should all cultivate the ability to be tough on demand for such moments.  We should value leaders who can do that when duty requires it.   

Don't Make It a Habit

But toughness is an asset only in occasional doses.  As a habit, a primary way of interacting, it's a liability whose damage grows with time. 

In organizations, the costs of over-use by leaders can be vast.  Competent, loyal individuals leave, teamwork deteriorates, aggressiveness spreads like a virus into all levels of the institution, morale plummets.

Costs often take a while to become evident.  By the time they are acknowledged, the damage is huge and recovery slow.

How to Maintain a Wise Balance

Are you a leader who's pushy at times?  I hope so. You may not be doing your job if your answer is never.  But do you hold a healthy balance between pushing and nurturing? 

Here are suggestions, drawn from the score report of Style Matters, for using the goal-oriented Directing conflict style (called "Forcing" in the Thomas Kilmann instrument) wisely, without falling into overuse:

• Increase your context awareness.   Over-use is the Achilles heel of this style.   Being pushy is a gift when used  occasionally, not all the time. If you over-use Directing in settings where people expect partnership, equality and consultation, they will resent it.    Read the settings you are in and adapt accordingly. When in doubt, dial back on Directing instincts. You can ratchet up assertiveness later if required, whereas relationships may never recover from the resentment you will cause if you misjudge circumstances and impose yourself inappropriately.
• Expand your skills in other conflict styles so you need not rely more than necessary on Directing. In particular, master the skills of the Cooperating style which, like Directing, is assertive, but adds relational skills. For example....
• Hone skills in listening well. Being a good listener need not detract from the ability to act decisively when necessary. The info you gain from listening increases your ability to make good decisions. Plus, if you are a good listener, others are more likely to listen to you.  They will experience you as having strength tempered by wisdom rather than as simply pig-headed.
• Work on relationships. Look for opportunities to support, affirm, appreciate others.  Read Support Strategies for specifics on how to support each of the other styles. The Support Strategies for Cooperating, Harmonizing, and Avoiding will be especially useful info for you, for they guide in doing things that many high-energy Directors never realize others need. 
• Be in charge in ways that respect and honor others. Being both strong and supportive towards others is an art that requires practice. Pay close attention to your tone of voice and body language, for much is communicated by these.  If in doubt, request feedback from people you trust who are not subject to you.   
• Consult where possible. Invite input from others and incorporate as much as you can into your work. Doing this does not remove your authority to make final decisions. Whereas the skills described above take time and effort to develop, you can start consulting immediately. Remember, consulting is not negotiating.  Don't try to persuade in this phase.  View it as a time to listen, learn, and gather input.