The Cost of Perceived Disrespect and Injustice in the Workplace
One of my favorite truisms that I share with managers and leaders is:
“Power may bring immunity from feedback, but not reality.”
In other words, one of the “perks of power”–or having a strong personality–is that people are less likely to give you feedback on how counterproductive your behavior is. The more power a person has, the less likely people are to say: “Hey…it really bothers me when you ______.”
But…just because they aren’t saying it, does not mean they aren’t feeling it. Nor does it mean there are no consequences, no underground blow back to that behavior. Employees have a way of expressing their displeasure in many silent ways: not working as hard, taking “slick days”, not sharing ideas that could make a difference, dragging their heels on projects, complaining about “safer topics” (while never addressing the real source of their outrage).
Anyway…you get the idea.
This post is about how to get this point across in a way that has impact.
One of the ways I try to bring this concept alive and make it more “sticky”- a la Made to Stick–is through a story I tell that comes from the movie Casino titled The Movie Scene Every Manager Should See…But Might Be Afraid To.
Another angle I approach the issue of respect and justice in the workplace, is to share to really cool lines of research and then translate their implications to the workplace.
These two areas of research are:
1. The Ultimatum Game
2. Which doctor’s get sued and which one’s don’t (this is especially fascinating)
Here’s a video clip about this research. My hope is that it will both give you food for thought and…illustrate how to make scientific research come alive and use it to make your key message hit home at more than just an intellectual level.
It also is an example of how to use a story to “challenge without challenging”, so your message doesn’t trigger defensiveness.
If you want to be a more compelling communicator, inject scientific research–told as a story–into your presentations.
If you want to stimulate conversation in your workplace about how to create a more respectful and thoughtful environment, share this video with your team and then do the exercise talked about in the presentation.
