How The Ivory Tower Syndrome Can Harm Leaders

i·vo·ry tow·er

noun

1. a state of privileged seclusion or separation from the facts and practicalities of the real world.

Picture your 7-year-old little girl comes to you crying but she will not tell you what's wrong. You don't know what to do or what the problem even is.  You are frantic, so you check her body to see if she is hurt or has any bruises.  You feel frustrated and don't know what you should do. 

The life of a call center agent can be similar in that they can feel like the parent who is getting a lack of communication.  In the call center, things change quite suddenly, but these changes are not always communicated to agents effectively, if at all.  While the only thing that you can count on is change, there are ways to communicate change.

Change can be difficult, but it does not have to be unbearable. Without preparation or communication, change veers into the unbearable territory.  For a company, being able to surf the waves of change is necessary to survive with the business climate being fiercely competitive. Without this ability, a company would fizzle out and die.

They would become outdated and virtually useless. In an effort to ride the waves of the business climate, many companies focus on profits and seem to forget about their people.  Making decisions without the feedback of the front line, who actually have to implement changes, can be detrimental to the survival of the enterprise.  Orders are given down from on high from the ivory tower. Management becomes like the Wizard of Oz, and the front line are like the Munchkins who listen to the decrees from the Wizard.

When managing a business, this behavior can be compared to a general who neglects to get feedback from his foot soldiers and captains about how the battle is progressing, the terrain or the overall morale of the troops. This lack of information is destined to result in losing the battle. The goal of any business manager or owner is to succeed.

It is easy for leaders to become out of touch with the reality of the people below them. Leaders spend lots of time focused on specific or strategic issues that are meant to grow the company. With the constant demands on their time, the stress or pressure of being a leader, and spending time with other members of the management staff it is not hard to lose touch with the front line. While all of these things are important to the leadership team but, they contribute to ivory tower syndrome.

Since management is usually far removed from the people who get the work done, they lose sight of the actual job of the front line representatives. Over time, this removal happens and causes leaders to become out of touch with the experiences and problems of the people at the bottom. The ivory tower syndrome occurs naturally and is something common that affects many busy leaders.  

What can leaders do to tackle this?

Ironically, the steps needed to address this issue are quite simple. Leaders should make a consistent effort and give conscious attention to the Front Line. They should actively designate time to keep in touch with employees that are near the bottom of the organization to keep their finger on the pulse of the team. Information is vital for employees to make a significant contribution to the team. This means not only making decisions but even explaining some of the reasons for the decisions. This helps the front line representatives feel like they were considered in the decision making. While it is impossible to please everyone, most workers will stay with a company if they feel valued. The simple rule of thumb is decisions should be made by upper management with the people who do the work in mind. Management must keep their finger on the pulse of the teams they manage. 

ivory tower - definition of ivory tower in English from .., https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ivory-tower (accessed July 18, 2016)