Dealing with Dissidents

Creating a culture that delivers greater revenues, profits and growth

I have often mused about the importance of becoming a “resonant” leader in business; someone who has the strength of character and emotional resilience to lead with Grace.

The benefits are manifold.

Resonant leaders know when to direct and are able to identify the best approach to take with their staff.

They hold themselves and others to account courageously.

They are the sorts of people whom others rely on.

And their teams perform better as a result.

(Take a look around my blog and you’ll find plenty of information about how you can become a more resonant leader in your business.) But that’s not what I want to dwell on today.

You see, you will do better in your development as a resonant leader if you understand the consequences of going in the other direction.

Don’t ignore your dissidents

Business coach Tom Peters believes you can broadly categorise the people in your organisation into four groups, and I must say I think that he is correct. These categories are:

High-impact positive people: their personal agenda and that of the organisation are perfectly aligned.

Low-impact positive people: the ones who get the work done.

High-impact negative people (or “dissidents” as I like to think of them): destructive people who champion a different culture from the existing one.

Low-impact negative people: those who go so far as to block and question everything, resist change and put little effort into their work. (They’ve got to go.)

As you’ve probably guessed, the dissidents are the ones that need most attention.

It should not be a case of throwing them out and starting again, because with the right time and effort, you could bring about a 20% improvement in their effectiveness.

And in turn, you might improve the performance of any low-impact positive people who had unwittingly been following a dissident.

The dissidents must therefore be given ample opportunity to embrace and master your approach. From the outset, you must make it clear that you are giving them an opportunity to align themselves with the culture, without making threats or issuing an ultimatum.

The tell-tale signs that something needs to change

But what should you be looking out for in the first place? Some of the naysayers are not particularly easy to spot. You might have:

The “above it all” dissident

Those senior people who see their elevated position as an exemption to the culture.

The “know it all” dissident

Those who fail to see that they aren’t actually enacting the culture values, even though they champion them.

The “I’m all right, Jack” dissident

Those who sacrifice long-term results in favour of short-term self-interest.

The “smiling cynic” dissident

Those who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. They might seem positive on the outside, but their inner negativity will soon give them away!

The “good enough” dissident

Talented people who regard their personal success as proof that the culture is beneath them and unnecessary. 

Have you noticed these sorts of people within your organisation? It is up to you to deal with them, for the greater good of all employees and shareholders.