Management Lessons from A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens was a very clever fellow, on December 19th 1843, A Christmas Carol was published just a little more than 2 months after he started work on his tale of redemption and good will to all mankind. It resonates as much now as it did then and is a message that it’s never too late to change our ways. Making choices has been a recurring theme of every blog or article I’ve written this year, I’ve looked at choosing to be present in the moment, choosing to act rather than procrastinate and also about making a conscious choice about the type of manager we want to be and this little piece is no different.
I’m going to focus on 2 key passages from A Christmas Carol which I feel are relevant to management. “You were always a good man of business” Scrooge tells Marley’s Ghost. “Business, mankind was my business; charity, mercy and benevolence were all my business!” is the spectre’s reply. There’s the obvious straightforward message about social & corporate responsibility but I think there’s a secondary theme about how organisations treat their people. I’m working with several businesses that have all undergone massive changes over the last few years and their stories are very similar, they employed consultants and project management specialists to drive the change forward; plans were drawn up, Gannt Charts produced and every detail covered, except how the change affected the people who worked in the organisations. The changes were made to streamline, increase efficiency and to increase profits. Sometimes the changes worked, sometimes they didn’t but in all the examples the result was an unhappier and more suspicious workforce. It’s a shame an extra line on the Gannt Chart excel spreadsheet couldn’t be found titled "People" and "Culture", they’d have saved themselves a lot of unrest and the need to employ me (every cloud though...)
The Ghost of Christmas Past introduces us to Mr Fezziwig; Scrooge remembers that his old boss had the power to render his workforce happy or unhappy; to make service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. I often use Fezziwig as an example when talking about leadership skills to new managers or in coaching sessions. He also provides a template for creating a high performing and loyal team, balancing hard work with kindness and reward. It’s easy to forget just what an emotional wake managers leave with how they choose to treat their staff.
It must be exhausting to choose anything other than trust and benevolence in a leadership position, I’d much rather believe that people want to do great things at work rather than take advantage, and I think managers with the right leadership skills always do. Once the spirits have done their work and Scrooge has resolved to change his ways. it is said some people laughed to see the alteration in him... but he is wise enough to let them. He chooses to keep Christmas well and become as good a man and as good a master as the good old city knew. I think this is a perfect illustration that how we behave is a conscious choice, that it’s never too late to change our behaviour for the better, hopefully we won't need the help of Marley and his 3 Ghosts to help us make that decision.
A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.