Mr. Positional Power…YOU need a good SMACKING!!!

 by Paul Gavoni and Manny Rodriguez

 We recently witnessed the manager of a well-known auto store berate a woman, in front of her 3 young children and a small group of customers, for leaving her car in a no-parking zone. The woman (of island descent I believe given her strong accent) stood wide eyed struggling to explain in broken English as the man belittled her for having “no common sense.” The manager, angrily pointing at her and gesturing to the “No Parking” sign in proximity of her car, then said “give me your keys,” as he snatched them angrily from her hand and personally moved her car to the designated location. We stood, flabbergasted at the audacity of the man for first demanding then taking her keys, and very troubled at the highly coercive approach this man took with a woman who likely made an honest mistake given her lack of mastery with the English language. When he parked her car, we approached the manager, requesting his name and asking him why he spoke to the now distraught and embarrassed woman in such a way. After first refusing to tell us, he gave his name, and then said “what do you care anyhow.” “We’re just concerned citizens,” we noted. “We hate seeing people treated poorly.” To make a long story short, we received an apology from the company and the manager after calling their corporate headquarters, both who we told should be directing their apology to the woman, not us.   

Leading or Losing

Have you ever seen a similar situation at work, like an irate manager? Or perhaps a "leader" who walks/talks like a bully? A boss who finger points, puts down his/her employees, or down right insults the intelligence of others? Often we are shocked to hear about (or directly observe) somebody abusing their “perceived” power when speaking to those they deem below them. This behavior runs rampant in organizations everywhere, where people with positional authority abuse their “power” with comments like “I’m your boss,” "because I said so," or actually reprimand staff in the presence of others. While most people learn not do this to others when they are young children, it simply baffles us to see adults demonstrate such behavior, or “bosses” trying to lead or influence the performance of anybody through such approaches. Regardless of somebody’s performance, everybody should be treated with respect and dignity. Coercive and rude behaviors are a losing solution. This approach should be reserved for bullies, not managers…and certainly not those who consider themselves a leader.  Let's take a look at the pitfalls of coercive leadership in any organization through the fictional character of Mr. Positional Power (we'll call him Mr. PP for the purpose of this article).

A Smack of Science 

If you are reading this article and possess any of the following behavioral characteristic of a Mr. PP, you should know someone wants to smack you. They have fantasized about it, possibly lost themselves at work day dreaming of the moment they can reach over and lay a nice swat across your face. However, they thankfully refrain. Beyond being illegal (well, unless it's in the boxing gym with Paul) they recognize this type of coercive approach, while it might make them momentarily happy, will likely only make things worse for themselves and not improve your behavior one bit. So they bite their tongues, hold their breathe, and count the seconds until you stop your positional power behaviors. 

While we don’t want to literally smack you, we do want to smack you in one important and figurative way. That is, smack you with a dose of science. Specifically the science of human behavior in the workplace, also known as Organizational Behavior Management (OBM). In a perfect world, it would be our goal to fundamentally change you, Mr. PP, to Mr. Positive Power. For the 99% of you reading this who aren't Mr. PP, we hope we can somehow strengthen your knowledge on leadership through the rest of our discussion.

Smack One: Leadership Defined!

There are many theories and perspectives on leadership. Essential to each of these is the science of human behavior. So regardless of what theory you support, these principals are at the root. As Aubrey Daniels, one of the founders of OBM posits, the measure of a leader can be found in the behaviors of the followers (Daniels & Daniels, 2007). Specifically, how far do followers go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve their leader's goals (referred to as discretionary performance).

Since the measure of the leader is found in the follower, guess where power comes from? That's right, the follower. Many leaders are given the positional authority that comes from title, rank, and status in hierarchical organization. However, this does not define leadership. And while it provides authority and responsibility, it does not provide the actual power. Can you imagine Mr. PP trying to force a group of people to perform a task, but they wouldn't?   The power lies in the people. In the story above, the woman did not understand that she, in fact, possessed the power, not the store manager. The manager simply took advantage of somebody who hadn't yet been empowered with the knowledge of her rights. The measure of a leader lays in their ability to positively influence their followers to direct their power towards achieving a goal, not forcing people do things. Forcing folks to do things as a regular leadership practice is more akin to dictatorship. 

Smack two: Leadership versus Management!

There is a difference between leadership and management from a behavior science perspective. “Simply put, managers hold people accountable, whereas leaders inspire people to feel responsible” (Geller, 2003). Good leaders focus on strengthening relationships, facilitating self-accountability, and using feedback to make progress toward goal attainment a source of value and reinforcement. (Geller, 2003; Watson & Tharp, 1997). Sometimes leaders must manage, and at other times, managers must lead. Thus effective managers should be positive leaders who seek to inspire people to feel responsible as opposed to ineffective Mr. PP managers who seek to use command and control tactics to drive performance.

Smack three: Positive Power requires Positive Consequences!

Mr. PP wields his authority with conviction, likely views power as the ability to make things happen, and uses his positional authority on anyone who gets in his way. Mr. PP likely believes he is an effective leader because he gets stuff done. And that’s good, right? Wrong! From a behavior science perspective, we get Mr. PP’s behavior. We understand he is demonstrating or flexing his authority for a reason, which is not mysterious once you put yourself in his shoes. You see, he does it because it works. He wields his "authority" like a sword because he probably sees an immediate result. People will do what he wants, but only what he wants, to avoid his coercive approach. Because Mr. PP observes his staff doing what he wants, it “rewards” his sword wielding behavior, strengthening it and making it more likely he will do it again…and again…and AGAIN! A couple of you might be thinking, “Well that’s fine, he’s getting people to do their job.” If these are your thoughts, there you are. We found you out. Let us pause for a brief greeting.  Hello Mr. PP!

Beyond the moral implications of not consistently treating others with dignity, there are many consequences that result from Mr. PP’s “leadership.” Coercive approaches (e.g. using one's positional authority to force compliance) never result in discretionary performance; rather, these approaches increase the likelihood employees will demonstrate what we would call escape or avoidance motivated behavior. You know these behaviors. If you’ve worked for Mr. PP, you may have said, done, or observed something like the following: “(Cough, cough)...Mr. PP, I am taking some sick time”; Mr. PP walks in, staff walk out; or the big one…”I quit!”

Suffice it to say, Mr. PP's approach is poo-poo. Can we say poo-poo on LinkedIn? At any rate, using coercive techniques to motivate people is CRAP! Personally, we don’t care if somebody is the most powerful person in the room; however, we will judge him or her by how he or she treats those with the least. 

If Mr. PP wants to bring out the best in his followers (i.e. discretionary performance), he must focus more on providing positive feedback for incremental growth and getting his followers to recognize the positive consequences of their behavior. For example, help them recognize they are moving closer towards some performance goals, that their job is now easier, or the company is growing as a result of their efforts. If people find value in their performance, they are likely to keep performing, even when Mr. PP is not looking. The beauty in this approach is that as Mr. PP focuses more on providing positive consequences to his followers, he will slowly transition from Mr. PP to Mr. Positive Power. Mr. Positive Power is a leader people want to be around. Someone whose very presence inspire performance improvements and achievement.

Tips for Mr. PP

Ok, let’s stop smacking for a moment and get a little more personal by having a brief discussion with the Mr. Positional Powers reading this. Mr. PP, as much as your behavior frustrates us, we understand your abuse of authority is likely a result of poor roles models who shaped your perception and leadership approach. We are truly sorry for your experience. We want you to be a more effective leader so you can help others to be better. Step into our office so we can do this privately…we want to show you respect as we give you a dose of "tough love." And honestly, we need to vent a little! Before we go any further, you must understand this fundamental truth. If you want people to behave loyally and perform to your expectations, you will first need to change your own behavior. Your followers will not change unless you do. And know that if you were to change your behavior as a result of our little chat, if we could, we would be looking for every opportunity to reinforce your growth. Ok…are you ready? Here we go. 

Tip 1: First of all, STOP being mean to people. Stop demeaning them in front of others. Don’t ever do this…ever. Not once. One highly coercive moment can undo a thousand positive ones. Treat people with dignity and respect…always.  Is that clear?? You are likely a very good person…it’s your behaviors that are bad. And you can change these. Avoid focusing on errors. You are going to be miserable, and you are likely making everybody around you miserable, too. Like the person who walks outside and thinks it’s cloudy because of the one cloud floating off on the horizon…don’t be that guy. Recent research on neuroplasticity suggests you are strengthening neural pathways in your brain. The result, you fall into the habit of focusing on more errors which perpetuates your misery, and likely the misery of those around you!  Instead, start focusing more on incremental growth and looking for the good in people.  We promise you, it’s there if you look. When you find it, tell them. If you do, they will likely start doing more of it. 

Tip 2: Listen, we understand there is a good chance you are routinely “letting the dog out” because folks are not doing the things you want them to do, in the ways you want them done, in the time frame you need them completed. If telling people what to do and threatening them created lasting success, there would be many more highly successful leaders and organizations…unfortunately. But thankfully, it doesn’t. It’s unsustainable. So stop throwing your authority around by saying or doing things that implies “I’m your boss” as a means of forcing people to do something. You may get short term results, but that approach will echo negatively through every hallway and meeting in your organization. Everybody knows you are the boss. I’m sure your name is plastered everywhere. They haven’t forgotten, so there is no need to remind anybody. 

You can, however, reflect with your employee on their performance in relation to performance goals. Perhaps there are legitimate reasons they are not performing well. If you can remove a road block, you’ll make the employee happy and you’ll likely move your organization closer to your goals. If there aren’t roadblocks and the employee has the skill but is just not performing well, you might try focusing on their "will" to figure out what might motivate them. At a minimum, remove your coercive behavior and simply let your policies do the work. In other words, simply apply the consequence. “I’m sorry, Joe. Since this is the 3rd time this has come up, I’m going to have to provide you with a written warning.” Simple. No need to be mean. Warning…if many of your employees are not meeting their performance goals, the goals may be too lofty or there is likely a systemic breakdown. Don’t begin by blaming the employees. Instead, create realistic short term goals and seek to establish a feedback rich environment to progressively increase skills and strengthen motivation to achieve improved performance and production. 

Tip 3: Start being more self-reflective and recognize that, if you are continuing to “let the dog out” and you are not seeing the desired progress…it ain’t working! Consider how your employees are responding to your directives and getting along with each other. If they are not meeting your expectations, mull over what you are doing during your time as a leader? Every look you give (or don’t), every email you send (or don’t), and every word you say (or don’t) has the ability to positively or negatively impact your organization. As leaders in our respective fields, we must remain vigilant regarding what we say and how we say it to make sure we are not communicating the wrong thing, in the wrong way, at the wrong time. Thankfully, we both truly enjoy being nice to people and helping them grow…so it’s not a difficult task. 

Tip 4: As you continue to reflect, ponder this. Are you focused more on the task and less on the people? Remember, it takes people to complete the tasks. Task focused leaders may have short term success, but typically it is unsustainable because they are not positively reinforcing the people (behaviors) responsible for successful task completion. Your focus should be on developing and bringing out the best in people. 

Tip 5: Set a long term goal to wield your authority as Mr. Positive Power would. Mr. Positive Power utilizes the scientific approach to human behavior to effectively achieve discretionary performance or what we call "want to behavior." We mentioned this before, but it's important this point be hammered hard. To become Mr. Positive Power, you must consistently seek to get your followers in touch with positive reinforcement, or consequences that are seen as “positive” or meaningful in the eyes of the person receiving the consequences. Mr. Positive Power seeks to empower his followers as he recognizes the Power in his name is not his, but rather the people's he is being positive towards. 

Tips 6: We’ve been pretty hard on you Mr. PP, so we want to give you a breather here. In fact we recognize that there may be a couple of folks reading this who may display behavior like a Mr. PP, but have limited self-awareness. There is a disconnect between their perception of themselves with the perception of their followers. They think, "I'm not that guy." We hope you aren't, but it's possible. If you discover you are, don't think yourself a bad person. We have found that it is not uncommon for a leader’s intention to be mismatched with how people actually receive their message. In other words, leaders don’t typically try to come off as Mr. PP (granted some do, but certainly not all). It has been our experience that many leaders have been to sufficient training, and read enough books to know that the coercive approach comes with side effects. So, they typically don’t think they are behaving like a Mr. PP. If you were to ask them “are you being coercive?” They would say “no way! I know better than that!” However, their employees would say otherwise. This lack of awareness is, for the most part, quite often the culprit. The solution? In short, be more observant of your own behavior and how it impacts others, and ask for feedback on your leadership behavior. And do that often. Look for things like how many people seek you out for feedback, share failures with you, respond to your directives, or perform a given task. Are folks laughing and smiling around you, sharing happy moments, or asking you how you are doing. Again, people are not judging you by your intentions, but rather by your impact. You must be aware of your impact on others.

In Closing

Remember, the measure of a leader can be found in the behavior of the followers. As such, the best organizations are managed as learning organizations, where focus remains on development and continuous improvement of followers as opposed to bureaucracy where focus is on compliance and coercive control. In learning organizations, leaders foster growth through dialogue, discussion, and positive consequences that result in discretionary effort. If you or someone you know is indeed Mr. Positional Power, know there is another way. There is someone with a more positive approach who is achieving better results. Someone who leads in a way that promotes happier employees who work harder and sustain performance over long stretches of time. His name is Mr. Positive Power.

Disclaimer

This article is meant for educational purposes only.  The authors do not advocate the use of violence in any shape or form. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. If this article hit a nerve, we recommend you use this tool (see photo) to discover the source of your angst.... ;-)

Selected References

Daniels, A. C., & Daniels, J. E. (2007). Measure of a leader: The legendary leadership formula for producing exceptional performers and outstanding results. [Kindle]. Retrieved from https://aubreydaniels.com/measure-leader

Geller, S. (2003) Leadership to overcome resistance to change. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 22:3, 29-49, DOI: 10.1300/J075v22n03_04

Watson, D. L., & Tharp, R. G. (1997). Self-directed behavior: Self-modification for personal adjustment (7th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Bios

Co-Author of Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership, Dr. Paul Gavoni has successfully supported multiple struggling schools in the turnaround process. An expert in human performance and organizational leadership, Paul provides administrative teams, teachers, and staff with coaching and consultation in analyzing and developing behavior and performance management systems directly aligned with student achievement. Paul holds a Doctorate of Education with a concentration in Organizational Leadership, and a Specialist of Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. 

In 1992, Paul began boxing in South Florida and went on to win a Florida Golden Gloves Heavyweight Title in 1998. Since then, Coach "Paulie Gloves," as he is know in the MMA community, has trained many champions and UFC vets. As an expert in leadership and human performance, Coach Paulie effectively applies concepts from the science of human behavior to assess and shape striking skills specific to the needs of individual fighters. Contact Paul at [email protected]

Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez

With over ten years of experience, Manny has worked with organizations across the globe. He is an accomplished practitioner in the field of behavior analysis, highly regarded by his customers and colleagues alike. He has earned a reputation for his quick grasp of behavioral challenges and how to solve them, offering a practical real-world approach. His engaging work style has established him as a go-to person in the field.

His experience spans various industries such as human services, nuclear power, government, oil and gas, transportation, and chemical within the Fortune 1000, as well as nonprofit,. Manny provides expert advice to leaders on establishing concrete plans for improving results through behavior change. He is especially skilled at facilitating business teams to execute strategic plans and preparing leaders to engage employees to reach their maximum potential.

Manny has led large scale change efforts, providing one-on-one coaching with executives and senior managers, developing and delivering engaging professional development workshops, seminars and webinars for thousands of leaders nationally and internationally. He has also presented at national and international conferences on the subject of human behavior applied to leadership, safety and organizational change.

Manny holds a Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis/Organizational Behavior Management from Florida Institute of Technology. He also holds a dual Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminology from Florida State University.

Special thanks to ADI Senior Consultant Francisco Gomez for his contribution!