Why “We thought it was a good move for you” and caped crusaders could be demoralising your workforce

I moved to a new company and stayed less than 3 months. I joined for the opportunity to build and grow the consulting business and was thrilled to be starting this new chapter. But, 3 weeks in, I was already starting to question my decision… I told myself it was early days, a very different set-up, and I just needed to give it time. 5 weeks in and an all-company meeting appeared in diaries. The company was being sold and to a well-established, global consulting provider. Instantly I felt betrayed. Overnight, my main driver for joining had turned into a totally different proposition. I had conversations to try and understand more and what this would mean for me. In all honesty, there was one question I wanted answered. Why hadn’t they told me? When I asked, the answer given was simply: “We still thought it would be a good move for you”.

This one line stayed with me, and although I could see opportunities within the broader organisation, fundamentally I felt deceived. My psychological contract had been broken and irreparably so. Why was this so damaging? I think because I experienced the Parent – Child culture crack. ?The ‘we know what’s best for you’ tone. Perhaps it could have been a good move for me, but critically, I wanted to be able to make that decision myself.

Slipping into a Parent – Child relationship at work is easily done. ?Often there are good intentions – to protect individuals through holding back difficult messages or worrying information, or to step in and make decisions on someone else’s behalf to make things easier. However, over sustained periods, the impact can be damaging to individuals and the organisational culture. People can become over-dependent, feel unable to guide their own decisions or actions and resentment at being treated as a child quickly builds. Across the longer-term, constant sugar-coating can result in significant gaps in succession planning and leadership pipelines, and if teams fail to see the issues needing to be addressed, it can make change particularly challenging to execute on. Ideas, fresh perspectives, and people come to a grinding halt. There’s only so far wrapping someone in cotton wool will get you.

At the other end of the spectrum, organisations are also prone to over-rely on a small group of people to get things done. The ‘star’ performers who are always the first to be consulted or called upon in a crisis. The emergency siren sounds, and a familiar group of caped-crusaders gather to take on their next earth-saving mission. Whilst this might deliver quick and efficient results for the company, for those around, watching another rescue by the elite squad can feel totally demoralising. This Hero Complex culture crack often rewards those who are most visible, outspoken, and confident; behaviours which don’t always equate to competence.

Whether these heroes are capable or not, for those looking on, seeing the same faces selected for critical projects, discussions and opportunities is de-motivating. So often people don’t put themselves forward for things if they feel it is a foregone conclusion who will be selected. Worse still, for everyone, is when the caped-crusader seriously lacks capability. They rely on others to do the hard work and trample over those around to take the credit. The business sees a star performer, their colleagues see arrogance, self-promotion, and disrespect. Yet, through allowing this to playout, the organisation feeds the belief that this is what’s valued and these are the behaviours that will drive success.

The hero mindset and jumping from crisis to crisis, is also addictive (for those called upon and the broader organisation). This state can ultimately have detrimental effects for those playing this role, creating constant feelings of pressure resulting in anxiety and burnout. People leaders also frequently fall into this trap. Team members regularly share challenges and setbacks, seeking support and advice on how best to move forward. From personal experience, I know how tempting it can be to jump in to help save a deal, rescue a client relationship or ensure delivery of a project - often this is the fastest and easiest way to resolution (you've likely dealt with this countless times before). Fixing the issue will help in the short-term (and provide a nice hit of dopamine for the leader) but won't help in the longer-term. The greatest value a people leader can add today is to establish safe environments for teams to practice and access constructive feedback equipping them to tackle varied and unpredictable scenarios themselves.

At the root of both these cultural cracks lies empowerment. Creating trusting, secure, and meritocratic environments where individuals can guide their own actions and access equal opportunities to stretch, grow and contribute.

Here are some actions you can take to tackle these culture cracks and build empowered workforces:

1. Build trust and understanding through choosing to share difficult or complex messages with key groups of people. Bringing them in will help improve communication and could generate new perspectives and ideas.
2. Commit to accurately?attributing contributions and successes?and regularly review the behaviour endorsed and celebrated in your organization – is it driving an empowered workforce?
3. Focus people leadership roles on coaching, enabling and empowering. Reward leaders for stepping away from playing the hero and creating sustainable environments where teams can grow and take the reigns.
4. Be genuinely kind. Let people in to understand the truth - about where they stand, their capabilities and the market conditions (telling people what you think they want to hear will ultimately help no-one),
5. Ultimately, treat employees as adults. Give respect and create accountability and the chances are, you’ll get this in return.

Take the culture cracks quiz to find out where there might be issues lurking in your company's culture: https://sarah-mclellan.involve.me/culture-cracks-quiz

Read more about the secret sauce in organisations – empowerment – below, and the fourth step in the Make it Human model. Letting go, creating space for others to step into, and trusting teams with the broader challenges is key to building engaged, productive and happy people at work.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/enabling-flow-secret-sauce-empowered-teams-sarah-mclellan%3FtrackingId=DMaw9%252BgVT2GbGJ5YQr8CEw%253D%253D/?trackingId=DMaw9%2BgVT2GbGJ5YQr8CEw%3D%3D

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