Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

Working with people is very difficult. I don't have to tell you that. 

I think what makes it difficult is that as a leader or manager, you need to believe in people. And you need to hold people accountable when things don't work. 

It may be one of the most difficult balancing acts in the world. 

Both sides of this coin were on display in a wonderful Q and A from the New York Times. If you don't follow this column in the business day section, I urge you to start. It is good stuff. 

The interview was done with Lois Braverman, Chief Executive of the Ackerman Institute for the Family.

On believing in people?  Here's what she had to say:

I may think I know the answer, but I hold onto that and say, O.K., but there may be other answers here. And there may even be differences in terms of how we define the problem, because it can be different depending on where you sit in an organization. There’s an administrative reality and there’s a front-line worker reality, and those realities are very rarely the same. Organizational conflicts escalate when people don’t feel heard, when they don’t feel like their perception of reality has a chance to at least be heard....

(Us versus them) can get very personal, right? People really start to demonize, pathologize or psychoanalyze others, and to see their colleagues through a negative lens. Often that comes from a place where you’re feeling anxious or stuck and not able to get something done. And so you really have to hold on to the idea — as a genuine, authentic, core belief — that everybody is really doing the best job that they can, and that they are a resource for you.

The interviewer was great - because the next question challenged her. If she has such faith in people, has she ever let someone go? Of course she has.  Here's how she reconciles the two parts of management.

Because I’m really focused on what we have to accomplish. Everything has to be in the service of the families we see. I actually have fired quite a few people in my tenure, and it wasn’t easy. Some people were quite loved by a large number of their colleagues, but I had to keep the bigger picture in mind. Part of my responsibility as the head of the organization is that not everybody is going to be happy with me.

If you are going to promote someone into a management position, I'd have them read this article. It does a nice job of painting a clear picture of both sides of leading.