Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
I work in a large organization that operates on mutual trust and respect. But we went through a couple of mergers that brought in new leaders. They pretend to be supportive, but it has turned into a back-stabbing environment. I am in investment sales and spend a great deal of my time traveling. We need our sales support staff, but I know two are actively looking for jobs and several more on the fence.
Is it possible to deal effectively with senior people who are irrational and don’t care about the truth? My colleagues want to address this somehow and I don’t know how to counsel them.
S.F.
Dear S.F.,
This is unfortunately not an unusual situation in many organizations that I encounter. When the senior people are difficult or are perceived to be dysfunctional, it trickles down and affects people throughout the firm. No matter how you counsel those people, it’s not in their best interest to be combative or disrespectful as irritated.
I talk in terms of “impact” in situations like this. You first have to assess what the actual impact is of the senior leader’s communication and behavior. In some cases, they may just have a personality quirk and there’s no real harm being done within the organization – people just don’t like them. In other cases the leader is making decisions that make it difficult for people to do their jobs effectively. The impact here is, of course, more significant. Ask your team to consider if they have to deal with the situation proactively or if it would be more advantageous to try to work with the senior leaders and – as much as possible – ignore the behavior.
If the impact if significant, there are a couple of options you could encourage your team to try. The first one is to try to measure the impact in quantitative terms. Don’t say to the leader, “Look at the trouble you’re making.” Rather, quantify the impact on the business. For example you could show a trend line that illustrates where the business was and where it is now, to show a negative impact. You could make a recommendation for things that could be done differently to reverse this trend. Stay objective and don’t make it personal.
A second option is to take the “seek to understand” approach. While you may not agree with what’s being done, it’s possible the senior leaders do have good reasons for what they’re doing. Request a meeting to inquire about what’s happening and why.
You may not achieve your objectives – these situations are never easy – but you have fewer options when you’re not the ones in charge.
Y.U.
Dear Bev,
I work in a small advisor firm. Most of us get along very well. But recently the owner’s son has been working with us as an intern. I don’t think the owner understands his foul language and bad attitude, which makes the rest of us very uncomfortable. Obviously he hides this behavior from his father, so nothing’s being done about it. I like my job and we all like the owner. Is it career suicide to try to deal with this?
M.S.
Dear M.S.,
Similar to the answer above, ask about impact. I understand this behavior is rude and uncomfortable, but does it prevent you and your team from doing your jobs effectively? Is he an intern who you could tolerate or will he be returning, such that it must be addressed at some point? If the latter, talk with the son in a non-accusatory and non-defensive manner. Point out that your culture is very polite and respectful, and sometimes his approach “could be construed as disrespectful.” Depending on his relationship with Dad, he could run and tattle on you, so you must ensure that you’re very objective in your approach.
A second option is to talk with the owner directly. But my guess is that he’ll ask if you’ve brought this up with his son. Assuming you’ve done so, and it didn’t resolve the issue, you can then suggest he also speak with his son. Present this to the father as a learning experience for his son who just needs to be reminded that this is not a casual environment.
Addressing this might, of course, put you at risk (depending on the personalities). But if you find the situation to be untenable you likely have no choice. I doubt your owner wants to lose good team members over an issue like this.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Entrepreneurship. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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