BY C. Lee Smith
Are employees in your organization quitting? Do you suspect it’s because some managers engage in toxic behavior? These incidents are common and to manage effectively, leaders must insist on a healthier style of “alpha” behavior.
Old-
The movie industry has long entertained us with horrible boss behavior. Films like “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Wall Street” and “Glengarry Glen Ross” featured alpha bosses who generated endless conflict. In these stories, bad bosses usually crash and burn, and we cheer that outcome.
In real life, it feels like bad bosses survive. Not only that; they get promoted and aggressively stress out more team members. Often, their behavior is tolerated when they are delivering something of value to leadership.
Whether it’s solid revenue or connections to the right power brokers, bosses hesitate to take out their alpha managers. They may also be high producers. Managers may believe they are driving their team members to success.
It’s easy to despise alpha managers and cast them as being unable to manage effectively. However, they are not always intent on making work life miserable for their employees. They are wired to compete and to produce.
While some employees thrive under demanding managers, these alpha employees may not belong in a supervisor role. Why? Because an alpha manager’s success often comes at the expense of employee turnover.
David Sinkinson observes that “[t]he more pressure alphas feel to perform, the more they tend to shift their leadership style…” They can quickly shift from “…constructive and challenging to intimidating or even abusive.”
How to Fix Your Alpha Manager Problem
If you have an alpha manager who’s become a wrecking ball in your organization, you need to move quickly. No company can afford the increased turnover and chaos that can be caused by one manager.
Behavior Modification
Every company should maintain written policies on acceptable work behavior. When a manager violates those policies, such as yelling at a team worker, recourse should be available. Once employees document violations with human resources, leaders can insist that the manager take additional training.
Training
The training should emphasize emotional intelligence. More than one study has found that emotional intelligence is necessary for supervisors to manage effectively.
Emotional Intelligence
Increasing emotional intelligence means taking the time to understand what each team member needs. Through close listening, managers show that they care about an employee’s concerns and frustrations. When employees feel validated and heard, their motivation to do their best work improves.
Manager Fit
Even as your alpha managers adjust their behavior to stay within acceptable limits, some employees will struggle to work for them. Poor fit between a manager and an employee plays a role. If you have enough flexibility, organizationally, you can assign people with the right fit to their group.
A psychometric assessment platform, such as TeamTrait, gives you the insight you need to make these decisions. Your alpha manager is likely a driver and competitive – playing to win. Given those traits, you should not add a low-
Similarly, your alpha manager may have a tendency to cut corners when it comes to following the rules. In that case, an employee who strictly conforms to the rules will feel uncomfortable on the team.
Hiring for the New “Alpha” Role
At the very least, do at least as much research on your candidates as you would when buying a car or home. [Excerpt: Hire Smarter, Sell More!]
When it’s time to hire a new manager, the concept of the right kind of “alpha” behavior remains critical. But company leaders sometimes take their own shortcuts during the hiring process.
They may promote the most tenured individual into the position without a worry about “fit.” Or they may rush to onboard the candidate recommended by a friend.
These shortcuts often turn into expensive mistakes. To manage effectively, your team members need to have a great “fit” with the employees in their department.
During the hiring and promotion process, take the time that’s needed to analyze an individual’s fit with other employees. The fit with the company’s mission and its customers can also make a huge difference.
Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.