Is Your Leadership Style Haunted?
How to recognize the restless ghosts of workplaces past and banish them to the other side
Scary Clarity
Lots of folks come to coaching with a goal of becoming a better leader. Not having had the opportunity to develop their own leadership skills, their “fake it til you make it” strategy isn’t working - they feel ineffective, stressed, desperate, and unable to make a positive influence on their team.
Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash
The coaching process often begins with gaining clarity, which can be scary, as you become aware of beliefs and thought patterns influencing your decisions, habits, and actions. It’s like in a horror movie when the main character suddenly realizes the ghost or monster is right behind them - gaining clarity can be shocking. But in coaching, like in the movie, that’s where the action starts. The path to banishing the ghost or monster can begin with the experience of having it scare the heck out of you. When it comes to clarity, a good scare can be a good thing.
What kind of ghosts and monsters are we talking about here?
As we dig into leadership beliefs and thought patterns, clients may discover that they’re a bit haunted - not by actual ghosts, but by the ‘spirit’ of something they absorbed somewhere along the career path, such as a former boss’ or work culture’s influence, expectations, or mindset. They didn’t intentionally choose to lead with it, but it attached itself to their leadership style.
Let’s look at a few ghosts that can haunt your leadership, and how to banish them.
Ghosts of expectations past:
Have you ever felt trapped by “this is the way we’ve always done things” or “let’s just stick to the original plan”? Ghosts of past expectations often take the form of precedents, traditions, or plans that one dare not question. But doing things in the same way for years on end without reflection, assessment or adjustment is not only incredibly frustrating for teams (especially folks with new perspectives), but it can mean you’re foregoing needed change, adaptation, and new opportunities.
Michelle Barton and Kathleen Sutcliffe describe the problem as dysfunctional momentum, which is “when people continue to work toward an original goal without pausing to recalibrate or reexamine their processes, even in the face of cues that suggest they should change course.”
Resistance to change may be due to the sunk cost fallacy (the belief that you’ve invested so much into this one thing that you must see it through), inflexibility, or the desire to be taking action and making progress, even if it is short-sighted and not likely to achieve anything. These issues are ghosts in themselves.
Photo by Camila Quintero Franco on Unsplash
Ghosts of bad managers
Even long after you’ve moved on from a horrific boss, the impact of their actions can have an effect on your work. Maybe they left you with a feeling of constant stress, or feeling the need to mask. Perhaps their words or behavior dealt a blow to your self esteem, confidence, or morale. They may have even pressured you to lead like they did - and you’ve realized this has made you toxic in the eyes of your team. A boss’ negative influence can linger and haunt in many ways, and moving forward, it’s important to gain clarity on what unlearning may be needed.
Ghosts of ghastly culture:
Workplace culture is the environment and atmosphere that employees experience. It’s affected by a number of factors, including leadership, policy, amenities, employee behaviors and shared values. Whether it’s hustle culture, coping culture, gaslighting culture or “we’re like a family here” culture, the environment and atmosphere of a ghastly workplace contributes to burnout. It’s essential to be aware of ghastly culture, and how not to let it haunt your leadership style.
How to banish these ghosts
Recognition goes a long way
Recognize your team
Getting to know the folks you work with (or who work for you) is a good way to set a mindset of recognition and appreciation, which is a great way to build trust. Trust amongst a team diminishes doubt, frustration, and dysfunction. Consider things from your team’s perspective, and lead with empathy and understanding.
Recognize yourself
Reflect on what kind of boss you want to be. Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash
Are you the kind of supervisor you wish you had? If you’re not intentional about your leadership strategy, you run the risk of “ghosts” sabotaging things. When stress and emotions run high, stop and think about what’s affecting you before making decisions or jumping to conclusions. What is the emotion telling you? Emotions can be important sources of information, but must first be understood in order to process, regulate, and move forward. Leadership requires the ability to recognize your emotions.
Challenge dysfunctional momentum:
Barton and Sutcliffe offer thoughtful strategies on stopping dysfunctional momentum:
Cultivate situated humility, Leadership challenges are complex with many uncertainties, and you can be confident in your leadership abilities while also acknowledging that it’s impossible for one person to be all-knowing in every situation. To cultivate situated humility, you actively question and test your assumptions regularly, welcoming others to interrupt if a revision needs to be made. In doing so, you place value on collaboration and growth mindset.
Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash
Seek diverse perspectives in order to get a fuller understanding of what affects - and will be affected by a problem and any solution put in place to resolve it. Listen with situated humility, placing value on the knowledge and expertise each perspective has to offer.
Encourage skepticism, as skeptics often raise points and perspectives that “experts” may have overlooked. In any field, a body of knowledge is never static - it continues to grow over time. Skepticism of the status quo isn’t about “rocking the boat” for the sake of being difficult - it can be the catalyst to problem solving, innovation and progress.
Make yourself available and accessible -In order for any of the strategies above to work, you need others to be able to approach and connect with you. Take regular measures to make sure you’re both physically and socially available and accessible. Show up in their spaces for supportive visits, making it easier for them to talk with you. Communicate early and often. Get to know them personally. Make a point to celebrate with them and recognize their achievements at work and in life. Building this sense of connection can seem trivial, but it is the bedrock of trust - and trust is the bedrock of effective leadership and teams.
I’m here to help!
Coaching can help you get clarity and build intentional leadership strategies with the kind of support you need to move on from the “ghosts” haunting your leadership style! I’d love to chat about your situation and see how I might help. To get the ball rolling, book a time to meet with me on my website: juliariceandco.com/schedule . I look forward to chatting with you soon!
