Fighting For Better Leadership

 When you come to work it feels like an endless place of expectations and hindrances. A place where you must swim with one foot ankered to the bottom of the pool and spectators looking at you wondering why it's so hard for you to just swim already. You are too prideful to say I am choking on water. Maybe because you are a woman and don't want to seem weak. Maybe because you are young and you don't want to seem ignorant. Maybe you have been there so long you are scared to get the ax because you are not loving the new ideas. 

So where is the balance between new unicorn ideas and common-sense functionality?

Great question, glad you asked.

The balance is .... you.

Wait, wait, wait you say. Come on I can't lose my nerve at work I'll sound like a trouble maker!

Good.

Well easy for you to say.

No I mean it is for the better good. 

Here is a perfect example of a client I worked with a couple months back. There were new protocols set in place for the newly vaccinated and unvaccinated employees. Outside of your personal preference, there were severe security issues with these new protocols. The app in which they were mandated to use clearly stated in the privacy information disclaimer, they would at any time use the information to share with authorities, people outside the region, and each exception would be taken into consideration by a board.

So regardless of whether you were vaccinated or unvaccinated, you were sharing your personal medical information with unknown sources including your social, DOB, and contact information.

This is a massive violation of an individual's privacy. We battled the company without attorneys. We took an approach to simply use their information repeated back to them over and over and over. Each new person involved would say "I didn't know it said that, let me look into that." Each new person was boggled because the client was not against testing or against vaccination he was against sharing personal private medical and personal information with unknown sources. These sources had a board of individuals who would discuss his medical, faith, and personal information. Who were these people? The employees were threatened with termination without downloading the App. When push came to shove the client took the risk of being fired. He instead informed the company of information they missed. He protected other employees who also missed that hidden privacy policy. He educated leadership. They made immediate changes, exceptions and the employee was never bothered with the App mandate again. Employees were upset they were misinformed and misled and therefore new procedures were set in place. Good things happened that day. It didn't come with anger but with education and awareness.

Something I do often in an effort to win battles and battle for my clients is read the fine print, study processes, and examine functionality. 

1. What does the request ask of me? Is it within the realm of my job description and employee handbook?

2. Does this process add benefit to the team or bog down functionality?

3. Are the employees, after a transition phase, going to be able to function at a more productive level?

4. Is their work attitude grateful for new processes or disturbed and could cause turnaround?

With those obstacles taken into consideration, we as leadership are both leaders and listeners. Sometimes we put out foot down in an effort to take something off our plates. An, I don't want to deal with this right now, moment. Something you know will take time to fix. The time you do not have. But there are times when an employee has something vital that needs to be addressed and giving of time is necessary immediately.

I too have been on the other side of this. When I have had to go to my manager and ask consistently and repeatedly that there is something that must be addressed. There might be a huge system issue or a massive communication disconnect. Sometimes managers add more people into the mix expecting it to help the situation and sometimes it slows production down. Sometimes a simple clear line of access and minimal technology is called for. Other times things take far longer than they should because the company refuses to evolve and intergrade new technology for faster process time. Whatever the concern might be you must ask those simple questions above EVERYTIME. 

We must remove the possibility of over-correction or a back burner mentality. Time moves rapidly and when we refuse to speak up when we see it and when we refuse to listen when we hear it, it causes a massive breakdown in the system. Turn around increases, the work environment becomes toxic and anarchy arises when employees finally have enough. A bad reputation to a company sometimes is not the ability to do great work, it is the ability to create a great work environment. A great work environment is where we can voice, address, correct, and learn. This gives root to growth. As something is planted, it is watered, it is nurtured, it is pruned, and it produces a valuable product. Without all steps, we produce an unmarketable product and ineffective customer experiences that lead to the failure of a reputation and thriving business. 

So Speak Up Where You See Areas For Growth

Listen For Innovative Processes That Make Us More Acceptable To Growth

-Izzy Gentry

clvplanners.com