When an organization launches a new initiative, employees are usually eager to go forward together in an attempt to accomplish those aims. Of course, there are always a few cynical doubters, reluctant traditionalists or destructive naysayers in any employee population. But leaders are generally given the benefit of the doubt. If senior leaders say this is the way the organization needs to go, most people are willing to help get it there.
The credibility of leaders is like an inherited trust. Under normal circumstances, that account has a high balance.
Those who have a stake in the company, like shareholders, customers and employees, prefer to see the value increase rather than go down. In fact, it takes a lot to deplete the accounts and put the perceived “value” of the organization in dangerous standing. But when a leader or manager breaks promises or fails to live the organization’s values or is inconsistent in word and deed, the drop-off in committed belief is often proportional to the disappointment. It’s as though credibility, the currency of leadership, has proved to be nothing but counterfeit money. The result is something I’ve learned to call “earned cynicism.”
I first heard the term when I was working with a focus group to validate an organization’s value set. The group was composed of a number of middle managers – the key link between the leadership team and the rank and file. Most in the group had been with the organization for over ten years, but there were two outsiders who’d been hired within the last year.
As we discussed how the organization exhibits each value, sparks began to fly. One manager declared in an increasingly emotional voice that the values all sounded good but the organization never acted that way when the chips were down. In other words, she continued, we were talking about some ideal world, not reality. In the real world, internal politics would get in the way, or the organization would never stick to its guns, or some people – usually important people – would act contrary to the values and yet face no consequences. In other words, she said, whether the values matter depends on who your boss is, and how willing he or she is to live by them. What’s the point in declaring something to be a value if it doesn’t apply equally to all people and circumstances?
I waited to see what would happen. Finally, one of the recently hired managers, still energetic about the company, said that he thought the values were inspirational and could help guide people in their growth and decision making. Therefore, he said, “we should learn to live up to those values, instead of being cynical about them.” The older manager, who had seen initiatives come and go, said, “Just wait and see. When you’re here as long as I am, you’ll have earned your cynicism.”
People who’ve been around an organization for a long time know what it means to earn their cynicism. Although Dilbert may have lost its steam as a cultural phenomenon, it still strikes a chord. When people have been told that something is going to happen and that it’s going to create a new and better way, they get excited and become emotionally vested. When it doesn’t happen, or happens for only a short time, or happens on only a case-by-case, manager-by-manager basis, their cynicism grows.
Some examples: Management fads that come and go – to no lasting effect. Declarations that people are our most important asset – followed by layoffs or cutbacks in training budgets. Managers who don’t have the courage to deal promptly with underperformers or – just as important – with those who achieve results but do so in a way that is counter to the organization’s way. Rewards, recognition and promotions that go to the favored instead of the worthy.
Think about the impact on morale, on the spirit of bringing in new employees, on the enthusiasm of your current employees as ambassadors of your organization. Earned cynicism is such a powerful and destructive force because it is the offspring of broken promises.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Earned cynicism can be stopped by creating a series of safeguards from the top down, manager by manager. In fact, that’s what leadership is all about.
Start with this premise: talented people leave even the best run organizations when managers are poor; and they stay in bad organizations when managers are heroes or stalwarts. In other words, people don’t leave organizations, they leave managers. Add in the idea that values – the reasons why employees join an organization in the first place – are disseminated most directly by those managers and you hold in your hands the key to preventing or overcoming the destructive force of cynicism.
In real life, we don’t often think in terms of values. Instead we look to our manager for the definition of right behavior, understanding it through how those managers treat people and what they do during a crisis. To get ahead, we do what our manager does so that they will see themselves in us and review our performance favorably. In other words, our direct manager has the most influence on how we behave and how fully we believe in our organization’s stated intentions.
It starts with senior leaders. Leaders bring values down to the next level below them. Each level of manager or supervisor helps to reinforce the word through what they do and how they treat others. The manager who doesn’t believe in something perpetuates that cynicism and gives direct reports permission to do the same.
If your organization’s level of earned cynicism is high, try this approach when launching new initiatives. For the first 8 months post launch, allow 15 minutes on the agenda of each monthly meeting to be taken up by conversations about the initiative, what it means for the organization’s vision and strategy, and how it impacts daily work and decision making. Don’t allow this discussion to happen in isolation, however, but have two managers from different divisions meet with their direct reports together. This way, not only are managers reinforced by each other, but employees get to see how vital the ideas are to different areas of the organization.
The more ideas or beliefs are talked about, the more real they become. This isn’t a cynical trick but a basic aspect of human psychology. Culture is a system of shared beliefs. Organizations need a strong culture to thrive. Discussions about the ways beliefs contribute to achieving real-world objectives are natural and healthy. They help people grapple with the right way to accomplish their day-to-day work in ever-changing circumstances.
A healthy organization doesn’t shy away from that debate or sweep the issues under the rug. Instead, it brings them to the light, celebrates those who do the right thing, and is consistent about teaching those who don’t.
David Cohen is president of Strategic Action Group, and author of “Inside the Box: Leading with Corporate Values to Drive Sustained Business Success”.
