Free Expert Interviews for the 10 Toughest Behaviors at Work – Challenging Workplace Behavior Summit

Whether it’s gossip, harassment, or time-sucking interruptions we have all encountered challenging behaviors in the workplace.  Have you ever wished you knew what to do when they happened?

If you’re like us, the answer is yes.  That’s why we spent a year finding ten top global experts to help us understand and manage the ten toughest behaviors at work.  Register now for free access to the Challenging Workplace Behavior Summit to watch our interviews. The summit launches on Tuesday, November 13th and it covers:

• Workplace Bullying

• Gender-Based Violence

• Workplace Incivility

• Verbal Attacks

• Workplace Gossip

• Non-Stop Criticism

• Time-Sucking Interruptions

• Hostile Work Environments

• Passive Aggression

• Impulsive Reactions

Each day, we’ll share action-oriented expert interviews about these challenging workplace behaviors.  Part 1 of every interview focuses on understanding the behavior. Part 2 is all about strategies.

Register for free at www.workbehavior.us/register – all it takes is your e-mail address and we’ll let you know when the programs go live.

Are you leading your company to success or failure? What kind of leader are you?

Our radio series theme for October is workplace incivility and toxic work environments. I begin brainstorming for each week’s blog post with a question surrounding the theme, so I asked myself, why do toxic work environments occur? My immediate response to the question was: poor leadership.

Leading others is not a simple task, but if done well, leaders can help companies and employees thrive. However, poor leadership can lead to hostility, poor performance, poor job satisfaction, high turnover rates, and failing businesses. According to Wall Street Journal article adapted from “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Management” by Alan Murray, “Leadership is less about your needs, and more about the needs of the people and the organization you are leading.” The article outlines the six leadership styles that David Goleman author of the book “The Primal Leadership” describes. The six leadership styles are visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding. The article stresses that great leaders encompass all six leadership styles and chooses which style to use based on the situation and people with whom they are working. The ability to execute each leadership style depending on the needs of the situation reminds me how an experienced conflict intervener knows which conflict style to use to achieve the best results.

I previously worked in a toxic work environment where upper-management used the pacesetting and commanding leadership styles. The WSJ article explains pacesetting style as, “the leader sets high standards for performance.” The pace of which the leaders set is high achieving and fast pace. The company I worked for gave very large workloads to their employees with the expectation that they would get as much as humanly possible. Upper management was able to see how much work you completed at the end of each day and if you were not completing enough of your work quickly, your immediate supervisor spoke with you. The commanding leadership style, the WSJ article describes as, “probably the most often used, but the least often effective. Because it rarely involves praise and frequently employs criticism, it undercuts morale and job satisfaction.” The company I worked for rarely gave praise for the work done, it never seemed like enough to upper management and they always wanted more. The environment was toxic when I began working there, and it continued until I left. Employees hated coming to the office, were increasingly stressed, and the turnover rate was high. Upper management used fear and increased workloads to motivate its employees, a style of leadership that was popular in our parents and grandparent’s day.

Leaders have a tough role, they must engage their employees to do their work well, but also be tough when a situation requires it. I think the leaders of my former organization cared most about money, power, and ego. They worried about their needs before the needs of their employees or the organization they were running, which cultivated a toxic work environment. Leadership puts one in a very powerful position, and if one is not careful, the power trip can go to their head.

My husband works for a large tech company, whose leaders use more of the other four styles: visionary, coaching, affiliative, and democratic. I asked him if he thought he worked in a toxic work environment? Without hesitation, he said “no.” I then asked what he liked about his boss’s leadership style? My husband responded:

“He allows you space to be innovated and create without being over-bearing. He guides you when needed and challenges you to do your best work. He encourages teamwork and asks everyone’s input on starting and completing tasks and goals.”

Many companies today are changing over to the style my husband’s organization uses, and they are finding success. The leadership role is difficult, but being a good leader will inevitably lead to a company’s success.

What kind of leader are you? Find out by taking the quiz from Inc.com authored by Adam Bluestein former editor of Real Simple’s.

Check out our expert guests that will be on our upcoming October programs here:

Abigail R.C McManus M.S Negotiation and Conflict Management

Apprentice

Trust Your Canary: The Challenge of Workplace Incivility

Join us for a compelling and informative discussion about workplace incivility—those seemingly insignificant rude or disrespectful behaviors at work that can really get under our skin (eye rolling is a classic example). Sharone Bar-David, renowned expert on workplace incivility, will share fascinating data about the collateral damage that incivility leaves in its wake, what each and every one of us can to tame it, and what canaries have to do with it all.

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