56 / 94
THINK
54 •
PPB
• FEBRUARY 2016
THINK
HEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, survival for a company often means
employees must shoulder more than their share of the responsibilities that make a
company successful. But the side effects of pushing employees harder can do a business more harm than
good—inhibiting productivity.
Shawn Murphy, a management and leadership consultant, identifies the symptoms of destructive man-
agement and shares some strategies that managers can adopt to help develop and maintain a more posi-
tive workplace.
Blind impact
occurs when leaders underestimate the value of
their employees and cannot connect the dots between work and
organizational direction.
Antisocial leaders
are autocratic and
distrustful, dictating tasks and failing to give feedback or praise.
Leaders who are
resistant to change
cannot help teams
remain relevant, because they are late to adopt emerging best
practices or more efficient policies and protocols.
Leaders who believe profit is the only measure of success are
afflicted with
profit myopia
, chasing goals that are set by share-
holders, alienating employees and clients alike.
Silo syndrome
appears in managers who can’t see beyond their immediate
responsibilities and fail to understand what inspires or motivates
employees.
To overcome these barriers to a positive, productive workplace,
leaders should focus on the team as the top priority and
embrace the belief that there’s value in experiencing joy at work.
Good managers also nurture relationships with employees and
seek out ways to help them achieve goals and acquire new skills.
Adopting business practices and workplace policies that foster
and support employee well-being can have an enormously posi-
tive impact on output.
FAST FORWARD
POSITIVITY EQUALS PRODUCTIVITY
W
THE WATER COOLER
BY JEN ALEXANDER