by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Groucho Marx once said that one should learn from the mistakes of others, adding: “You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.” As usual, there is so much truth in humour.
The UK has been rocked recently by high profile failures of leadership to weed out abusive employees long before they became a serious if not criminal problem. With clear attempts to sweep horrific attacks by and on its employees under the carpet (here), the Confederation of British Industry (‘CBI’), became the latest in a long list of companies and organisations that have utterly and sadly with horrific consequences failed to create a safe space within which its employees (and this is usually female employees, although not exclusively) can grow, deliver and quite frankly be happy to go to work, not live in fear of Monday mornings. Many of us don’t particularly like Mondays, but this is fear.
Just imagine that for a moment. Fear.
As the FT write (here), this long list includes “…BrewDog [that] fostered a “culture of fear” and misogyny; Ted Baker’s founder departed after accusations of “inappropriate behaviour” including “forced hugging”; Uber…faced allegations of widespread gender discrimination and harassment.” …to say nothing of London’s Metropolitan Police where a review showed the Met to be “…institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic…”. (here) Rio Tinto (here)? “…bullying is systemic…while sexual harassment and casual sexism “occur at unacceptable rates”…harmful behaviour was often “an open secret” with employees believing there was little accountability, particularly for senior leaders and “high performers”.
Where is the leadership? The FT again (here): “Bad cultures are often created by senior leaders”, and according to a ‘seasoned’ retail director: “…if the CEO believes in a way of behaving, that’s what will happen.”
If we put aside for one moment what must surely be a human right - to go to work without fear, in these tough times and with many dark clouds still on the horizon, surely one needs all employees and teams to be positive and motivated, as companies with great teams will be nimble enough to react quickly to the changing landscape. Meanwhile, those who drive an ‘Everyone for themselves’ type of organisation (which these all must have been), not building the necessary trust within their own organisation, will fight amongst themselves and ultimately should fail.
So what makes a good team, a great team and a team that is neither? At the centre of all of this are the values of the company, upon which the corporate culture is built, all of which comes from leadership. Leadership ABSOLUTELY drives and delivers this.
There is simply no doubt that if the values, corporate culture and leadership was strong these attacks would not have happened. No one would have swept allegations under the table, no one would have gone to the newspapers because there was no alternative, no one would have thought that they had to right to horrifically abuse women in this way or think that they could get away with it. Indeed these bullies would have been weeded out years before because the decent company culture would have taken all of their Oxygen.
This Oxygen is important because strong core leadership stops the rot before it even gets close to that level. Corporate culture that has the values of decency, respect and integrity at its core, backed by strong leadership cuts out so much - what might be innocent banter to some, crossing the line to others - and creates a safe working environment for all.
So how does that impact us. It goes without saying that we believe and indeed have seen within our incredible and inspirational membership, that female leadership has a different way of running companies and organisations and so it was no surprise that the CBI Board brought in a woman as the new CEO. As Christine Lagarde (President of the ECB) has often said: “I have a theory that women are generally given space and appointed to jobs when the situation is tough. I've observed that in many instances. In times of crisis, women eventually are called upon to sort out the mess, face the difficult issues and be completely focused on restoring the situation.”, although in fairness we have to state that the previous head of the UK Met Police was a woman, so there is no guarantee.
However the CBI’s McBride’s admission that the group had “paid more attention to competence than to behaviour.”, is very telling and central to the issue. There are clearly people who get away with things because they are good at their job yet they are ‘Talented Jerks’. The Economist defines a ‘Talented Jerk’ as “…people who smash both targets and team cohesion, who get stuff done and get away with behaving badly as a result.” (here) They warn and we agree: “Toxic behaviour is contagious: incivility and unpleasantness can quickly become norms if they pass unchecked.”
So why is it that ‘talented jerks’ are not simply fired? One fear is that getting rid of these ‘talented jerks’ could risk losing the next ‘Steve Jobs’, but as The Economist asks - do you really think that guy yelling or being obnoxious or worse, is “…going to revolutionise consumer technology, create the world’s most valuable company or have members of the public light candles for them when they die”, AND is sitting right next to you ?! Wow! But seriously - no chance!
The problem is how does one know that someone is a Jerk and needs to be removed, or if are they simply someone who demands high level of quality in their work and the same in others, but requires some training on how to get that message across with less barbed wire wrapping… There will also be occasions when the Jerk simply does not realise they are upsetting people with their grumpy and demanding behaviour. Or they are just Jerks when with others. In the first case, they need to be told in no uncertain terms and held accountable, in the latter, can you remove the catalyst by placing them in a different room (note this is in the case that there is actual talent that you wish to keep of course!)?
Throughout all of this The Economist warns “…the boundaries between seeking high standards and being unreasonable, or between being candid and being crushing, are not always clear-cut. Zero tolerance is dangerous.” Indeed ‘knowing’ if someone is a ‘Jerk’ can also involve a great deal of subjectivity, so be careful this doesn’t become your very own witch-hunt as we all know how the Salem Witch Trials or McCarthyism ended…
This is where the corporate culture comes into its own. Corporate culture that is clear and is backed up by management leaves no doubt that (for example) values such as decency, respect and integrity are what are required. If you do not like it, then you can catch the next bus out, as Anthony Jenkins who was made the CEO of Barclays following the Libor scandal made absolutely clear:“[d]escribing the culture you seek is not enough on its own…The next step must be to use the values to guide decisions…”. The values that he set for Barclays, those of respect, integrity, service, excellence and stewardship were core to his cleaning up of the place and putting it on a strong path for the future (here).
You may not realise that you have a ‘Talented Jerk’ in your company, but your employees will know. Check the sickness records and staff turnover to see if there are some who may be fearful of coming to work. Do not waste the opportunity to really question those leaving at their exit interview - and listen to what they are saying and also implying. “A near-miss in an organisation should prompt further investigation. “My general experience of business is that where there’s one problem, there are usually others: your antennas are up and should be up,” said Jenkins.” (FT)
Learn from the mistakes of others and find these Jerks and deal with them before their values and not yours become ingrained in your company. Remove the oxygen for these types, by bsolutely ensuring that your values are ingrained within your company’s culture, within your senior management and that these are all used to guide your decisions. This is Leadership!
Stay safe.