Five "killer I's": 1. Inflexible 2. Intimidating 3. Interrogating 4. Intolerant 5. Insistent.
In this third article of five, I address interrogation and what to do about it.
3 - Interrogating - Interrogation is a weapon of choice used by the intimidating CACS leader. I worked for a project manager once on a very high profile project. Little did I know at the time it was the largest project in terms of personnel size and potential revenue. This team had two senior managers with project management responsibilities. There was the senior manager I reported to, and then there was the other one... While I didn't report to her, this other senior manager was an interrogator.
One of my responsibilities was to manage the data of a resource personnel roster for people coming on and off the project. This spreadsheet had multiple columns of data on hundreds of people. Every day the roster was supposed to remain 100% accurate. When the interrogator first joined the project, she seemed harmless enough as she got a "lay of the land." Within a few weeks, she got in the routine of asking me daily if my "roster was clean," as in absolutely free of errors. She would say, "It better be clean!"
This was not an easy task, and I wasn't great at it. I'm not sure that anyone would have been perfect, but every time there was an error found, she would reprimand me and I found out later also reprimand my manager who was her peer. While I was given some help to get better at the task, I never was good enough. This was one of those 50-60+ hours a week projects that included occasional weekend work. I never found the daily interrogation and pressure motivating, nor did it improve my performance. If anything, it pissed me off and resulted in me suppressing a ton of anger. I recall three instances that confirmed for me that I was working with a person who not only behaved cruelly but was aware her behavior was inappropriate.
First, there was the day she told me that in some countries today, thieves lose an appendage if they steal something and that she agreed with that "discipline" approach. The second was the time she was interrogating and berating a staff member and flipped into being amiable when the partner showed up. The third was when the opportunity arose to have someone provide information to our client, she stated emphatically and repeated, "Do not put me in front of the client." I imagine that her value to leadership was that she could interrogate and intimidate others to work harder and "get the job done." She was their "pit-bull." Honestly, I hated that project, mostly because of her. I found her loathsome. The only good things that came out of that for me was getting to leave that project, later learning the project eventually got canceled, and now being able to use her as an example of terrible leadership.
For the CACS Leader
If you are the CACS leader that when reading the above account reminds you of behaviors you've enacted, know this... While your tactics may get results, there are other less costly ways to motivate. Business is not war and the emotional and psychological casualties are not acceptable. Fear and intimidation are not ok. Not only do you risk alienating hard-working people, but you also risk demoralizing, demotivating, and depressing good people. Let me confirm that if you've been like what I described, yes, some people probably hate you. If you don't care, well, you should because despite your thinking that your actions are beneficial to getting the job done, your toxic behaviors are a cancer to the culture of your organization. It's costly due to the resulting decrease in morale and productivity because an exorbitant amount of energy is exerted trying to avoid and deal with you rather than focus on getting the job done. In many cases, toxic management such as this impacts retention. I absolutely would have quit if I had not left that project.
Here are my recommendations for shifting your behavior.
Care about the people you lead. Recognize and accept that instilling fear diminishes competency and productivity. Address your fears of failure and need for perfection. If the stakes are too high that you cannot behave differently, excuse yourself from the effort. That behavior is not helping. Someone else can step in.
Improve your ability to assess and develop talent. Rather than interrogating, berating, and bullying those who aren't performing to your standards, take time to understand the nature of your staff's challenges and learn how to teach and assist. It is your job to develop others.
For the Employee
If you work for a CACS leader who interrogates, here's my recommendation.
Don't become the defendant being prosecuted. As soon as they get you into a routine answering their barrage of questions and defending yourself, you've lost. They have you "on the ropes." Your work will never be good enough because they already see you as weaker and therefore incompetent. Instead, despite their loud bark and apparent power over you, strive to see their fear of failure, loss of control, and inadequacy. Rather than answering their yes or no questions, their "why haven't you XYZ" questions, inquire - "What's going on? I realize... What are you afraid of?"
Know what you are capable of and be very direct and straight about what that is and what you are willing to do, no matter how much they huff and puff. You can't do more than what you are capable of.
Be proactive about what you need and what you will and will not tolerate. No one has the right to bully or demean you. Go to HR, if necessary.
If all else fails, leave the situation. Nothing is worth losing your self-esteem, suffering psychological damage, and potentially losing your health because of a manager that acts like an angry pit-bull.
Click here to go on to part 4 in the series on CACS leadership.