Last week, I blogged about making your leadership transition like a sunrise, not like a tornado.<\/p>\n
But behaving with grace as a leader is not just for the first days of your leadership run. \u00a0It\u2019s meant for every day.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, we all know the leaders who think that being the meanest, rudest, loudest person possible makes them the best kind of leader. \u00a0Why are there so many leaders like that?<\/p>\n
I have a theory.<\/p>\n
The people that behave like that in the workplace are trying to\u00a0overcompensate for inadequacies\u00a0in their private\u00a0lives<\/em>.<\/p>\n The iron-fisted workplace leader is the henpecked husband whose wife berates him for not taking out the trash on time.<\/p>\n The loud workplace leader is the family member that\u00a0can\u2019t get anyone to listen to her when people aren\u2019t paid to listen to her.<\/p>\n The workplace leader with the big office, big car, big ego, and big mouth has such small private\u00a0possessions, like\u00a0a tiny wiener dog.<\/p>\n A true leader knows that his or her\u00a0inspiring presence alone is enough to bring out the best performance in people. \u00a0Wannabe leaders feel that they\u00a0have to growl and shout and demean employees in order to get their attention because they\u00a0simply don\u2019t have that inspiring presence that comes from natural talent combined with a track record of success. \u00a0They see the meekness of their tiny wiener dog at home and put on a charade that they are the opposite: \u00a0the\u00a0alpha<\/em>.<\/p>\n We often hear \u201calpha\u201d\u00a0used in the longer term \u201calpha male.\u201d \u00a0And, in business, I have tended to see more men than women use the \u201cWatch-how-I-can-overpower-you\u201d behavior, but I won\u2019t ascribe this behavior to men alone.<\/p>\n From\u00a0Wikipedia, here is some background on the alpha:<\/p>\n In studies of social animals, the highest ranking individual is sometimes designated as the alpha. \u00a0Males, females, or both, can be alphas, depending on the species\u2026Alphas may achieve their status by superior physical strength and aggression.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But, you see, the alpha approach to leadership is\u00a0something specific to the animal kingdom. \u00a0Humans, with our advanced intellectual capabilities and mental strength, do not need \u201csuperior physical strength and aggression\u201d to be successful leaders.<\/p>\n But someone in a leadership position who feels they lack advanced intellectual capabilities and has physical reminders of a lack of strength \u2013 like a tiny wiener dog at home \u2013 will try to behave like an alpha. \u00a0They have shortcomings and they do not want anyone to perceive those shortcomings. \u00a0So, they attempt to shroud their weaknesses in a facade of power.<\/p>\n They think that they are being perceived as a strong leader. \u00a0But, employees simply tend to perceive them as jerks.<\/p>\n When is the last time that you were motivated in your heart to help\u00a0a jerk achieve all the success s\/he wants?<\/p>\n Never?<\/p>\n Me neither.<\/p>\n Actually, when you are dealing with a nasty manager,\u00a0you tend to think more about how much you hate the manager rather than how you can\u00a0to help him\/her succeed. \u00a0That obviously is not beneficial\u00a0for the manager. \u00a0But, it can also\u00a0eat away at you and end up harming\u00a0your own career, which is not good.<\/p>\n So, here\u2019s how I recommend dealing with it: \u00a0When you are confronted by that jerk of a manager, don\u2019t think \u201cMan, I really HATE that jerk!\u201d \u00a0Instead think, \u201cAw, poor dude is trying to compensate for having such a small wiener dog.\u201d \u00a0It will help you drown out the noise and focus on furthering\u00a0\u2013 or at least not hurting \u2013 your own career.<\/p>\n And, if you are one of those leaders with the boisterous tendencies, do you want all of your employees to be able to tell how small your wiener dog is?<\/p>\n Lead with the advanced intellectual capabilities given to humans (regardless of what type of pet you have).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week, I blogged about making your leadership transition like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-procurement"],"yoast_head":"\n