Communication
is one of the most important factors in a leadership/follower relationship. As
a leader, supportive communication is critical if you wish to build a bond with
your followers. Supportive communication involves delivering negative feedback
in a manner that does not put stress on the relationship, but, in turn, should
strengthen the relationship. According
to Whetten and Cameron (2016), the eight principles of supportive communication
are: (a) congruent, (b) descriptive, (c)
problem-oriented, (d) validating, (e) specific, (f) conjunctive, (g) owned, and
(h) requiring supportive listening.
In evaluating an e-mail sent by the CEO of a
technology firm to 400 managers, it was immediately obvious to me that the CEO
did not utilize supportive leadership. This email was very harsh in the way the
CEO attempted to motivate the managers in making sure their employees worked at
least a forty hour work week. Whetten and Cameron (2016) described that
supportive communication should be descriptive and not evaluative. Evaluative
behavior occurs when a judgment is placed on the action or character of the
person in which you are communicating. The CEO’s email was one hundred percent
evaluative. The e-mail read, “You either do not know what your employees are
doing or simply do not care.” Communication cannot get much more evaluative in
my opinion.
Whetten and Cameron (2016) also believed that
supportive communication should be problem-oriented and not person-oriented. In
reading the email, this CEO described the situation in a person-oriented
manner. The email was littered with phrases like “you do not care,” “you
created poor expectations,” and “you have a problem.” If the email had been
written where the scenario was the focus, such as, “I have noticed that some
employees are not working a full forty hours, and I believe should be a point
of discussion,” then the communication could have classified as supportive.
Supportive communication should be validating rather
than invalidating (Whetten and Cameron, 2016). Validating communication would
make the recipient feel understood and accepted, where invalidating
communication would make the employee feel negative about themselves. There is
no doubt in my mind that if I ever received a message like this from one of my
bosses, I would feel very negative about my management style. The e-mail is
extremely accusing and makes no attempt to make the recipients feel valued. Regarding
validity, this email fails with flying colors.
Supportive communication should also include two-way
communication. This email was lacking the open communication aspect without a
doubt. Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that individuals could feel validated
when they are given the opportunity to express their opinion. The message from
the CEO did not allow any two-way opinions. The CEO stated, “You have a problem,
and you will fix it, or I will replace you.” It does not seem like the CEO
cared about any of the manager’s opinions. This CEO had their mind made up of
how things were going to work and no other opinions were requested.
Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that supportive
communication should conjunctive. Communication that is conjunctive is connected
to prior conversations, and disjunctive communication is unconnected to
previous conversations. The provided email does not seem to be connected in any
way to previous conversations. In my opinion, this email represents a
threatening rant that, with a couple of changes, could have been a more
supportive and productive message.
The final principle stated by Whetton and Cameron
(2016) was that supportive communication involves supportive listening.
Supportive communication should not be a one-way order. Effective supportive
communication involves opening up a line of communication. It is not just
ordering followers what to do without seeking their opinion. In the e-mail
example, the CEO did not open up the lines of communication. They simply stated
how they wanted things to be, and that was the end of the conversation. There
was no passing go and no collecting $200.
As I read the email, I thought about how I could
avoid receiving this type of message at work. In my opinion, the email was very
threatening and had a negative tone, so I would never want to receive that type
of e-mail. Any e-mail threatening my job is a no-go for me. My first thought
about how to avoid an email of this nature was pretty obvious… do not arrive
late or leave work early. Simply working eight hours should eliminate the
threatening email. But, there are times when I may need to work less than an
eight hour day over the next month. In fact, I was late today due to a doctor’s
appointment. When I am arriving late to work or having to leave early,
communication to my supervisor is key. On Friday, I was descriptive in my
request and my supervisor was flexible in the communication in utilizing
two-way communication and granting the late arrival. There was no issue in my
tardiness because it was discussed with my supervisor and we arrived at an
agreeing plan of action.
Another tactic that I could take to avoid some of
the problems associated with the example email is by understanding my job. What
I mean by that is I must understand that sometimes overtime is a necessity to
complete all of the tasks associated with my job description. I know that the previous fiscal year must be
closed in July, audit preparation must be done in April, and the Foundation
budget must go to the board in November. I know if I try to take a week-long
vacation during these times then I would not be surprised if I received an
email comparable to the email in the example. I do not believe my supervisor
would be as direct and threatening, but the content would be similar.
To me, the most frightening part of the e-mail is
that the CEO admonished the managers for creating a culture where the employees
believe they can work only 40 hours a week. With what I have learned over the
last couple of weeks regarding work-life balance and stress, I think I have
settled on not working for a high-technology company.
Reference
Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson
No comments:
Post a Comment