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THE PRICE OF POMPOSITY
By adopting a disapproving tone in business we inhibit free exchange of ideas and innovation. Our concern for status weakens our ability to lead. Online conversations force us to lighten up.
There is such a strong culture of disapproval in business. Of needing to stay on top of people for fear that if you don’t they will run riot. This infects the language we use and the attitudes we adopt as managers. “Who do you think you are to say that?” “I didn’t get where I am today … ” “You’re here to work not to have fun.” It is remarkable how many managers have forgotten how to speak normally. It is almost a defensive thing. We hide behind language that is cold and dispassionate and use concepts that are abstract and clinical. All in an almost explicit attempt to hide the messiness of being human.
I can remember in my first managerial job, as a line manager of fifty staff, being terrified at the prospect of “being responsible” for all of these people. In fact that is a telling phrase in itself – how could I be seen as responsible for fifty grown-ups, many of whom knew more than me about the business we were in? Initially I let the fear get to me and I started wearing a tie and talking funny. I retreated into management speak to distance myself from those I was “responsible for” and wore my uniform like armour. When faced with dealing with redundancies and having to talk to someone old enough to be my father who broke down in tears in front of me, the temptation ...
