Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

There are so many good books on improving one's management style. Their authors sound so competent and effective and maybe we resolve to utilize the suggestions made. Sometimes we have the opportunity to participate in specialized training on management styles. Some of us listen intently to the presentation and consider all of the ways that we can implement new techniques to be more effective, more positive, and less demeaning to our employees. Yet, when we return to our familiar work situations our previous management technique returns. The optimism of our education gives way to the realities of needing to make a difference to our supervisors, and we once again rely on the tried and true effects of verbally kicking someone in the butt to make them move faster down the improvement lane. Why do we continue to rely on these negative techniques when we know a better way?

One answer is that we confuse emotion and motivation. While we can motivate through emotion, such as when we yell, kick and scream at our employees to do more, or to do other things less, we are not required to motivate improvement in this way. It is simply that we want to make a very clear point that the employee's current performance is substandard, and yelling at them seems to be the best way to communicate that point. Right? Well, yes and no. We do communicate a lot by yelling at an employee, but the key point of underscoring our need for improvement does not need to be communicated this way. We can instead use another old fashioned, tried and true method of speaking softly, and carrying a big stick.

Yelling is only for the moment. Once the sound wave has passed over your employee's ears, the sound dissipates, never to be heard again. The employee will of course remember that he was yelled at, but that too fades with time. What is left in the employee's world is a residual stimulus that reminds him of the negative consequences of being yelled at, fired, demoted, etc., if his performance does not improve. The power of this residual stimulus comes not from the amount of anger you can show, but by the consequences of not improving performance. Thus, it is the "big stick" that motivates, and an effective manager need not resort to yelling. Instead, he can be equally, if not more effective by "speaking softly."

It is the consequences of our actions that motivate, not the stimulus. The more management power you have, the less you need to rely on the magnitude of your stimulus. When the consequences of accomplishment and failure are clearly delineated to your employees the form of your request diminishes in importance; a simple command to "get it done" is enough to get it done.

The next time you need to enforce policy, improve performance, reduce unwanted behavior, calmly explain to the employee what will happen if he continues with his current actions, and what will happen if he changes. Ask the employee if he understands what you are saying. Ask him to repeat it to you. And then ask for his commitment. You will find this style to be very effective, far less emotional, and increasingly helpful to your employees.