Why “Tell & Yell” Management Doesn’t Work!
By Admin | February 17, 2015
Image acquired from www.shutterstock.com
Most professional advisors, consultants and managers are “tellers”; they tell others what to do and very often, not that clearly. Then, when it becomes obvious that “the tell” did not sell that well…they yell!
The When You Insist I Resist Attitude
The trouble is, there are many staff who adopt a when you insist, I resist attitude. This probably explains why many a manager is left discouraged when staff members just do not do as they are told. Be very mindful of the when you insist, I resist scenario, for it is happening all day, every day and it is very debilitating upon productivity.
One of the major reasons behind the resist factor has everything to do with the dreaded C word; as in C for commitment. You see, unless a person is committed, they will probably resist, overtly or passively. Let’s look at an example that might pull this together.
A manager storms into a full lunchroom and abruptly announces to all present:
“I want you all to immediately stand up,
walk out the door and begin
running down the road as fast as you can
until you reach the coffee shop. Go now!”
Can you imagine what the staff would be thinking? Can you see the looks of dismay on their faces? Are they likely to do it?
Probably, because of the position and influence of the manager, but it will be done most reluctantly and with a huge amount of grumbling and ill-will.
As they walk through the door and out of earshot of the manager, they will begin complaining bitterly amongst themselves as to the stupidity of the process, the futility of the exercise and the lack of relevance.
Comments like: “Isn’t this dumb?”, “How useless is this?” and “What a waste of time?” will be heard ad nauseam.
Additionally, they will comment amongst themselves as to why they personally should not be involved in this exercise. Comments will be heard like: “Doesn’t he know that I’ve got a bad knee” and “I’m too busy to do this useless stuff.”
So, there they are out on the road walking, dawdling, talking and complaining despite their specific instruction from the manager to run as fast as they can.
This is classic when you insist, I resist in action and the one thing we can be absolutely assured of is this: nobody will break the speed record in getting to the coffee shop!
Perhaps this situation can be neatly summarised in the immortal words of legendary long-distance Australian athletics coach Percy Cerutti when he said:
but I cannot make him run fast.
Only he has the key to superior performance.”
Percy was absolutely right. The decision to run fast and the commitment to do so is made by the runner (our staff, in the example we have just given) and no amount of telling or yelling will influence this fact.
Conclusion: The management “tell and yell” style may get man to run, but it will not get them to run fast, unless the runner commits personally to doing so.
There is a way for managers to not only get their staff to run, but also to run fast, but it requires them to change their management style from “tell and yell” to “coach”.
I will cover the “coaching style of management” in Part 2 of this blog where you will discover that questioning rather than telling can achieve far better results. You see, the questioning approach is just so powerful and for those in a managerial position (or coaches) you will find my 482 Powerful Questions Every Business Manager Should Ask program a “must have” life tool.
For now, why not identify the staff members who definitely follow the when you insist, I resist credo? Think about schooling them in the missing link…that of personal commitment! In fact, think about this: If they are not committed to your business/company, to whom or what are they committed? It’s important you know this because that’s where their interests will lie.
Remember, ownership, responsibility and involvement are close friends of commitment.
Here’s to more sales, profits and cash from your business,
Damien Parker
Business Improvement Specialist
www.salesprofitscash.com
Follow my Tweets: @salesprofitcash
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