Leadership for Snowflakes

Managers are not your friends.Managers are not your high school teachers.Managers will never be your shoulder to cry on.

I’ve been building and leading teams for close to 15 years now. I have some experience in management. The key principles in my leadership style have led me to build strong, cohesive teams with very little attrition. I lead from the front and will get my hands dirty in the trenches. And, I hate the word “boss”. I'd like to think I am approachable and open-minded. I often tell my teams “this is a democracy, everyone’s opinion is important". So, I’d consider myself pretty forward-thinking when it comes to leadership. But, I am seeing and hearing managers discussing quite a different type of leadership. I’ve heard it referred to as “cool parent” leadership. Empathy and emotional intelligence are the keywords. It doesn’t sit well with me.

The rise of this popular leadership style happens to coincide with more Gen Z individuals joining the workforce. I’m not saying there’s a correlation but… Let’s admit it, they’re a rather soft bunch. Extremely entitled, not willing to put in the hours needed for experience or real growth. And, they want to be treated as equals every step of the way up the corporate ladder.

A ladder, they feel should be flat. And, they feel they should move along rungs every 3-6 months. “6 months and 35 podcasts are a big investment and make me almost an expert.” Gen Z Super Star. They feel their managers should be nice before anything else.

So many feelings.

So here are my feelings on a few of the concepts I’m hearing about.

Managers can be more like teachersBusinesses don’t work like universities. There are no prizes for participation. When kids in university feel "uninspired" (lazy) their lecturers nurture and help push them along. And, they are generally cared for by their lecturers. That’s all fine and dandy. I have no issues with that but there should not be the same expectation within companies, and of managers. Managers should be coaching their teams on the knowledge they’ll need to be better at what they do. A lot of the fluff can be left out.

Managers should strive to be likedIn corporate companies, the leaders seem to have to act like politicians. They’re trying to win votes from their teams and others around them. It becomes a popularity contest rather than a performance contest. You don’t see this as much in startups. But, when you start to head north of 50 heads and your middle manager numbers grow you’ll find this more common. What a waste of time and energy! Energy better spent on growth and performance. 

Be nice. Be friendly. I deeply believe in a no dickhead policy. But, we hire managers to help grow the business’s bottom line, not to take the kiddies outside and play hide & go-seek.

Managers must be empatheticI hear this call for managers that “care about love lives”. Empathise about long commutes and, who understand “me days”. Having performance discussions that are tough and stressful is an absolute no, no. In striving for likes, managers and organisations have become scared to set boundaries. Are we teaching managers to focus on the soft stuff and be less concerned with the performance of their teams? 

Mental health and well-being are important. It’s great that this topic is becoming less taboo. I am all for managers to receive professional training to have these discussions. That doesn’t mean you can’t care about performance.

Do we need performance reviews?If you have someone in your team who isn’t performing and you need to discuss it. You shouldn’t have to second guess yourself; are you being insensitive and ignoring their mental well-being? If workers are struggling mentally or emotionally, there is now an expectation their employer needs to protect them.

What some employees fail to understand, however, is simple economics - supply and demand. There is a need. Your company fulfils that need and your customers are prepared to pay you for it. Companies and their employees must keep performing to increase their customer base and in turn revenue. You increase revenue in order to pay employees.

If teams and companies don’t perform well and customers don’t sign new contracts. Or worse churn, the business will lose money. Simple.

WITHOUT REVENUE YOU CANNOT PAY EMPLOYEES!

You can be empathetic till the unicorns come home. And have enough emotional intelligence to become a psychologist. But, none of that will keep your company afloat if your teams don't perform.

Here is an example of where these concepts break down.If I allow you to take a week off because you're feeling down, it could negatively impact the team as they will need to handle your tasks. This could result in resentment if it occurs too often. While I support granting employees time off when they are unwell. We must recognize that it is a zero-sum game. My primary duty as a leader is to ensure that the team operates efficiently. Not accommodating individual preferences, habits, or idiosyncrasies.

We as business owners and leaders should 100% care about our employees. We are all people. We all have good days and bad. We all struggle mentally from time to time. If you care about your people they will be loyal and choose to give you their time rather than another company. I am all on board for this. I am not on board to be their lecturer, parent or best friend.

I genuinely care about everyone I work with and especially those I hire. I go to war with them every single day. But let's be clear the business and its needs have to come first.

Peace, love and muscles.

JazzaThe Beginner CEO

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