Protecting Mental Health: Steering Clear of Tragedy Caused by Bad Leadership

 

Dealing with bad bosses--GOOGLE

Protecting Mental Health: Steering Clear of Tragedy Caused by Bad Leadership

In every organization, leadership plays a pivotal role in shaping the culture, productivity, and most importantly, the well-being of its members. While good leadership can inspire, motivate, and foster growth, the converse is also true—bad leadership can lead to a myriad of negative consequences, particularly concerning mental health. As we embark on Mental Health Month this May, it's crucial to shed light on how detrimental leaders can affect individuals' mental well-being, potentially leading to tragic outcomes that ripple through families and communities.

Bad leaders often lack empathy and disregard the holistic health of their subordinates. They view employees as mere cogs in the machinery of the organization, disregarding their emotional needs and personal lives. This callous attitude not only fosters a toxic work environment but can also exacerbate existing mental health issues or even induce them in previously healthy individuals.

One of the most insidious effects of bad leadership is the normalization of neglecting mental health concerns. When leaders fail to prioritize mental well-being, employees may feel ashamed or hesitant to seek help for their struggles. This reluctance can snowball into more severe conditions, leading to a decline in productivity, morale, and overall satisfaction within the workplace.

Moreover, the repercussions of bad leadership extend far beyond the confines of the office walls. The stress, anxiety, and depression induced by toxic work environments seep into every aspect of an individual's life, including their relationships with family and friends. Spouses and children often bear the brunt of the fallout, witnessing their loved ones suffer under the weight of unreasonable expectations and constant criticism.

Tragically, in the most extreme cases, the toll of bad leadership can culminate in irreversible tragedy. When individuals are pushed to their breaking point, feeling unsupported and undervalued, they may see no way out but to take drastic measures. Suicide rates among workers in high-stress environments are alarmingly high, highlighting the urgent need for organizations to address the root causes of mental health crises exacerbated by bad leadership.

So, how can organizations mitigate the risks associated with bad leadership and protect the mental health of their employees? Firstly, fostering a culture of open communication is paramount. Employees must feel empowered to voice their concerns without fear of retaliation or retribution. Leaders should actively listen to feedback and take proactive steps to address any issues raised, demonstrating genuine empathy and a commitment to fostering a supportive work environment.

Additionally, investing in mental health resources and support systems is essential. Providing access to counseling services, mental health awareness training, and flexible work arrangements can help employees cope with stressors and build resilience in the face of adversity. Leaders should lead by example, prioritizing their own mental well-being and encouraging others to do the same.

Finally, accountability is crucial in holding bad leaders accountable for their actions. Organizations must establish clear guidelines and mechanisms for addressing instances of toxic leadership, including consequences for those who perpetuate harmful behaviors. By promoting transparency and accountability at all levels, organizations can create a culture where empathy, compassion, and respect thrive.

As we observe Mental Health Month this May, let us not overlook the critical role that leadership plays in safeguarding the well-being of individuals within organizations. By rooting out toxic leadership behaviors and fostering a culture of empathy and support, we can prevent tragedy, preserve families, and create healthier, more resilient workplaces for all. After all, the true measure of an organization's success lies not only in its bottom line but in the well-being and happiness of its people.

 

Qualities a Leader must have or some they should have

Qualities of a Leader

A leader must attain a multidimensional trait in him which makes him appealing and effective in behavior. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader:

Physical appearance- A leader needs to have an attractive appearance. Physique and health are very vital for a suitable leader.

Vision and foresight- A chief cannot preserve effect until he reveals that he is forward-looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical programs.

Intelligence- A chief should be smart ample to have a look at issues and challenging situations. He should be analytical who weigh the pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore, an effective bent of thought and a mature outlook is very important.

Communicative skills- A chief ought to be capable to talk about the insurance policies and procedures clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation.

Objective- A leader has to be having an honest outlook which is free from bias and which does no longer displays his willingness in the direction of a particular individual. He ought to advance his personal opinion and have to base his judgment on data and logic.

Knowledge of work- A chief must be very exactly understanding the nature of the work of his subordinates due to the fact it is then he can win the have faith and self-assurance of his subordinates.

Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual’s work are very necessary to deliver an experience of influence. A chief ought to have an experience of accountability in the direction of organizational desires due to the fact solely then he can get most of skills exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse and urge to supply the high-quality of his abilities. Only then he can inspire the subordinates to the best.

Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the self-belief of the subordinates. He is trustworthy and deals with situations with full will power. (You can examine more about Self-Confidence at Self Confidence - Tips to be Confident and Eliminate Your Apprehensions).

This trait to be current in a chief is integral because he deals with human beings and is in private contact with them. He has to manage the private issues of his subordinates with fantastic care and attention. Therefore, treating human beings on humanitarian grounds is necessary for building a congenial environment.

Empathy- It is a historic adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is very essential due to the fact truthful judgment and objectivity come solely then. A chief has to understand the problems and complaints of employees and also have a complete view of the desires and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving human relations and non-public contacts with the employees.

From the above qualities present in a leader, one can apprehend the scope of management and it’s important for the scope of business. A chief can't have all traits at one time. But a few of them assist in achieving effective results.

Leadership and motivation

Leadership and motivation

Being a role version of a key motivator that affects human beings in reaching their dreams takes hard work. A leader needs to set a precise example to make sure his people to broaden and reach their goals efficiently. Encouraging people to get concerned in planning a crucial problem resolution method no longer motivates people but moreover teaches the intricacies of those key selection-making factors.

 Moreover, it's going to help absolutely everyone to get a better appreciation of their function in the company. The communication will be unambiguous and will definitely lure acknowledgment to the leader. Developing ethical and institutional spirit will without a doubt have a key impact on an organization. 

The metal or emotional kingdom of a character constitutes his or her moral cloth. A leader’s movements and selections have an effect on the morale of his subordinates. Consequently, he has to constantly be aware of his alternatives and activities. Team spirit is the soul of the agency. The leaders have to usually push their subordinates to revel into acting out their obligations as a group and make themselves the face of the organization’s plans. 

A chief must step into the shoes of the subordinates and view matters from the subordinate’s angles. He or she has to empathize with people inside the path of hard times. Empathizing with their personal issues makes them superior and emotionally involved. 

The authorities must make their personnel experience an essential part of work which is vital for the organization’s well-being and achievement. This motivational issue drives them to fulfill dreams.

You need to understand your identity, your desires and also you want to have a strong urge to do something to achieve your dreams. When you are self-inspired, completely then you may encourage others to reach their goals and to harmonize their personal desires with the common desires of the employer.

AUTHENTIC LEADER

• Published on February 11, 202

Status is online

Luciano Santini PH.D.

Public Speaker Expertise in Leadership/Corporate Training, Motivational & CEO @ Santini Common Sense Consulting

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To grow to be a genuine leader you need to make a deep commitment to developing your self through rich and significant experiences, reflection, and casual and formal learning. The intention is to learn and increase your proper self, instead of emerging as an imitation of someone else. While you can examine from others, you can't be them.

Thus, a leader authentically emphasizes building his or her legitimacy through trustworthy relationships and moral actions, that in turn, maximizes the efforts of others to reaching the goal.

In addition, Bill George noted that there had been 5 dimensions of Authentic Leaders (2003, 2007) :

Pursuing purpose with passion: Display reason and course so humans choose to comply with you (your passion will show you the proper way to the reason for leadership).

Practice stable values: We are defined by using our values and characteristics. If you do no longer have integrity, no one will have faith you or choose to comply with you.

Lead with the heart: Engage the hearts of those you serve and align their pursuits with the pursuits of those you lead. You need empathy and compassion for the humans you work with and wisdom to make difficult decisions

Establish enduring relationships: Enduring relationships are built on connectedness and a shared purpose of working together toward a great goal. People need private relationships to completely commit to working.

Demonstrate self-discipline: Converts price into constant action so that you produce results. Always take full duty for results and maintain others for their performance.

--Dr.Luciano Santini

Coercive Abuse and Management

Hello, my friends, 

I am doing some short series on Chirp on different subjects. Please enjoy them and share them. Coercive management is defined as ongoing psychological conduct, or unconnected incidents, with the purpose of doing away with a victim's autonomy. 

Job coercion can alternate the environment of a business enterprise and create dangerous work surroundings. If agencies permit job coercion to run rampantly, employees may also emerge as demoralized and the company can also find it difficult to apply its human resources efficiently. 

There may be times people may learn to suffer from difficult situations and might also try to adapt, this will or could cause distress to bring about excessive absences and high turnover charges. 

Unreasonable needs frequently followed up by using threats, causing extreme stress when you don't agree with them. If your behavior is not to their liking, you're threatened or intimidated into changing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE5ippoTmHk
 
 #leadership #autonomy #leadershipdevelopment#coerciveabuse #situations #business #emotional #adapt #employees #psychological

#resilience

 

 

SPEAK UP!!

What happens when so called upper management rolls down a new policy regarding downsizing?

 Let me see now, distrust comes into my mind then it reduces cooperation from people and eventually there is no collaboration. This actually inhibits learning,communication and of course any type of upper mobility. 

These upper top so called leaders jump into action to build new focus groups because they have no idea how to fix it “Surprise there” The groups will begin to tell them what is wrong. 

Top management in turn will block any real learning and communication to stop any kind of real change because they do nothing to encourage individual accountability and tend to reinforce the mindset of that only top management can bring about real change which in turn is the biggest joke ever!! 

This brings about distrust and eventually people start to leave simply because of politics and people in positions that they never should have been given to them. 

People do not have to agree with me but if you do then speak up or continue to suffer. It is up to you to continue feeding into agendas that will never benefit you or your families. There is always a solution to benefit everyone involved. 


One just needs to find the right person to help and be realistic just ask me!!#management #mind 

Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance!! Albert Einstein

Hello and here we are once again my friends. You know this past week was a hard week because a friend of mine passed from Cancer and the one thing that i will always remember about her was that she always stood up for what she believed to be the right thing to do whether you or I agreed or not she stood for what she believed to be the right thing to do and I have to say that that is a quality  that cannot be trained or learned because either you have it or you do not not. In life you have to believe in doing the right thing as many times as possible or else the question becomes who are you really?

In business and leadership it is really the same thing because either you are a good leader or you are not. I know that leadership skills can be learned or taught, however the individual will need to make the mind change to be a good leader and sometimes must go against the status quo.

One of the reasons that through my research and many talks both on radio and local television shows si the Leadership fails because they have no idea how to engage people and even more important than that how to empower them and even better than that inspire them to reach higher then where they are at that point or any point in their lives.I find that in all or most of all the training that I have done for small businesses has been the big question that owners or managers ask me is how do we engage,empower and inspire our employees to believe in t themselves and the vision of the enterprise?

The answer is really simple I tell them: You have to listen to their stories get to know them as human beings and not just as employees. If you want to truly engage them then you have to ask them what are their needs to reach a goal. I have found that when you want true engagement with any one employees,spouse or kids you need to listen to their stories.

Google Images

As a leader you need to allow people to vent their frustrations and as hard as it might be to sit there and just listen to them sometimes as a leader you learn to appreciate the people that actually do the work for you.

The question now becomes do you as a leader know what is engagement? To me and what i try to assist leaders to understand is that engagement is whatever the employee brings to the organizations as an investment from themselves to give to the establishment. When a leaders listens it equals engagement it also means employees will do their best work.

When leaders and believe me there so many that just do not get it no matter what you teach them or tell them. Leaders will just simply turn away and say that is not my issue or I do not need to know who they are they have a job to do and these are the type of leaders who will diminish from employees because employees will never ever have any kind of relationship with them and they will never ever trust them to do the right thing when it concerns them.

Let me say this that not all leaders are bad some are really good and they care for people in general. They will take the time to listen to an employee and actually take the time to help them if help is needed.

When employees feel this way they will feel supported and they will also become more productive and let me tell you when employees feel this way regarding leadership and management this becomes a big advantage.

I always tell both leadership and employees the following:

One thing that all leaders need to know at this time in history is that according to research done by Grovo.com is that only 31 %  of employees are engaged which means that the 2/3 of the workforce in any organization is liable to leave and as always have said and I try my best to let Leaders and managers know that great employees will always leave their leadership and not the organizations.

Albert Einstein said said something a long time ago:

He said that condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance!!

Persuasion And Influence In The Workplace "The Execution"--Luciano The Key Santini

Hello everyone and how has the past week been for you? I have been busy busy and well busy. I have been looking and doing so much research on Emotional Intelligence that I believe my brain hurts ouch!!

OK let us start with some words of wisdom on persuasion from one of my mentors:

When you have talked yourself into what you want, stop talking and begin saying it with your actions.

Persuading yourself that you can do something is a strong beginning. Next develop a sound plan and get into action. The longer you delay, the harder it will be to begin. Seldom is a plan perfect. If you have a clear vision of your goal and a plan that is flexible enough to allow you to deal with unexpected obstacles or take advantage of unforeseen opportunities, don’t delay another minute. Just getting into action — even if you do have to make adjustments later — will help focus your mind and channel your energies in the direction of your objective.

Now let me just say a bit on persuasion of which I have used a few times in organizations to help both stakeholders and employees for better relationships and partnerships. We all know what persuasion is but do you know how to implement it and use it correctly that my friends is the trick. You ever find yourself dealing with an employee that does nothing but resist your every task and fights you tooth and nail until they get what they want. 

Have you then seen another person ask the same task and have that once resistance annoying person eating out  of their hand. What is the difference.? OK let me tell you ! It is simply how you execute and If you use your influence to persuade and use persuasive techniques without the use of power or control. We need to understand the changing workforce in organizations in today's world is so much different then 60 years ago. 

For one take a look at the technology! Then look at the new type of workers we are hiring. The days to control and tell people what to do are gone. I like to use the team approach and allow employees to think on their own and allow to make decisions that work for them. To have effective communication is probably the most important piece to bring employees and managers to think as one. leaders have to understand Emotional Intelligence and how to use it as well as learning the art of influence and persuasion to be able to accomplish any goals for their organization with so much less resistance and frustrations.

The Best Bosses Aren't Bossy

Good management motivates you to be productive—because you want to.

Post published by Victor Lipman on Apr 10, 2015 in Mind of the Manager

 

I was reading with interest recently about Sheryl Sandberg’s campaign to ban the word “bossy” (link is external)—because of the negative implications it can have for young girls’ feelings about future leadership.  While I’m very sympathetic to Sandberg’s message, there’s another aspect of the word “bossy” that interests me even more.  Even though the word “boss” has long been synonymous with “manager,” the simple fact is, the best bosses aren’t bossy.

The best bosses motivate you to be productive for them.  Not because you have to, but because you want to.

Over managing is one of the least discussed but most prevalent problems of management.   Too much management, or, more specifically, ineffective management—too often aka bossiness—is the enemy of productivity.

Human nature being what it is, the trouble with bossiness is it alienates people.   It doesn’t put them in the mindset to do their best for you.  If long-term employee productivity is your goal as a manager (and why wouldn’t it be?), there are numerous reasons why, over the long run, too much of the wrong kind of management will only work against you.

Let’s look quickly at a couple of management manifestations bossiness frequently takes.

Pesky micromanagement produces frustration more than productivity—Nobody likes to be micromanaged.  It’s natural to default to this style of management when you feel out of control and therefore want to exert control, but over time too much of this yields turnover not positive results.  The best managers invariably want to expand employees’ horizons, not confine them.

“Gotcha” management gets defensive behavior more than positive results—I’d been hearing so many complaints about this style of management recently, I made it the star of a recent post.  By “gotcha” management, I mean an approach that focuses management energy on catching employees doing something wrong.  “Gotcha with that one.”  “Gotcha there!”  Suffice to say, if employee engagement and productivity are your goals, “gotcha” management rarely gets you where you want to go.

Indeed, one of the keenest and most helpful insights I ever got about managing came from a former employee who’d grown tired of my bossiness.  One day she took me aside and said to me simply:

Tell talented people what you want done, not how to do it—She was entirely right.   Give talented people clear strategic direction and most often they’ll find their way to a far better solution than if you dictated one.  Sure, of course you as the manager need to be available to answer questions and instruct and coach and hold employees accountable as needed… but mostly what talented people need is space, not confinement.  The best managers create an environment where employees are confident to step out and take chances, not work in fear of mistakes.

Conflict is all around us deal with it at the time and do not complain-Luciano The Key Santini

This is the way most people start out in life. People will always start out with goals but then they stop moving towards them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a fine world for the person who knows precisely what he or she expects from life and is busy getting it.

We are happiest when we are striving to achieve a goal. When we achieve one goal, it’s a natural human tendency to set another, usually bigger, one. W. Clement Stone calls it inspirational dissatisfaction — the letdown one experiences after a goal has been achieved and before the next step toward a new one has been taken. When you begin to experience that nagging feeling, it’s time to get into action! Make sure you have a long-range plan in place so that when one short-term goal has been achieved, there is a natural progression toward the next. 

 

In business how many times have start up fail before their first customers comes into the door. I have seen many and why? It is simple really it is because there is no communication of services or products to the clients. Why do managers and CEO's fail with staff? Simple again because they may be great at creating policies and procedures but have no idea how to communicate the changes they aspire to take place.

 

What happens next can be worse because people who  do not have the skills become stressed out about any little thing or change that comes their way and thus will feel disconnected from their peers and customers and go into a down spiral and usually never recover from.

 

Conflict is all around us deal with it at the time and do not complain

 

How do you or how does anyone define workplace conflict?

 

We find ourselves at our jobs every day and spending more time there then we do at home. If you are one of the lucky ones you actually have a job that constantly challenges you as a person in your ares of expertise or mentally. There will be times of course when  you try to satisfy the needs of the company or the needs of your superiors there will always some type of conflict involved.

As a manager one is constantly dealing with spoiled children and most of the time it is more a behavior issue then anything else and you find yourself mediating all the time. So what is workplace conflict? Well it be defined as a difference of opinions that happens between management or directives that are not explained clearly. I have this article from a connection of a linked in friend which I find to be very interesting regarding conflict.

By Myron Curry
The workplace is your second home. In fact, some of you probably spend more time at work than you do at home. You are indeed fortunate if you have the opportunity to work in a job which you find challenging and interesting. But, however satisfying your job is, there always seem to be some type of conflict.
Workplace conflict happens regularly between team members, departments, managers, suppliers, vendors and sometimes customers. If you are a manager, then the problem of workplace conflict becomes a major issue as you are confronted with it on a regular basis. As one manager complained, it seemed like they were spending more time mediating between people who behaved like spoiled children rather than creative and productive individuals.

 In 1998, Professors Gilbert and Kreikebaum have the opinion that even if one party senses or anticipates a disagreement justifiably, conflict may said to exist. On the other hand, Donahue and Kolt (1992) says that conflict is “……..A situation in which independent people express (manifest or latent) differences in satisfying their individual needs and interests and they experience interference from each other in accomplishing these goals”. Can this universal definition of conflict be applied to workplace conflict as well?
The dynamics the workplace is somewhat unique which makes workplace conflict different. Before starting to tackle the issue of conflict in the workplace, you have to keep the following characteristics in mind:

• While some people work because they love the job and truly care, many other need stronger motivation to put in their full effort in the job.
• You do not get to choose your colleagues. Yet, you have to spend a lot of time with them, often in a high pressure situation. This is definitely a recipe for conflict.
• The work environment is a hierarchical structure and employees are interdependent with one another. So, perceived inefficiency on the part of one employee is going to affect the job quality of others.
• There are a number of dynamics operating in the workplace. Interdependence exists between colleagues, between the employee and the manager, the employee and the customer as well as the employee and outside suppliers. Whenever this delicate balance is upset, workplace conflict is the inevitable result.
• Increases in the volume of interactions accompanied by a lack of open and definite communication are another vital ingredient in workplace conflict.
• People with different personalities, cultures and styles must often work together in an interdependent way. Personality clashes as well as a clash of ideas consequently set the ground for workplace conflict.

The result of all the above factors can cause a disruption of work environments and the creation of the workplace conflict.
According to one study by Thomas and Schmidt in 1976, a typical manager spends almost 30% of their time resolving workplace conflict issues. This was followed by another similar study by Watson and Hoffman in 1996 which showed that this time workplace conflict has actually escalated to 42% of a mangers time in recent years.
The fact is that workplace conflict can arise from a series of reasons including differences in work-styles, background and gender, personalities, and skill level. When these types of conflicts go unresolved, they may turn into a much bigger problem down the road.

The ability to address workplace conflict in the early stages is an important component to resolving the issue. Unanswered or unmanaged conflict can escalate can disrupted an organization's growth as workers start spending more time entrenched in conflict than they do working on organizational goals.

Understanding The Difference Between Knowing And Sharing Information

Hello and good morning to all who continue to support my journey trying to change minds around the world by teaching a new perspective in both business and life. In business it is all a matter of learning what makes people tick and to get them to believe in your dreams. Then you have the clients who need to believe in your service or business. In business it means that you need to reach out and teach the community who you are and what you do and what you mean to the community.

In real life we know as business owners that to achieve is to believe and to believe means to be able to achieve anything we set our minds to. The issues we all run into is procrastination in both business and life. I love the following article on procrastination.

Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.
For an achiever, perhaps the most dangerous, most destructive habit of all is procrastination, for it robs you of your initiative. When you put things off once, it’s easier to put them off again, until the habit is so firmly ingrained that it cannot be easily broken. Sadly, the effects of the habit of procrastination are also cumulative. Its cure is obvious — action. You’ll be surprised how quickly you begin to feel better about yourself and your situation when you get going on something — anything. As British prime minister and author Benjamin Disraeli said, “Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” 

I believe that the new leaders today are starting to fade out and a new kind of leaders are on the rise:We need to prepare for the new type of leadership. We need to have a clear understanding of the changes in the minds of people and the gaps that are there in the world and we also need to be aware of managing not at a micromanagement level but at a knowledge based level. 

Leadership by the New Generation

Bridging the Age Gap

 The new batch of leaders often have a completely different way of working from their older counterparts. (Keep in mind that not everyone in these generations fits the characteristics we'll talk about: we're going to make some huge generalizations here, however, hopefully these generalizations will be useful!)

For example, while boomers usually view long hours as evidence of loyalty and hard work, Gen X and Y tend to try to have more work/life balance. They've seen their parents' lack of quality of life, and the lack of loyalty companies showed to these hard-working parents in the 1990s, and they're not impressed.

They want flexible hours, more vacation time,continuous training, and telecommuting options. They expect to leverage technology to work efficiently, instead of staying late in the office to get everything done.

Boomers have traditionally felt that you have to "pay your dues" to your company – and if you hate your job, that's just part of life. Generations X and Y typically don't accept this; they want and need more, intellectually stimulating work – and they don't want someone watching them too closely to check on their progress. These new groups are independent, creative, and forward thinking. They celebrate cultural diversity, technology, and feedback, and they prefer more of a "lattice" or individualized approach to management (as opposed to the traditional "corporate ladder").

The new generations also tend to like teamwork.Statistics have shown that colleague relationships rank very high on Gen X and Y's list of priorities. Things like salary and prestige can often rank lower than boomers might expect, or might want for themselves.

 The key difference between knowledge and information is that knowledge gives us the power to take action. We can use it.

There are also two different types of knowledge, explicit and tacit:

• Explicit knowledge includes things that you can easily pass on to someone else by teaching it or putting it into a database or a book. Explaining your company's safety protocols to a new team member is demonstrating explicit knowledge.
• Tacit knowledge is less quantifiable. It's when you know that your company's best client won't make a deal unless you go golfing with her. Or when you know that your department's smallest supplier is also the most reliable one, but only if you place your order by the 15th of every month. This is knowledge that's most often learned by experience. It's the stuff you know, but don't necessarily know that you know.

Benefits of Knowledge Management

The major benefit of knowledge management is that information is easily shared between staff members, and that knowledge isn't lost if someone goes on vacation, gets sick, or leaves the company.