The Human Brain, Bad Leadership, and Mental Health: Unraveling the Impact on Individuals and Organizations

 

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The Human Brain, Bad Leadership, and Mental Health: Unraveling the Impact on Individuals and Organizations

The human brain is a marvel of complexity, capable of extraordinary feats of cognition, emotion, and adaptation. However, this intricate organ is also susceptible to the influence of external factors, particularly the quality of leadership within an organization. When confronted with poor leadership, the brain's delicate balance can be disrupted, leading to significant repercussions for mental health, inclusion, diversity, and even personal life beyond the workplace.

Understanding the Brain's Response to Bad Leadership

The brain's response to bad leadership is multifaceted and deeply rooted in evolutionary mechanisms designed to ensure survival. When individuals perceive their leaders as ineffective, hostile, or unsupportive, the brain's stress response system is activated. This triggers the release of cortisol and other stress hormones, which can have a detrimental impact on cognitive function, emotional well-being, and physical health over time.

Moreover, the brain's capacity for social processing makes it highly attuned to interpersonal dynamics within the workplace. Negative interactions with leaders can activate regions of the brain associated with threat detection and social rejection, triggering feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and isolation.

Effects on Mental Health and Well-being

The effects of bad leadership on mental health are profound and far-reaching. Individuals subjected to toxic leadership may experience a range of psychological symptoms, including:

1. Stress and Anxiety: Constant exposure to dysfunctional leadership styles can lead to chronic stress and heightened levels of anxiety, contributing to burnout and diminished resilience.
2. Depression: Prolonged exposure to negative leadership behaviors can erode self-esteem, motivation, and a sense of purpose, increasing the risk of depression and mood disorders.
3. Low Self-Efficacy: In an environment characterized by micromanagement or lack of support, employees may develop a diminished sense of self-efficacy, impacting their belief in their ability to succeed and thrive.
4. Decreased Job Satisfaction: Poor leadership can undermine trust, morale, and job satisfaction, leading to disengagement and decreased productivity among team members.

Impact on Inclusion and Diversity

The presence of bad leadership can also have detrimental effects on inclusion and diversity within an organization. When leaders fail to cultivate an environment of psychological safety, fairness, and respect, marginalized groups may experience heightened levels of discrimination, bias, and exclusion. This not only undermines individual well-being but also stifles creativity, innovation, and collaboration across diverse teams.

Furthermore, ineffective leadership can perpetuate systemic inequalities and reinforce power imbalances within the organizational hierarchy. Employees from underrepresented backgrounds may face additional barriers to advancement, further exacerbating feelings of alienation and disillusionment.

Carrying Home the Burden

The consequences of bad leadership often extend beyond the confines of the workplace, infiltrating the personal lives of affected individuals. Chronic stress, emotional turmoil, and dissatisfaction at work can spill over into family dynamics, social relationships, and overall quality of life. The strain of navigating toxic work environments can lead to increased conflict at home, diminished emotional availability, and a pervasive sense of unease that permeates every aspect of daily existence.

Conclusion: Nurturing Positive Leadership for Flourishing Minds and Organizations

In conclusion, the impact of bad leadership on mental health, inclusion, diversity, and personal well-being cannot be overstated. As stewards of organizational culture and guardians of employee welfare, leaders bear a profound responsibility to cultivate environments that foster psychological safety, empowerment, and belonging. By prioritizing empathetic leadership, effective communication, and a commitment to equity and fairness, organizations can safeguard the mental health of their workforce, promote diversity and inclusion, and create thriving communities both within and beyond the workplace.

 

When things are going poorly

When things are going poorly, many leaders start making choices out of fear. That’s understandable, however, it’s honestly the incorrect course to take. Fear-based choice-making leads to a lack of boom and innovation. Things stagnate. When your group is struggling, and you aren’t getting the results that you desire, it’s essential to discover a way through. This means creativity, investing in your team, and making daring decisions. No leader has ever helped their staff by imposing fear onto them. Your crew is searching for you for guidance. The words that you say and do will determine how they respond to you. This is your chance to model accountability. If you focus on your very own accountability for the team’s success as a whole, your staff will focus on their very own account as well. # # hashtag#leadership hashtag#yourteam hashtag#leadershipdevelopment hashtag#executivecoaching hashtag#leadershipcoach hashtag#leadershippresence

Standing Alone

Is it true that one message can change the direction of an organization?

Leave your comments below.

Hello to all my friends, supporters and followers thank you for believing in my skill sets as a leader. I learn from every comment you write me.

Leadership is not about who you are or where you come from. Leadership is about seeing ahead just enough to make a turn in a different direction for the better.

Leadership is about allowing your staff to change direction on their own to create efficiency. Leadership is about having an open mind to the future.

Leadership is about understanding that at one point or another you will be standing alone when  everyone else will turn their back on you and yet you will perceive and persist on doing  what you know is the right thing to do.

Strategic Thinkers

Strategic Thinkers

Hello my friends,followers and supporters. I find myself looking into organizations and doing constant research on this subject and it is amazing to me to see so many leaders in the wrong positions and then sit back and watch organizations fall apart because of the misunderstanding of what this really means.

When a company needs to do something to fix a short-term issue that’s called Tactical. When a company is thinking say, how it can add value to its clients and staff  that’s strategy - it’s about thinking long term about growth and change.

So Strategic and Broad Thinking is all about seeing the big picture - it’s about knowing where everything slots together at a high level - not how individual jobs are done in the company and this takes technique and knowledge not just a person in power who rarely knows or understands the dynamics involved of the people who actually do the work.

This song is my favorite;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKopy74weus

bring about change

Hello to all my friends,followers and supporters. Sometimes we go through life wondering who we are. Once we figure that out, we get knocked down by those in power.

Those in power do things for political reasons to stay within the status quo and push it onto others as long as they look good by taking credit that does not belong to them.

You know change is needed and so you challenge those in power. Be prepared to find out who the haters are because they do not have the courage to bring about change but are always willing to take the credit. People can pretend not to see it and turn the other way and conform to it.

What happens during this time though it will take time; is that eventually your organization will not compete any longer,you become irrelevant and no longer is there value for yourself or your clients, Bring that change!!!

Who are your frinends?

"Believe In Your Own Skills and Know Who You Are In Both Mind And Soul And You Will Succeed"-Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello my friends and here we are once again dealing with a world where everyone is freaking out because of the voting going on and who will be our next president and on and on with the chaos all around us. I always say to people live each day with a smile and let those crazy things around roll off your shoulders and I say this only because you cannot change the world but you can sure make a change within yourself and who are at any time that you choose to do so.

It is difficult enough trying to make it in this world much less having to deal with those people close to you or those you have to work with on a daily basis. I always look for my mentors whether they are still walking this earth or not to guide my thought when my thought are all over the place. They bring me back to reality and to a sigh of relief.

Your job will never be any bigger than your imagination makes it.

Daniel Burnham, the turn-of-the-century architect and civic planner whose plan for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair had an enormous influence on contemporary civic design, was quoted as saying, “Make no little plans.” He knew that to achieve great things we must have grand ideas. If you can imagine it, you can create it. And if you can create in your imagination the job that you would like to have, it is possible to create it in the real world. 

I find that so many people are always rushing to get to work or to the store or wherever they need to get to and once they arrive they do nothing but take their time doing what a little while ago was paramount--WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!!!

I have no idea but what I can tell you is this that if you need to get somewhere and you are in such a hurry that you might hurt someone or yourself along the way then my friend you!! need to take a big breath and relax because at the end of the day you will realize that it was not that important 

Some people in this world think and believe that if they hurry something that it will get done faster and it might but the thing to think about is at what cost! You see people will try to make you think that you are wrong or that you do not understand certain things like policies or procedures in their world and so they will try to manipulate your mind and you as a person.

 If this ever happens to you then dig into what they are telling you that you are wrong about and then smile back at them because you will find that they are just people that have low self esteem and insecure.

people who try this on other people will eventually be seen for who they really are and well you can look at them with sad eyes and smile and let them know that you have always known who they are and what they tried to do but because you have a strong mind you will win the bullying fight and they will be crushed and then they will slowly crawl back into reality.

These type of people are every where perhaps in your own family. These people will only try to isolate you from who you really are that special and smart person whom they have known all along but you made them afraid and thus they will try to crush you and your dreams.

In many organizations they have these type of people who will try to keep you in a box as they say "Out of sight out of mind" meaning the longer they keep you away from the real action well then people will tend to forget what you have done whether great or small they eventually will forget.

The World Of Mystery and Chaos - Luciano Santini

Hello everyone and well here we are ready to go to three baseball games.

_________________________________________________________________

 Today I thought I would share one of my poems with you.

The World Of  Mystery and Chaos 

 Luciano Santini 

We live in a world where everything is constantly changing and yet there is only silence

No cries of sorrow and no cries of joy nothing but silence is what I hear

I see people grow old before my eyes and I see young come into this world

It is not the silence but the chaos of what tomorrow brings that I fear.

I see little children become obsessed with the new technology loosing touch

I see a world of mystery and chaos moving along in silence

I see the destruction of the minds in the future today,tomorrow and beyond

I hear the leaders of this world speaking of peace and love in the news and the net

Yet I see people crying over their loved ones because chaos took them away

The mystery of this world is really not a mystery but insanity

I say insanity because though there are moments of peace there are moments of loss.

Leadership can be great when there is talk about organization and the future of tomorrow

Leadership can be great when there is no more racism before your eyes causing sorrow

Leadership can be great when you understand that people are human beings

Leadership sucks when all they care about is their golden watches and rings.

We all know and understand that a world of chaos and mystery exists all around us

Leaders need to know that people are people and that change is coming at a fast pace

The problem is understanding this world of chaos and mystery

The other issue is that the leaders are not really leaders but simply taking up space.

We live in a world where everything is constantly changing and yet there is only silence

No cries of sorrow and no cries of joy nothing but silence is what I hear

I see people grow old before my eyes and I see young come into this world

It is not the silence but the chaos of what tomorrow brings that I fear.

You Cannot Manage What You Do Not Understand--Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello to all my friends who continue the support and believing in my skill sets to train and motivate your employees and your leaders in your organizations.

This last week has been a tough one as you know I am known for being very transparent and allowing people into my life for the simple fact that I believe that if you know that I am as much a human being as you are then we have a better understanding of where we stand in both business and personal. This last week has been one of those weeks where you wish you did not have to have it done but you know you must or it will get worst as time passes.

I had septoplasty surgery and those that have had it know how painful this surgery can be. The pain medicine well it is basically take it and sleep and when you wake up it feels like you have been under for much longer and you cannot drive anywhere so it has been painful and boring and finally I am able to get in front of the computer to write to all my friends.

Why am I telling you about this in my life? Well because it is just like your business because when you know as a leader or a business owner that you need to take care of something in your business because it is bringing it down and yet you let it go only to make it worst as time passes. I want you to think about that my friends. How many time in your business or career have you let things go because of whatever reason.

Reasons can be from not firing that person who upset your last client to an argument you had at home with your significant other and never resolved it instead you let it go in hopes that either it will be forgotten or never talked about again.

So before we worry about the issues we must take care of them before they get worst or one must deal with the future because we never took care of the issue from the past.

Before worrying about how to get more pay, try thinking how you can do a better job and you may not need to worry.

When you devote your time and efforts to doing your best at every job you do, instead of developing persuasive arguments why you should be paid more for what you do, the pay raises will take care of themselves. When you approach every job enthusiastically in a spirit of friendly cooperation, you distinguish yourself from the vast majority of people whose primary concerns include breaks, benefits, paychecks, and quitting time. Don’t complain about your status or your pay to anyone, not even to your best friend. Word will eventually get back to the boss. Which type of worker would you rather have on your team: one who complains constantly or one who is always helpful, cheerful, and reliable? 

I like what Leslie says below and only because it is so true. 

You Cannot Manage What You Do Not Understand--Dr. Luciano Santini

 Hire slow, fire fast---Leslie Barber

Many people before me have recommended we hire slow, fire fast. Tony Hsieh, co-founder of Zappos.com, was the most recent employer that echoed these sentiments. He alleges that bad hires have cost Zappos.com over $100M. Wow, imagine what bad hires are doing for small businesses?

As small business owners, we often hire fast, fire slow. Business takes off and we need help right away, so we hire the first person who walks through the door. I get it -- been there. However, once business slows down, we sometimes realize that person might not actually be a good fit for our business. Then we’re faced with having an awkward conversation and owning up to our mistake. Take the time to know the role you need to fill and the culture you are trying to create. But in the end, pull off the Band-Aid with a bad hire. Yes, it stings at first but with a little time, it heals and you forget the Band-Aid was ever there.

I will leave all of you to think about millennials  and to get to know them and understand them before you make a judgement on anyone of them. Times are changing as we all know and of course the old saying has been around for thousands of years which is that time is constant change and we as owners must always be willing to change with the times or die in the business world because you will not survive unless you understand change.

The biggest issue that I find in most if not all organizations is that in today's fast paced world people are still trying to manage as opposed to leading. When you speak of Millennials you cannot manage them but you can lead them. These guys can be the greatest employees specially if you are a leader that teaches them their passion.

" Leadership Is When You Make Others Better Simply By Listening"--Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello everyone and well yesterday was day of driving all over town attending baseball games and there were some nail biters. I saw the leadership of one of my sons take over a game of course there was some coaching involved. There were down 17 to zero in the first inning. It was the first game of their season and what everyone saw unfold before their eyes to me was incredible.

The team began to speak and communicate with each other on the field. I heard my son telling the other team members "It is the first inning we have many more to go" I saw him cheering each member and then the rest followed the cheers and what happened next was unbelievable. In the second inning they scored 4 runs and held the other team through communication on the field.

The third inning the other team were held but scored one run. The fourth inning came along and at this point our team had to score three runs or it would be a mercy call and stop the game. The cheering started up louder then ever and just like that bases are loaded and one teammate smacks the ball out of the field and just like that the score is 17-8 and so the game continued.

 The fifth inning comes on and they hold the other team. They score one run. The sixth inning starts up the other team  gets two players on base third player comes to bat hits it to second and one out throws to first to my son and just like that double play and they hold them again no runs scored.

The bottom of the sixth inning comes up the cheering and by now of course the fans are screaming and cheering and bam! one gets on base the second hitter gets on base my son comes up and hits a triple two runs in and now 17-10 no outs. Then two more get on base and again a triple now it is 17-12 and no outs. Then a fly ball and one out bases loaded. One hitter comes up gets on base and then another bases loaded boom a triple not we are at 17-15 then two more hitters and two outs the end score was 17-15.

What I saw was a team that in the first inning were demolished and their coach was crushed to see their team like this but then the cheering the communication and the effort and the passion to win came through and all I can say was WOW!!!!!.

Now my question is how different is this from  leadership in organizations? I have seen it so many times where leadership just gives up on their staff and fires them because they have given up on them no cheering them along! no guidance nothing!!

A leader must have the capacity ti guide the vision of the organization! What does this mean well my friends this is what it means according to Warren Bennis-You must always be professional and know where you are leading your people to. You must have the knowledge and persistence to face issues and setbacks and perhaps even failures.  

You must have passion for what you believe in and yes you must love to do what you do and be able to show it.

I believe that this is the most important lesson to know. You as the leader must know your strengths and you must know tour weaknesses. You must always stick to your principles which by the way many leaders miss or do not have. A leader must learn from experience and be willing to learn from others.

Leaders must  earn peoples trust. A leader must be willing to take risks and be willing to try new things.

One thing that I have learned through experience is that you must be a great listener to the people you serve and to the people you are to lead but never ever become a prisoner of public opinion because a great leader is never ever defined by what other think or say.

There have been so many leaders through out the years and I have found through mush talking and much much research that the one thing they all had in common and I have said this many many times is that they have willing followers in other words people believe in them that they will do their best to dot he right thing in every situation.

There are many leaders out there that are well not leaders but they believe they are because they sit in a position of power which almost always will fail unless they are in a position where there is no way of having them removed. Why are these leaders great in their own mind but never with the people and have no willing followers well because simply put they focus on to much on systems and structure as apposed to focusing on people!!!

Isolation Never A Way Or Technique To Lead--Dr. Luciano Santini

Hello to all my friends and well another week has passed now and here we are together again and so let us talk about  leadership a bit more because this seems to be an ongoing issue with everyone I speak to.

I believe that what seems to be and keeps coming up is that we have so many baby boomers trying to manage the new generations that are coming into the workforce with their old ways of managing which by the way is somewhat antiquated. Do not by any way think that there old techniques that do not work because the truth is that old way of managing can be good with the right way of training and implementing.

The main issue here seems to be understanding and isolation. What the hell do I mean by isolation you are asking? Well my friend let me tell you that in most cases I have found not only from experience but through research that I personally have done and tests that I have tried with my bosses and tests that I have tested in groups with staff members and I find that the biggest problem is isolation from leadership where they come to work and the only way or times that they will listen to you is if you stand in front of them or in their way as they walk in and they have to say excuse me to get passed you.

They walk into their offices and close the door and then they isolate themselves from having any kind of contact with people.What happens now is that people that you are supposed to lead begin to feel disconnected meaning they will do everything possible to avoid any contact. They will never ever trust you and perhaps start to sabotage the leadership members.People will also begin to feel unsupported and only do what they need to do to get by as far as work performance.

Here are some things people have said regarding leadership:

vlindervrij on April 11, 2013 at 5:11 pm said:

 

Three very important keys of being the most effective leader are:
1. Leaders are the most effective when they always investing in strengths.
2. Leaders are the most effective who surround themselves with the right people and maximize their team.
3. Leaders are the most effective who understand their followers needs.
When Leaders or anyone are without an awareness of their strengths, it’s almost impossible for them to lead effectively.
We all lead in very different ways,based on our talents and our limitations. Serious problems occur when we think we need to be exactly like the leaders we admire. Doing so takes us out of our natural element and practically eliminates our chances of success.

Ajay Kumar Gupta on April 10, 2013 at 7:40 am said:

  Leaders tend to isolate. More they reach up in hierarchy, more they tend to isolate people under. Since there are few people at the top and the responsibility is different, they generally feel to isolate people. And people below also tend to isolate them in routine matter. Leaders can overcome such tendency by remaining connecting with the people. The major problem why leaders or other people get disconnected is the perception of power.

 Lower level people or employees feel powerless and leaders are perceived powerful. And this feeling makes the difference. So, leaders need to create a feeling of equality, caring and approachable. Leaders should create a feeling that employees are not fearful from leaders.
Leaders on the other hands, should be humble and encourage more interaction with the people. They should come out of their cabin and make effective communication. Generally, lack of interaction, communication and interaction by leaders is perceived negatively. People perceived leaders biased. So, communication and visibility is the key.

I believe that when leadership isolate themselves it creates so much chaos and sometimes leaders because they have no idea how to have or create a dialogue with another human being it become difficult to manage anyone.My friends isolation is a killer in business in any business.

One thing we should all know and have a very clear understanding is that people are not stupid!!! They know when you are not a leader.

I hope you enjoy this article and if you do please share with leaders and if you are a leader then read and reread over and over.

Changes In Both The World Around Us And Our Faces--Luciano Santini

Hello my friends and how are we doing this day as we get ready to celebrate Martin Luther Kings Day. There is much to celebrate regarding the changes just in the workplace not to say everywhere else.Here is a little history;

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;

Senators Jesse Helms and John Porter East (both North Carolina Republicans) led opposition to the holiday and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Helms criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism".^[4] Helms led a filibuster against the bill and on October 3, 1983, submitted a 300-page document to the Senate alleging that King had associations with communists. New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared the document a "packet of filth", threw it on the Senate floor and stomped on it.^[5][6]

President Ronald Reagan originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. When asked to comment on Helms' accusations that King was a communist, the president said "We'll know in thirty-five years, won't we?", in reference to the eventual release of FBI surveillance tapes that had previously been sealed.^[7] But on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring Dr. King.^[8][9] The bill had passed the House of Representatives by a count of 338 to 90, a veto-proof margin.^[4] The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.

The bill also established the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday, and Coretta Scott King, King's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by President George H. W. Bush in May 1989.^[10][11]

Here I am celebrating Dr. Kings Birthday

 ^{______________________________________________________________________________________________}

^{OK now regarding business engagement in the workplace. I have found that while many companies continue to spend millions of dollars on developing their staff well most of the time it is a waste of time. Ans while we may ask ourselves why is that? I believe that most companies know the reasons behind the challenges. I believe that most people just do not want to change or they simply are not given the right direction to change.}

^{Most companies believe that the reason their companies fail regarding development of the workforce is because there is a lack of good people when in reality it is the lack of skills. What do I mean by this well let us start by showing some statistics corporate training grew a 15 % between 2013 and 2014 meaning that this is the highest growth in seven years.}

^{According to Brightspace by D2L shows that most people will be leaving their jobs for new opportunities and while it normally takes about 3 to 5 years to fully bring up a professional up to speed or full productivity many millennials have admitted that they will be leaving companies within 2 to 3 years because of development issues.}

I found this on Google images and well take a look at this and then take a look at your staff and you better figure out where your organization is at this point and time.

 

^{This is a very important issue that organizations need to understand because large organizations are going to loose so many people due to retirement and all that knowledge is going out that door and as soon as that occurs well guess what happens next CHAOS!!!!}

^{Leaders and managers need to come together and talk about their development strategies and how they will implement. Here are some fun facts to ponder upon;}

^{51 % percent of your staff in a large organization actually in any organization are not engaged and 17.5 are actively dis-engaged. It is believed according to statistics and research that 78 million baby boomers will be leaving the workforce in the next 20 years of which 10,000 retire every day. These are astounding numbers so think  about this question! Where is your organization in this number?}

^{Generation Y at over 75 million outnumbered the baby boomers in 2015.You have to agree whether we like it or not that though the generation Y  is the end user in actuality regarding the technology today they are the ones who will catch on faster and able to run with any new technology that may be coming.}

^{This world will become very difficult to operate if people in leadership role do not get off their assets and begin to catch on with the program. Leaders today think that because they are in a leadership role they are immune to what is coming well guess what leaders!!!! You are not and if you do not prepare,learn and teach well then good luck because you will be swallowed up by a much younger,faster technology savvy millennial!!.}

 

"If a person cannot say what they feel then they will feel what was never said"-Dr. Luciano Santini

Good morning to all my readers and thank you for your continued support. Today I would like to talk  about a few things but one being people of character do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it, and according to agreed-upon conditions. They are the leaders, the individuals to whom others turn for guidance, because they have demonstrated that they care, that they can be trusted. If you respect yourself enough to keep commitments even when it’s inconvenient to do so, others will come to respect you too. Dependability, like any other character trait, is a habit

I know that sometimes I write perhaps what I like to call controversial stuff but hey someone has to say it! I believe:

 "If a person cannot say what they feel then they will feel what was never said"-Dr. Luciano Santini

The one issue that I always seem to have when training and teaching executives is that though they usually think that their peers and employees believe in them and trust them. This is such an issue almost in all corporations in both government and privates sectors. What I found while doing surveys and interviews with both top leaders and staff was that those thoughts were completely made up in their minds because when talking to middle management and then employees the truth was and still is that most of the time they are not respected but both middle management and employees will follow policies and procedures to keep top leaders off their backs giving the perception that all is well and yet everyone is dysfunctional. 

I can tell you some reasons why this happens. One reason is by simply saying that any solution to a problem that was not their idea (Top Management) is rejected. I can tell you that most of the top management is very good at one thing which is deception. They will play the good cop bad cop and deceive good hard working people and you just have to be just as good to be able to see their deception and in today's world it is not very difficult to see.Then there is also a favorite that is used today which is (Top Management) will create the process to the solution using mechanics which will become boring and no one will want to do it. 

Then there is the favorite of all to break up the solution into so many pieces that to many people will be involved thinking that they are doing the right thing and yet at the end come up with so many ideas that nothing will make sense and once again the top leaders will of course reject at the end.

My favorite joke of all time. We have an open door policy!! How many times have we heard this one before! I understand the reality of this world today in business and I also understand what it means to have a true open door policy. I have personally worked with some amazing leaders who knew and understood what it meant to have "An open door policy" And unfortunately I have also worked side by side with leaders who openly voiced their open door policy but was the biggest joke among all staff.

In many surveys and in many interviews with top leaders in top organizations both government and private I would ask the question; What does open policy mean here? Most would just simply say that they had no idea what it meant or that nothing like that existed currently and yet I would see postings by a leaders office that stated the open door policy.   What most said was the following; "It means that if you do not like the way we do things around here leaders would be more than happy to show you the open door" I know pretty sad but yet it is a true reality among most organizations today.

In today's world of business I find that most  bosses do not ever say that someones idea is not wanted or that it will never work. I always find that when you bring an idea to a leaders that manages by power of position that a few raising of the eyebrows or well placed frowns or a reiteration of the issue and of course their time in the company is enough to kinda tell you that your ideas are not welcomed. One of my favorite of course is the conspiracy of silence from peers! What do I mean by this well let me explain. 

Let us say you have worked with a team for a while and you have some great ideas that have been proven among top leaders. Then at one time or another you do something that is so good they look bad somehow and yes it was not their idea. They also know you have the intellectualism and are afraid of it.

 What the so called top leaders will begin a conspiracy to manipulate those around you that allow themselves to be manipulated to simply stop speaking to you or the best one yet make themselves so busy all the time that they will not return phone calls or give you assistance. 

I will tell you again you have to be able to see it to survive in an organization because if you do not then you will drive yourself insane. I have seen great managers leave organizations when the so called 'Top Leaders" do such things but once again if you see it! I can tell you that it is the funniest thing to watch as it unravels.

Many conversation from my research and interviews admitted to me that they contributed below their capacity simply because so called top leaders had no idea how to manage people's knowledge. I worked with an individual who had been a dishwasher for over ten years in a hospitality organization.

 He did not speak one word of English. One day I asked him how we could streamline a process to avoid so much breakage of dishes and glasses. We were buying cases and cases every month to replace the breakage. He responded that his supervisor never listed to his ideas and so he stopped saying anything.

 I listened to him implemented his ideas with his direction and voila we saved close to one hundred thousand dollars across the organization and yes he was well taken care of and was sent to management school where he learned English and management skills that eventually made him a top leaders in the company.

My friends the Psychology of managing and learning must be a competency for management. The issue is here that to many so called leaders are not leaders at all but somehow ended in a leadership role and simply manages by power of position which is the worse thing a company can do to their staff.