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What You Can Learn From the Oddest Question I’ve Ever Been Asked
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During a break at a seminar, someone asked me a question out of nowhere — in a restroom of all places — that took me aback
It got me thinking about a very different — and more important — question you need to ask if you’re a manager.
As I approached the hotel restroom sink to wash my hands, a man in a suit turned to me and said: “I know this is a weird question to ask, but … do I smell bad?”
He explained that he had been sweating profusely because of the hot conference room and was worried that he now reeked and would repel others.
While this is never a pleasant thought, since this was an event where you wanted to network with others, he was especially concerned about being perceived as a noxious life form.
Since he was being so authentic and genuine, how could I not accommodate his request? I got a bit closer and took a whiff.
“You’re fine. I can’t smell a thing,” I told him.
“Hey thanks,” he replied and then laughingly said “I figured I don’t know you and will never see you again, so what the heck …”
I had to hand it to him: it took guts to ask someone that question, and actually want to hear the cold hard truth.
You might be repelling your employees — and therefore diminishing their motivation — without realizing it.
You might be doing things as a manager that annoy, irritate, or just mildly turnoff our employees. These behaviors:
Unless you’re perfect, you’re like the rest of us: you do things and say things that make you less likeable, credible, and persuasive … and you have no idea you’re doing them.
That’s just part of human nature. We all have blind spots. As long as these behaviors remain blind spots, we can’t eradicate them, and unless people are willing to say “You have B.O.” — metaphorically speaking — we will never know.
Because we remain blind to these, we get results far beneath what we’re capable of, both in terms of the quality of our relationships and our ability to get things done through others.
You might be thinking: “What could I possibly be doing or saying as a manager that could turn off my employees without me knowing it?”
To answer that, let me ask you to reflect on your own experiences.
What have managers done and said that have turned you off? What have they done and said that made you respect them less, trust them less, or care less about helping them achieve their goals?
Go ahead, make a list. Then ask yourself “Am I doing any of these?”
At management seminars, I often ask participants to name the things that their worst bosses did that made the bosses so dreadful. Some of the most frequently mentioned themes include:
I would add to this list something I see a lot from high-energy, extroverted leaders with strong personalities: they talk way too much, for way too long, and they dominate air time, whether one-on-one or in meetings.
A friend just shared with me about her experience with her new boss, and how he “went on and on and on and on” … but never really clearly stated what he wanted from her, nor did he ask her any questions. She left feeling frustrated and more than a little “New Employee Buyer’s Remorse.”
I can recall conversations with senior leaders where there was never a pause in their monologue for me to insert a response or ask a question, and never any interest expressed in my point of view.
I would leave these encounters feeling frustrated over feeling stuck listening to something that could have taken a fraction of the time. I would also feel turned off by the person’s disinterest in anything I had to say. I also found myself pitying the people who had to work with these individuals day in and day out.
Are you that person? Research on how power affects people shows that the more power we have, the more likely we are to dominate conversations and interrupt others.
If you’re doing those things, I can guarantee that you’re not just boring others — and therefore reducing your influence and credibility. You’re also annoying them, even though they’re trying to look attentive and engaged.
I want you to ask others: “What can I do to be a better manager?” and “What can I do to be easier to talk to?”
If you are truly sincere about becoming a better leader, if you truly want to increase your ability to increase productivity, or inspire great customer service, or foster innovation, you must maximize your ability to positively influence others.
The only way you can do that is to get honest feedback as part of your game plan.
Let me give you a protocol for getting honest feedback that was born out of a common fear I heard from managers attending my programs.
Years ago, when I first started giving management seminars, I would often have someone raise their hand at the end and say something like this: “This stuff really makes sense and I agree with it …”
Then their voice inflection would go up, signaling a “but…” was about to follow: “…but…I’m afraid that if I start doing these things, my people will think I’m just doing them because I heard you were supposed to do them at this seminar.”
They were afraid to be “caught in the act” of using something they had learned, and then get labeled as being phony.
So, to combat this fear, I came up with a simple process they could use to both let their team know they would be trying out new behaviors and to ask for feedback. That way, they didn’t have to worry about “getting caught in the act.” It would be clear that of course they would be applying what they had learned, and therefore acting differently in some ways.
I also started giving people language for how to introduce to their employees what they learned and what they plan to do differently based on the seminar. I also suggested they ask their employees for feedback on what areas they think they, the manager, should work on.
I call this the “You Know I Went to The Management Seminar” Talk. So for instance, part of the conversation would go like this:
You know I went to a management seminar yesterday. Well, one of the things we did was talk about things managers do that drive employees crazy as well as things that great managers do to bring out the best in people. As part of that, we were asked to look at what negative things we might be doing and to ask our direct reports to give us feedback on both the things we do they wish we wouldn’t, as well as the good things we do, and should keep on doing.
So first, some of the negative practices I recognized in myself were … not being really encouraging of ideas from you and the others on the team, and not being a great listener.
I would really appreciate your thoughts about those two negatives, and also what other things I might want to look at and change …
You can do a version of the “You Know I Went To The Management Seminar” Talk by having a “Hey, I Read this Article” talk with your employees. Give your team this article and then ask them individually for feedback, or … give this article to a couple of colleagues you trust and respect and then ask them for feedback.
You might not get any feedback at first, especially if you have a strong personality or have been remote in the past, but with coaching, you can come up with a strategy and accompanying language for making it safe for your direct reports to give you feedback. You can also do an anonymous survey, use a 360° feedback instrument, or have someone conduct interviews with your direct reports and give you the aggregate results.
Hey, if that man can ask if he smells bad, you can ask how you can be a better manager, a better team member, a better communicator, or even a better parent or partner.
I have. You will be surprised what you’ll hear, and how beneficial it can be to both of you.