Hill Leadership Working Group: the English call them "Arse..."

The Hill Leadership Working Group had another excellent meeting yesterday, with a dozen people in attendance. The December book was The No Asshole Rule, by Robert I. Sutton.   For those who have not read the book, the author addresses the problem of assholes in the workplace, defined as people in a position of relative power who denigrate and diminish those with less power. Other terms like “jerk” and “bully” also describe these characters, but none as accurately or evocatively as (the admittedly crude) “asshole.” You know you are dealing with one when you walk away from an interaction feeling diminished, denigrated, or otherwise worse than you did beforehand. These people can truly mess up an organization.

 

Sutton spends a good deal of time making the point that these behaviors are prevalent and costly for organizations, going so far as to lay out a framework for estimating or measuring their costs. He also points out that virtually all of us are subject to perpetrating these behaviors at some time, but that some people – he calls them, “certified assholes” – are shockingly consistent in their bad actions. He then sets out some tactics about how to keep them away, how to blunt their nefarious actions and empower others to resist them, and how to prevent one’s self from sliding toward those negative behaviors. He concludes with an interesting discussion about some potential strengths of these generally bad behaviors and some additional thoughts on how to fight back. The group didn’t seem to think it was a great book, but generally found it highly worthwhile.

 

Josie Taylor led a wide-ranging and stimulating discussion, which included practical discussion of hiring practices, and building a culture that excludes or blunts the impact of assholes. Many of these latter concepts were entirely consistent with Max DePree’s thoughts, expressed in our November reading selection, Leadership is an Art.   Group members were also in agreement that the phenomenon is more complex than Sutton seems to admit, and that it varies along a wide spectrum, from obviously offensive and detrimental, to merely annoying. 

 

One of the more interesting topics we touched upon was how to be assertive in the workplace without being a jerk. The key indicator is whether the person you are addressing walks away feeling denigrated, and we discussed conveying a difficult message without personal attack.    It was also pointed out that anger in the moment is often the enemy of excellent action. People talked about saving an email or letter written in anger for a day before sending, and a couple of members said that this was an acknowledged practice in their companies.   Some participants also made the point that, by their assessment, people are generally good, and that the role of culture is to encourage that innate tendency. 

 

As we concluded, participants offered the following summary thoughts about Sutton’s book: 

 

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, January 16, 7:30 – 9:00 AM, at the James J. Hill Reference Library (home of the Hill Center for Ethical Business Leadership, and some unbelievable architecture).   All are welcome!

 

Our book will be a classic in every sense: The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Any translation will work, but this time around I’ll be reading one from Gene Simmons, who took off his KISS makeup long enough to translate and comment on this ancient text. While many have read the book in the past, I have selected it because:

It is worth the effort.

 

See you in January! As always, don’t hesitate to contact me with questions about the group.