Truly honoring difference
by Samson
The more I do this management thing, the more I come to understand that if I respect each individual as a unique person, and if I engage on a level that assumes the individual is an adult, the better chance I have of achieving authentic engagement and adult behavior.
What I’ve noticed is that many people struggle with the practice of accepting and managing difference. They may accept or even advocate for it intellectually, and they can often speak about it in very intelligent terms, but when in the actual face-to-face interactions they fall far short of managing difference with understanding or compassion.
In the context of major change initiatives it’s in the processing and acceptance phases that people’s differences seem to be most salient, and in my experience it’s here that respect and patience is most important. I’ve had co-workers respond to the same information with acceptance, disbelief, resignation, grief, and anger. Some managers may respond to these various emotions with differing levels of discipline or disengagement themselves, but I believe that in our role of managers were are leaders and exemplars and we are responsible for setting the tone of the team.
What I have found is that if I listen to the initial reactions, respond with compassion and withhold judgment, then let the dust settle and allow each person to take his/her respective time to think through the news, I am rewarded with much less emotional behavior and a generally more positive response. Without exception I end up with more authentically engaged employees.
