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I have had a couple of positions where the boss has had anger management issues. When there was bad news to tell, the manager was furious, and I absolutely thought it was my fault (even though it wasn't). I was a nervous wreck. It's still early in my career, and I'm nervous that this is holding me back.

I've gotten control of the anxiety, and I'm a healthier, happier person. Loved the cast; I can testify to being a direct in the crossfire.

shellens's picture

I will never understand, when something goes wrong, regardless of whose fault it is, chiefs become nervous and then "many heads started to fly". It is by default that chief is furious and very angry because he/she can not admit failure.

I don't say that boss should reward their employees for failing, and therefore to start some of the psychological tricks so he/she would cause their pangs of conscience. But definitely nothing can be accomplished by nervousness and intimidating, the only thing that may be achieved is to reduce the motivation of employees to work harder and solve the problem.

Management Games - Time Management Games

gpeden's picture

On thing I have found helpful is to establish 'ground rules' for escalation process before you need them.  Agree on the who, how, what, communication, etc. beforehand and even walk through a few theoretical examples. You can also include specific language cues - such as "Thanks, ....." when you are the receiver.  

I have attached an example of something I pulled together for our company to get us all on the same page.  We also keep metrics on escalations and report them out in our regular operational review meetings.  Having some kind of an agreed to structure can help dial down the stress and get people focused on getting past the reactionary mode and into solution mode asap. 

The question isn't if 'bad things' are going to happen - they will.  I have attached our flow. We kept it simple and high level with the intent that it could be easily applied to many situations, and it wasn't so complicated that it would not be followed.  The 'High-C's out there may balk that it doesn't cover *every* possibility - and that is by design.  We assume that as professionals we can apply the high level guidance to a particular situation.

 

Thanks,

George

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