The ability to work more productively than others allows managers to focus intensely on completing their tasks, but conversely, they often find it difficult to concentrate on other equally important factors, including the human element. Tasks such as connecting with, inspiring, developing, or building rapport with employees are sometimes overlooked. Sometimes they even fear that focusing on people will hinder their own performance and inadvertently make them unsuccessful managers.
In a study titled "Leadership that Gets Results" by Daniel Goleman, PhD, psychologist and author of several bestselling books on Emotional Intelligence, he calls this the "pacesetting" style of leadership. The paradox here is that the more managers strive for productivity and focus on results, the less effective they become, leading to negative consequences such as high pressure, employee demoralization, and incompatibility with lower-skilled employees.
In another study in 2017 by Kronos, an international organization specializing in human resource management present in over 16 countries worldwide, work pressure was highlighted as the biggest threat to employee engagement in the workplace, and was confirmed by 95% of HR professionals as a determining factor in their company's employee turnover rate.
This management style also has direct negative impacts on a manager's long-term career advancement, not to mention the serious effects on their personal lives and social relationships.
Take Sarah, for example, who held the position of Vice President at a real estate investment company, making significant contributions and renowned for her lightning-fast closing abilities, until the day her promotion to board member was canceled. Her exceptionally high productivity had actually caused her to lose morale and engagement with her subordinates, robbing her of time that should have been spent connecting with them. While her rapid closing skills were crucial to her promotion, they weren't everything for her and the company's success, as she received from her own employer.
Now let's consider the case of James, a former key member of an international professional services company with extensive knowledge and skills, and particularly well-liked by clients and colleagues. It's not surprising that someone like James had excessively high demands and expectations for his subordinates. And unsurprisingly, this gradually led to negative impacts on employee engagement, the departure of talented staff, and ultimately, his own dismissal.
The examples of Sarah and James clearly show that a visionary manager knows how to balance work performance and the human element.
Such managers will not pay too much attention to work results and will only focus on their own biased perspective without considering the needs and capabilities of their colleagues. They would rather take things slowly and steadily than exhaust themselves and others to the point of burnout.
Robert Anderson and William Adams, while writing their book "Scaling Leadership," also conducted research and pointed out that the key to a manager's success is people skills.
Six out of their ten greatest strengths are people-related, such as listening skills, inspiring and motivating employees…
Leaders who are overly focused on getting things done are often too sensitive; they approach tasks out of fear, becoming overly controlling and authoritarian, damaging the morale of their teams. Sarah also feared that if she didn't control her subordinates, they would eventually rebel, embarrassing her and damaging her reputation. James, too, feared that if he didn't focus intensely and work hard, success wouldn't come. These narrow-minded ways of thinking turn them into productivity fanatics, obsessing solely over it.
If you see yourself in Sarah's or James's shoes, here are some things a manager like you needs to start doing right now:
