![\"Manage-like-jerk\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Manage-like-jerk.jpg\")
the instruction was necessary or worth the effort in the first place.\u00a0 He worded it a bit differently, as in the headline to this insight.\u00a0 Sure gets your attention.<\/p>\nAre we who issue orders to associates or employees ever acting as jerks?\u00a0 We\u2019d never like to think so, or we wouldn\u2019t do it in the first place.<\/p>\n
If someone is saying \u201cThis is confusing to me\u201d when you\u2019ve given an instruction or order, there are a number of ways to respond.\u00a0 Of course it may be appropriate to explain your reasoning, or ask what part of the instruction is confusing.<\/p>\n
But, as one CEO pointed out to me recently, it may be more appropriate to ask yourself if the instruction was necessary or worth the effort in the first place.\u00a0 He worded it a bit differently, as in the headline to this insight.\u00a0 Sure gets your attention.<\/p>\n
Managers can be jerks as easily as anyone with a bit of power misused or misdirected.\u00a0 \u00a0So here is the simple test.\u00a0 Before issuing any kind of order to perform a task, think of how this might be interpreted by the person receiving the order.\u00a0 Take the cynical view \u2013 the worst case possibility.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a guarantee that many of those on the receiving end will do just that.<\/p>\n
[Email readers, continue here…]<\/em><\/span> \u00a0Did your proposed order pass the jerk test?\u00a0 Will the requested outcome advance any of your goals \u2013 or just provide an increment of satisfaction?\u00a0 Will the output be used in a meaningful way?\u00a0 Or will this just be another reason for that cynical associate or employee to label you with that term?<\/p>\n Now raise the stakes of that order to the corporate level.\u00a0 Will a whole department or all those under the level of the issuer feel a bit of the jerk syndrome?<\/p>\n Well, then. You have a tool for the question. And you know how to use it.\u00a0 Think back to your past.\u00a0 Ever think that of an action by a leader in your past life?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are we who issue orders to associates or employees ever acting as jerks?\u00a0 We\u2019d never like to think so, or we wouldn\u2019t do it in the first place. If someone is saying \u201cThis is confusing to me\u201d when you\u2019ve given … Continue reading