Management style – fear or collaboration

Let’s be honest – reality TV is there because it is cheap to make, easy to produce and people watch it. The more sensational the better. I get it. But I still get frustrated with certain programs.  Recently the Food Network changed out their restaurant observation program for a new, edgier production.  In the old version the people came in and put cameras into the restaurant, planted new staff and customers, and everyone evaluated what happened.  Apparently people found it boring. Now, we have a “personality” who evaluates with the owner throughout the show. And he’s obnoxious.

The reason I don’t like him is because he clearly believes the only way to motivate other people’s employees is through fear and intimidation.  My hunch is if you talk to his actual staff back at his restaurant, he doesn’t treat them that way at all. And I think that based on the fact that he called into his restaurant to demonstrate something and the response he got was not that of a scared employee. But it makes good television (for other people – I won’t be watching it again).

So what does this mean to you? Well, there are a number of ways to approach management.  And when we say management, it really is management of employees, but also of ourselves, of paperwork, of pets, of family, whatever.  You can approach it in a collaborative, “let’s get something done together” attitude, or an in-your-face, do-it-or-else way.  For instance, if you are managing people, you can explain the results you need, give your team the freedom to develop the ways to accomplish the goals and the freedom to screw up at times.  You also need to give them the right to fix their screw ups themselves. Or, you can be like this guy, and demand people do certain things giving everyone very clear direction and then very severe action if they screw up.  Both can work, but it depends on what environment you want to be in.

It is the same for a process, managing yourself, a family member or a pet. If you are trying to lose weight, you can get tools to help yourself, set goals, if you stray acknowledge it and move on, and work toward something positive.  Or, you can punish yourself every time you screw up and beat yourself up until you reach your goal.

My only request here is to make it a conscious decision.  If you want to be collaborative, set that as a goal, think about what that looks like and make that your choice. If you decide fear is easier, then own it and know it is a choice.  Don’t be the person who claims collaboration and then runs things on fear. That’s just hypocritical.