Cynicism and
Its Impact
By TOM HEUER |
|
|
|
|
|
During our leadership work, ILA spends a significant
amount of time discussing cynicism and its negative impact on people,
departments and organizations. Very rarely do we experience
cynicism in our workshops or our consulting engagements.
Recently, we had the "distinct pleasure" of engaging a cynic in
a three day Leadership Challenge workshop. And it was everything
that you have shared with us about cynics - negative, roadblock
to success, wasted energy put forth in dealing with him, a downer,
etc.
The participants initially dealt with the cynic
like most work groups - ignored him or praised his comments.
One person admitted, "Let's try to bring him into the conversation
by agreeing with him." As the workshop progressed, each
participant realized how much energy was being wasted with this
strategy. Continual disagreements, bickering and caustic comments
were being leveled. It was destructive. As the
drive to disagree continued, two participants had the courage to
"provide some coaching about his behavior." They offered their
thoughts to him about his actions in and out of the classroom.
He listened, but was not moved. He became more argumentative
and doubled his efforts to be viewed as negative. This situation
sealed my belief that it takes four upbeat people to offset
one cynic.
What did we learn from this situation?
- Cynicism is debilitating. It affects the entire
tenor of the situation. What should be an upbeat environment ends
up becoming confrontational and subdued. It impacts everyone's
enthusiasm.
- It is difficult for us to confront the cynic.
What are we concerned about? Two things - conflict and failure.
We believe that the cynic will either disagree with us or ignore
us. Neither outcome is exactly acceptable to us. So, we do nothing
- nothing at all. The cynic depends on the "upbeats" to not take
action. It is out of profile for the upbeat to confront the cynic
for the purpose of change. Believe us at ILA. If you are unable
to accept the challenge of confronting the cynic, your leadership
will fall short of the mark.
- Cynics are frustrated by their existence. Without
coaching and a personal commitment to change, cynics are lost
in their own pool of self-doubt and discontentment. As leaders,
we can break this hold of cynicism. How? Listen, confront and
understand.
Finally, if this strategy does not work, please
do everyone a favor - dispatch the cynic!
Your results will not achieve close to expectations
until you have the courage to take action. People are waiting
for you to step up NOW.
Let us know how we can support you in this difficult
step as a leader.
Copyright 2000 International Leadership
Associates
|