Jerk leadership isn’t intentional

The response to my post last week about jerk leaders showed that this is a common issue. It isn’t just HR’s work that can be derailed by jerk leadership, business success can be too – like the Post Office.

It isn’t that anyone sets out to be a jerk (I prefer to think), it’s more about how organisations are set up. They get out of balance.

Most often, it’s the revenue lever that gets overworked. Like a car with a turbo that doesn’t have corresponding safety features.

Speed is intoxicating. Caution is boring. ‘Just do what I say’, can be the message to HR when they explain that a situation is more complex than the line leader would like it to be. (Just get out of the way of me getting my bonus, is another interpretation.) I’ve been there. It can be a fight.

HR so often have to be the voice of reason, and it often isn’t welcome. They have to take the responsible view – responsible for all stakeholders.

I’m attending LeadershipDialogues@Bath next week and am looking forward to hearing Tom Keith-Roach of AstraZeneca on The Responsible Corporation.

Do any organisations set out to be IRresponsible? I don’t believe it’s intentional. Post Covid, so much has changed. We were forced to take an honest look at so many things – at ourselves, at society, at what’s really important.

HR leaders have a pivotal role to play in this maturing of business and leadership. We have to prove how – in what way – responsible also means profitable.

What kind of leadership do you reward in your organisation?