Brian Hayman, one of our associates at Fulcrum Associates, has penned some wisdom that I would like to quote:
We write stories for ourselves in which we cast ourselves in leading roles and assign supporting parts and cameo appearances to others. It’s their job to love and admire us, promote and give us raises, laugh at our jokes and take our side against our enemies, figure out our needs and satisfy them.
At some point, however, when we go public with our imaginings and raise the curtains on our plays, we find that we are sharing the stage with 6.5 billion other leading men, women and children who have cast us in supporting roles and given us cameo appearances in their stories.
It is so easy to forget that, even though you are the boss and are dealing with higher level challenges and larger responsibilities, in your employees’ version of the “drama” you share you are not the star. They are! While they want you and the unit to succeed, the core theme in their “play” is that they get what they want.
In my leadership development workshops I frequently field complaints about staff who don’t care enough about the fortunes of the unit or the organization. These employees aren’t sufficiently jazzed about the bottom line or the new product launch, or about finding ways to work more productively. From the perspective of the manager, the supporting cast isn’t supporting enough (“Don’t they know their role? Haven’t they learned their lines?”).
My advice is to these managers is to remember that in the employee version of the play called “My Job” the boss does not have top billing and the organization/office/job site is but the stage upon which the employee’s personal saga unfolds.
How do you engage this employee leading man (or woman), since in their play it’s first and foremost about them? Consider what you want them to value and actively support and link it to what is important to them, to their expressed needs and concerns, and even to their sense higher purpose and spirit of contribution.
We’re all employees (or have been). It’s not that we are (were) self-centered prima donnas concerned only about our personal gain. It’s just that, when the credits roll, our name appears at the top and we naturally expect that to mean something special.
