PURPOSE & IMPACT

Category: Culture

About Fear And Resilience In Organizations

Content Credit: BiancaVanDijk (Pixabay)

I wanted to share some useful notes from the book, “The Psychology Of Fear In Organizations” by Dr. Sheila M Keegan, a Chartered Psychologist, and Fellow of the Market Research Society and Bath Business School. A lot of these play out in organizations every day and it helps a lot for leaders to be aware.

*Business psychologist and coach, Chris Welford identifies five telltale signs of a fear-based culture.
1. There is a preoccupation with status and conformity, and where rules have precedence over common sense.
2. Distinct in-groups exist and there is little opportunity to cross the boundaries between them.
3. Everything is measured but nothing is questioned.
4. Appraisals are only ever one-way.
5. The accent is on pace but short-term gain is known to be at the long term cost.

…Not surprisingly, in a fearful working climate, employees tend to mirror the behaviour of their managers. Management over-control generally has the effect of discouraging risk-taking, squashing initiatives and dispelling creativity and novel thinking.

… Feeling fearful, threatened or undermined at work can have a major effect on our work performance, as well as on our mental and physical health. Fear impacts our relationships with our colleagues and managers. We bring fear home with us…

How To Develop Personal Resilience, A Critical Element For Working Effectively Through Fear
…On a personal level, developing resilience is an ongoing process that involves a mixture of adjustments. Resilience can be developed by:
* having supportive work networks and healthy relationships.
* focusing time and energy on things we have some control over, rather than expending energy on aspects that are outside our control.
* actively looking for opportunities for self discovery and broadening our perspectives.
* practising cognitive restructuring: changing the way in which we think about negative situations.
* paying attention to our body as well as our mind, paying attention to one’s own needs and feelings.
* keeping a long term perspective, and considering the broader context.
* taking decisive actions.
* maintaining a hopeful outlook…

These are only few perspectives on a much broader topic.

Importance of A Healthy Work Environment and Related Practices

There’s been a lot of attention and discussion related to the unfortunate recent death of an employee in a large company in India, related work environment and practices. The fact that this is being shared, discussed heavily on social media and the media, indicates this topic has touched many people deeply.

* As business founders, leaders, managers and HR professionals, it is important to be proactive in ensuring healthy work environments in your organisations. This includes the focus on work, organization culture, policies and practices, leadership behaviors, health and wellbeing of your team members.
* All of you have important, shared responsibilities which impacts lives of your employees and their families.
* Doing nothing or staying silent never helps and most times, silence encourages toxic behaviours. Psychological safety is a core element of a healthy work environment. At a minimum, it is critical to initiate constructive discussions/dialogues with the long term interest of your people and sustenance of your organisation in mind. Do not brush the uncomfortable discussions away. Start with few fundamental steps that may hold high impact and visibility. Figure ways to manage stress proactively, actions to take when the red light indicators show up (they will show up in some form). When groups of managers and leaders work collectively with their support teams, get support and help (internally or externally), things will improve.
* In larger companies, it’s easier to lose sight of individual cases and stay hidden. The stress threshold levels can be different for individuals. Team members play a key role here in identifying, awareness and support.

Don’t let toxic elements/aspects linger and grow till it becomes too late.

For many leaders and organisations, the key learning here is to be proactive and not wait for worst case scenarios (irrespective of direct or indirect causes) to play out.

On the other side of the coin, many professionals and companies have high ambition and drive (that’s normally the path to quick growth) but that needs to be balanced with the constant reminder that the work is similar to a marathon, not a sprint. One needs to be prepared for the marathon. The growth process, and speed will be continuous and one needs to adjust the pace. Companies always are in a race to keep growing. The alternative is gradual decline. It is very important for the individual employee to be equally focused and responsible for safeguarding one’s own health and well being – to ask for support when needed, get help and figure ways to stay healthy physically and mentally. If the organization culture is not supportive, find personal ways to stay healthy. If that doesn’t work still, it is completely okay to find another workplace that works better for you.

The role of leaders in ensuring a healthy work environment is critical.

Chairman of multiple companies, and former CEO Douglas Conant recently said, “Surprisingly, I find that I cannot say it enough.”
…” leadership comes from within, from our humanity. We cannot be “artificial” in any way in our leadership; we must be authentic, true to ourselves, and true to the people with whom we live and work.”

There is a need to reaffirm, remind constantly about the fundamentals of a healthy workplace, and the critical role of positive, healthy leaders. When people spend most of their lives at the workplace, that could make a huge difference.

A Decade of Cross Cultural Experiences in Four Fundamental Practices

After spending over a decade of my life in Finland/Europe and the U.S., and having had the great opportunity to interact and work with talented individuals and leaders from various cultural backgrounds and journeys, I wanted to synthesize and share some of my key experiences and lessons in cross-cultural experiences.

Working and living across countries/cultures may present great opportunities and at the same time, they hold numerous challenges. The ability to work effectively with, lead and manage across cultures are competencies that are becoming very important in a world that continues to get smaller and closer, due to rapid advances in technology and social media. As glamorous as it may seem from a distance, adapting to and succeeding in a very different culture are not at all easy. Those who choose to be ignorant of this topic will lose great opportunities for personal and professional growth.

There’re numerous studies and research articles on this topic and some of my thinking has been influenced by them.

If you come to another’s turf with empathy, sensitivity and open ears – what the Zen masters call ‘beginner’s mind’ – you’re halfway home.
– Tom Peters

1. Respect
Being aware, sensitive to and noticing some of the key themes, norms and behaviors in a new environment constitute an important starting point. This can help one to understand how things work, life patterns flow and what is valued in that setting. Many of the norms would be very different from one’s own conditioning and would seem strange initially. Being respectful to individuals and cultural norms helps to adapt faster to any new environment. One would also need to be respectful of the differences and try to understand the background without being judgmental. There is a possibility of feeling disrespected or ignored, in some instances. Chances are that, not everyone in a different culture is aware of the nuances of your culture and interaction styles. Irrespective of how you feel initially, your mature approach and respectful presence can increase your acceptance, credibility and prevent you from getting stuck in a frustration zone.

2. Openness To New Experiences Without Judging
This is vital for making progress in a different cultural setting. Stephen Covey’s teaching, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” is a very useful advice to keep in mind while interacting with people from a different culture. It is useful to be aware of our own biases and that our biases and environmental conditioning may easily lead us into the questioning, judging, confusing and eventually distrusting zone.  Individuals from different backgrounds can look at the same scenario and perceive it very differently.  Categorizing something in your mind as superior or inferior, right or wrong, good or bad etc. will impact your own thinking ability and responses to situations and people.  Open communication with authenticity is fundamental to avoiding misunderstandings. During initial stages of interactions, it’s useful to explain the reason behind doing or asking for something that impacts others, and clarifying the same with others without creating a ‘threat’ state, when there are questions in your mind. This avoids confusion, especially in the initial stages of relationship building.

3. Flexibility
As mentioned earlier, I realized that my own way of seeing a topic was very different from how others from a different background related to the same topic.  Being flexible relates to building self-awareness and using that awareness effectively to understand and manage through various scenarios.  This would also mean shifting/stretching ways of thinking and adjusting/ changing one’s own approaches.  Taking the responsibility to tackle an unpleasant situation with maturity and emotional intelligence requires a lot of flexibility, to flex one’s own thinking frames. It’s very useful to have a positive ‘forgiving’ and ‘forgetful/let go’ attitude with unpleasant experiences, while being aware of one’s own learning.  Very seldom does anyone win an argument of being right or wrong.  ‘Co-regulation’ beyond ‘self-regulation’ is very helpful.  Vicious responses only result in cycles of vicious interactions and stress, which take the relationships further into the red zone.  On the other hand, not engaging in a proactive, positive conversation results in increasing distance.

4. Coping with the unknown and fear of failure
There’re a lot of unknowns in a new environment. Finding information through formal and informal channels and making personal connections are very helpful to put one at ease initially. One has to also find relevant ways to accept, understand and cope with stress related to uncertainties of the new environment. It generally will take a certain amount of time before adjusting and feeling comfortable in a different cultural environment.  Patience is fundamental to work through times of frustration, disappointment and negativity.  It may not be uncharacteristic to go through a feeling of ‘being lost’ at times.  It is really important to find one’s own support from ‘comfort zones’, secure bases and ‘connections’ in those situations.

It is helpful to be prepared for mistakes and misunderstandings along the way. Fear of failure can inhibit people from experimenting or experiencing new things, which reduce the impact of the cultural experience, knowledge and personal development. The normal tendency might be to stay within one’s own comfort zones most of the time.

According to a leading expert in this field Fons Trompenaars,

“We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humor to discover cultures other than our own; a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are.”

Your willingness and openness to step into the new world can take you to a totally new dimension of personal growth, deep connections and confidence.  Enjoy the journey.  Best wishes…

Please share your valuable learning and experiences!

Note:  The topic of ‘culture’ can be reviewed at different levels or frames.  I’ve tried to focus on the country culture aspect here.  Some of these practices can be useful in working through other aspects, like organizational culture differences.

Learnings From My Cross-Cultural Experiences

Working and living across countries/cultures may present great opportunities but at the same time, they hold numerous challenges. Ability to manage across cultures is a competence that is becoming really important as the world gets flatter and more companies decide to go global. Adapting and succeeding in a very different culture are not easy. Some people choose to be oblivious of this topic and that impacts personal and professional growth. Though there’re numerous studies and research articles on this topic, I would like to share some of my key learnings, personal experiences and observations. This list is neither comprehensive nor listed in the order of importance.

1. Respect

Being sensitive to and noticing some of the key threads in norms and behaviors in the new environment within and outside office is an important starting point. This helps to understand how things work and what’s respected in the new setting. Many of the norms would be very different and may seem strange initially. The global professional needs to be respectful of the differences and try to understand the background with reasoning. Respecting individuals and cultural norms is a critical factor in adapting to any new culture.

Communication is key to avoiding misunderstandings. Many times during initial stages of interactions, it’s useful to explain the reason behind doing or asking for something that impacts others. This avoids confusion and helps to build trust especially in the initial stages of relationship building.

2. Flexibility/Openness
This is vital for success in a different cultural setting. There is a possibility that one may feel insulted or not respected in some instances. Chances are that everyone may not be aware of the nuances about other cultures and interaction styles. Stephen Covey’s teaching, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” is a very useful advice to keep in mind while interacting with people from a different culture. In other cases, someone may just not be respectful or culturally intelligent. This could lead to frustrations. Being flexible and open helps to build a working relationship and trust. In my opinion, the burden of responsibility falls on the global professional to tackle an unpleasant situation with emotional maturity and intelligence. It’s very useful to have a positive ‘forgiving’ and ‘forgetful’ (unpleasant events) attitude – easier said than done.

3. Coping with the unknown,fear of failure and patience
There’re a lot of unknowns in a new environment. I’m not sure if anyone is perfectly comfortable facing unknowns. Finding information through formal and informal channels is very helpful to put one at ease. One has to also find appropriate ways to cope with stress related to uncertainties and the new environment. There may be different approaches for different people. Hobbies and avenues for entertainment provide useful options. People generally do take a certain period of time to adjust and feel comfortable in a new environment.

Even if one has good competencies, there will be mistakes along the way. On the other hand, fear of failure can inhibit people from trying out or getting exposed to new things. The normal tendency may be to stay within one’s comfort zones. There will be misunderstandings. Having lots of patience to understand, learn from mistakes, adjust and work one’s way through multiple and varied scenarios is important.

One of the leading experts in this field Fons Trompenaars advises, “We need a certain amount of humility and a sense of humor to discover cultures other than our own; a readiness to enter a room in the dark and stumble over unfamiliar furniture until the pain in our shins reminds us of where things are.” Management guru Tom Peters writes, “If you come to another’s turf with empathy, sensitivity and open ears – what the Zen masters call ‘beginner’s mind’ – you’re halfway home”.

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