In many companies, there is a culture in which the head and the hand dominate and the heart, i.e., feelings and emotions, are paid little attention to or even ridiculed and suppressed.
As a result, people are divided; they are expected to contribute with their intellect and their actions, and to leave their feelings at home as far as possible. Max Frisch aptly said in 1965 in the preface to the book ‘Siamo Italiani’ by Alexander Seiler: ‘We called for workers and people came.’ At the time, this quote referred to the immigration of guest workers, but it also applies metaphorically to the present situation of many companies.
Typical indicators of a head-hand-heavy organizational culture are dominance and a know-it-all attitude. If the management is always right, the company is inevitably only as intelligent as he or she. Empathy is not a high priority here, yet it is crucial for employee retention. There is often a chilling atmosphere that prevents people from opening and creating a sense of connection.
Managers focus on the bottom line and if it does not meet the target, pressure is increased to present a better result. This behavior leads to a cycle that becomes a hamster wheel. Appreciation and gratitude are not an issue. In the longer term, this drains the positive energy from the company. The energetic spiral runs permanently downwards. This results in increased sick leave and high fluctuation, which costs the company a lot of money.
The lack of heart-oriented competencies makes it impossible to recognize these connections.
Reactions to high turnover are often statements like ‘our managers need to learn to motivate employees better’. So, they try to motivate extrinsically and do not understand why they fail. They do not realize that it would be their responsibility to create framework conditions in which intrinsic motivation is maintained. Intrinsic motivation is listening to the inner voice that says yes loud and clear to the chosen task. Healthy people want a meaningful job which they can accomplish independently and responsibly. They want to grow in their tasks and experience appreciation for good performance.
Since managers rarely succeed in creating these framework conditions due to their fragmented attitude, an unbearable situation arises for the employee. Initially, this leads to an inner resignation and as soon as a better opportunity presents itself, the employee will leave the company. These managers cannot really be blamed. They behave exactly as is expected of them, i.e., mainly through the head and the hand and without the heart.
In everyday professional life, different interests and needs collide. The resulting conflicts are sometimes overt, sometimes covert.
The four most common behaviors of how people deal with conflict are:
- Assertive conflict behavior is characterized by the fact that the person expresses his or her opinions and feelings clearly and stands up for his or her rights and needs without violating the rights of others. These people value themselves and their emotional, mental, and physical needs.
- People with passive conflict behaviors are reluctant to express their opinions or feelings and to stand up for their rights. They often do not recognize their needs and respond to hurtful or upsetting situations with silence. However, once their high tolerance threshold for unacceptable behavior is reached, they tend to have explosive outbursts, which are usually out of proportion to the triggering event. After an outburst, they experience shame and guilt, which again leads to passive behavior.
- People with passive-aggressive conflict behavior appear passive. They act out their anger subtly and indirectly. They feel powerless and can be resentful. They feel unable to deal directly with the perceived perpetrators of their resentment. Instead, they express their anger from ambush.
- People who are prone to aggressive conflict behavior express their feelings, opinions and needs in ways that violate the rights of others. They are verbally, sometimes even physically, hurtful, or inconsiderate.
Of the four basic behaviors described, only assertive conflict behavior is desirable.
Managers should check whether they behave assertively in conflict situations. Only then can they set a good example. The prerequisites for assertive behavior are heart-oriented competencies such as emotional intelligence, the ability to express gratitude and appreciation, and to communicate positively and at eye level. Either a manager has already developed these competencies, or they have the willingness to work concretely on themselves to complete this inner transformation.
Managers with assertive conflict behavior strengthen the relationship with their employees and contribute to the sustainable success of the company. For a company to reach a higher level in terms of sustainable success, people must develop holistically. We define sustainable corporate success not only in the economic sense, but also in terms of the health of the employees and their collectively responsible approach to the environment and society.
These ideas are not new. For decades, experts have been pointing out the importance of the human factor for corporate success. Organizations are launching initiatives to change their culture accordingly. Few succeed in making this transformation sustainable.
Do their leaders perhaps lack the willingness to develop on a personal level?
Courageous leaders reflect on the quality of their own emotional world and, if necessary, change it positively. If a leader takes on this challenge, he or she can shape transformation credibly and set a shining example. This creates an organizational culture in which humanistic values such as hope, optimism, respect, tolerance, integrity, and non-violence are lived out in collaboration.
The Inner Voice plays an important role in personal transformation.
Executives who have not yet established a connection to their intuition need guidance and support. From our personal experience and from executive coaching sessions we know that the relationship to the Inner Voice can be established relatively quickly. It seems as if this Inner Voice was waiting for you to pay attention to it. Just thinking about it gives it more power and gradually you get clearer and clearer impulses.
Einstein said:
“The intuitive mind is a gift and the rational mind a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Excerpt from ‘Grundlage für kreative Konfliktlösung – Die Stimme des Violin’
Ildikó Mueller and Eia Escher.
