Every fortnightly issue takes a founder communication situation β submitted by a reader β and breaks it down through three lenses: the social script, the inner script, and what to actually say. Plus a pop culture parallel you probably didn't see coming.
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Hello Friends, As a business owner, your dream team consists of people with great skills, work ethic and ideally a personality that makes you look forward to interacting with them. Can you have it all? We explore situations with team members who aren't entirely bad and how anticipatory management can be an energy drain. If you want your issue to be considered for an upcoming Newsletter, just fill out this anonymous form. The Situation:Rupert has a team member, Declan who is exceptional at his job - highly analytical, hardworking and responsible. The only thing about Declan is his short fuse. He can't stand to repeat things. He snaps at adjacent queries as he doesn't want to waste his time repeating or explaining when people can self-help. Rupert understands Declan's point of view but Declan's attitude is rubbing people off the wrong way. Meetings with Declan are sanitized and cold. No one attempts to ask questions for fear of being exploded upon. Colleagues do the necessary but keep a wide berth and have even gone to Rupert to explicitly request that they do not work with Declan directly. Rupert is at a loss as Declan is a significant player in his company and he is embedded in many processes. THE HOLLYWOOD TAKE Film director, David O. Russell is well known for his brash, aggressive and high energy directing style. He is probably best known for his close collaboration with actress Jennifer Lawrence on multiple movies (American Hustle and Joy) including her Oscar award winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook. On the set of the 1999 movie, Three Kings, he got into a physical fistfight with actor George Clooney. On the set of the 2004 movie, I Heart Huckabees, he clashed with actress Lily Tomlin and had a public shouting match. Talented Director? Yes. Hot Tempered? Definitely. SOCIAL SCRIPT: "What can I do? That's his personality. Who am I to police it and tell him what he needs to change? He is a grown man so I'm sure it'll eventually hit him that he has to make some changes." INNER SCRIPT: "Declan is brilliant. I don't want to lose him. Maybe the team is being too sensitive. Having a chat is not worth the fallout. Then again, we have been avoiding some beneficial ventures because Declan doesn't want to engage with a vendor whom he thinks is an idiot and no one wants to have a debate with him." ACTUAL SCRIPT: Rupert decides to reframe the conversation. He is not confronting Declan about his behaviour. He is talking to Declan about how his behaviour and actions impact the company. It's talking about Declan's contributions to the company and how that can be amplified if the people around him are able to engage with him meaningfully. "I want to be able to bring you my full thinking, but notice I hold back sometimes. I'd rather fix that than have us lose good ideas." If Rupert makes it about the impact / the results / the outcome and less on the behaviour, the conversation will be less accusatory and more collaborative. "Are you managing around a person or are you managing a person?" |
Script your Life
Every fortnightly issue takes a founder communication situation β submitted by a reader β and breaks it down through three lenses: the social script, the inner script, and what to actually say. Plus a pop culture parallel you probably didn't see coming.
Hello Friends, When did "authentic" start meaning "your face, on camera, three times a week"? Two French music producers built one of the most commercially and critically successful careers in modern music without the public knowing what either of them looked like for the better part of two decades. Nobody accused them of hiding. If anything, the mystery is the reason people still talk about them. This issue is for the founder being told growth requires becoming a personal brand β and who...
Hello Friends, Have you gone to the cinemas to watch The Odyssey? I haven't. All this Odyssey promotion has gotten me curious about Matt Damon - not about his fitness regime but his long career. His motivations, beliefs and values. How they steer him in the creation of a decorated IMDB page - with TV appearances and movies that showcase his range and versatility. Instead of tackling 1 scenario in this issue, we'll going to cover 1 person. Matt Damon. If you want your issue to be considered...
Hello Friends, Signing on a major client is mostly good news - bigger paycheck, consistency of revenue, increased credibility etc. The downside may be having to interface with more layers in their corporate structure. What's wrong with more layers you ask? Let's explore Eliza's situation below. If you want your issue to be considered for an upcoming Newsletter, just fill out this anonymous form. The Situation: Eliza is psyched about having a major brand commit to a big order for her...