"All managers should be artists" is what Art told me today when asking about his experience at his new employer.
Art Burshy is now busy for some time at his new job but still discovering the culture of his new employer; his internal mentor pointed again to someone and whispered not to trust that person as she would be 'acting political'...
This is not the first time and Art has observed this also in other companies, and when I spoke to him he gave me his uncompromising view.
Art overloaded me mechanisms that are in humans that influence politics.
1. We are so easily hurt because of our EGO.
Often based on vague interpretations of other peoples behaviours. It make us feel we are entitled to feel hurt. In these cases we use disproportionate heavy words, such as respect, honour, hurt, etc to convince other people not even to start understanding what is the detailed explanation of our claim.
2. We love playing the victim;
sometimes it feels so nice to complain and blame others for our sorrow. As God is no longer there to justify all, we start looking for others to blame
3. It is so easy to find reasons to be hurt;
We are all different, thank-God, so we have all different ways to express ourselves. In difficult situations our communication deteriorates. And when dealing with different cultures...basically no communication can be trusted.
4. We deny of our insanity;
Popular in business is also to deny things like EGO, mental dysfunctions and dark thinking. We have to keep up the appearance of being sane and in control. Artists and rest of humanity has let go of that appearance, and even thrive on their dark side. That would be much more interesting.
5. Influencing = manipulation;
Many people try to 'influence' the outcome of decisions. Everyone thinks that their way is best and the right thing to do, always limited in how much they know and understand about the subject. All these nice 'intentions' cause loads of efforts to convince others, make others often feel like being manipulated.
6. My opinion is the best;
people focus on defending their opinion. Their role should be to explore alternatives and facilitate an objective decision. But somehow it always comes back to EGO, and we look for confirmation of our ideas, our contribution, proof of our added value.
After all this I started feeling dizzy and took a beer.
And after a few moments of reflection I asked Art why so many organisations struggle with this topic, having many people demotivated by it.
Art was clear: lots of organisations are so complex and have been split in little compartments. They have lost the passionate shared goal that initially justified their existence.
When the passion is gone it becomes a struggle for power.
They need a new muse, a new shared image of a beautiful purpose. It is not the individual leader and his ego that should drive the organisation; it should be a clear purpose and added value that inspires all people.
It is like the role of the muse for the artist; a beautiful vision of what-could-be that makes it worth to live the poor and crappy life of a true artist.
Managers should create a muse for their teams, that inspires and drives them collectively in the right direction.
All managers should be artists...were the last words of Art Burshy, and he finished his beer and walked out the door, leaving me a bit puzzled.
