While sitting in the office yesterday, our Business Development Manager came up to me and said, “I have an IDEA.” This was exciting—I love getting input from other employees about what they want to see on the blog. After a few seconds, he donned a New York accent and uttered the famous line from A Bronx Tale:“Is it better to be loved or feared?”
For our purposes, we’ll be looking at how this applies to business (not the mob).
The trend for most of the last century was that bosses were to be feared, a la “Devil Wears Prada” style. Business leaders were not accessible, friendly, or personable. They drank scotch on the rocks at lunch, and locked themselves away in barred-gate offices guarded by sassy secretaries or receptionists. If you were called for a meeting “in my office,” you shook with fear in your tasseled loafers. You didn’t look them in the eye, ask questions, or make any quick movements—bosses were the equivalent of workplace grizzly bears.
But things have changed.
Corporate cultures have emerged where the boss is the new celebrity. Companies like Zappos have integrated their CEOs and executives into their corporate culture by implementing open-door policies, putting executive offices in the center of the building, and by creating open feedback cultures (360, anyone?). Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sits in a cubicle at the company’s Las Vegas headquarters, fully visible to employees and company tours. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg sits in an open space he set up in city hall. Today, bosses are realizing the value of being liked, loved, and even worshipped. Take a look at Crispin Porter+Bogusky’s Alex Bogusky, recently retired—not only does CP+B worship him, but the rest of the ad industry has nicknamed him as “Advertising’s Jesus.”
So which kind of boss is better? We can start by asking which kind of corporate culture is more conducive to innovation and creativity, and therefore can create new solutions to challenges. Especially in a globalized world, constant industry change and corporate challenges are to be expected. The quicker these issues can be solved, the better—and the best solutions might come from a low-level employee. With a management structured around “height,” the odds of this “newbie’s” idea getting to upper management are little to none. If the idea does reach the top and is taken seriously, the hurdles and gateways in place in a vertical management structure have diluted it and have caused loss of time, money, and productivity.
Lets imagine that this same idea occurred in a workplace built on breadth rather than height. In a perfect world, the new hire/innovator could just walk into the office of an executive (open door policy, remember?) and explain their idea. Voila! Problem solved, new hire gains the respect of management, and the world is full of flowers and butterflies. Lets snap back to reality, though. More than likely, a new hire wouldn’t have the chutzpah to approach an upper level executive, but in an open corporate culture, they would have the courage to talk to their manager. They have already had a few great conversations about life outside of work, and the manager has given the employee regular feedback and tips about working at the company. This manager, familiar with the openness of the corporate culture, would identify their subordinate’s idea as valid, and then connect with the high-level executives she’s met around the office and at work-related functions. The solution would be addressed in a timely fashion, attributed to the low-level employee, and would be evaluated and adopted in a timely manner. Now that’s more like it!
We’re not saying that there shouldn’t be some sort of respect for upper-level management. Don’t treat your boss like you treat your bar buddies. But when fear is out of the picture, everyone is a lot more creative, more efficient, and therefore more productive.
So you tell us: as a boss, would you rather be loved or feared?
