You can often predict the culture of an organization by how you are received at the front desk. How do people greet you? How do they treat you while you are waiting in the lobby for your appointment? How does the lobby look? Are you made to feel welcome or treated like you are an intruder?

As a coach/consultant, you look at all evidence you can discover or uncover on the web about a prospective client. Do they have a value statement? What does their human resource department have available on their page about how people are embraced?

As was the case, with one particular company, there was a tremendous amount of information available leading one to believe that this was an awesome place that had some substance, and serviced all employees with respect and dignity.

The Meet and Greet

On the first day of the appointments, the front of house staff was cordial; direct; and helpful with setting up internet access while approaching my business appointments; promising.

I had a few preliminary conversations with a guiding team; discussed their concerns and inquired about what was stated on the career link for their human resource department. I was preparing for an upcoming leadership retreat and had individual conversations scheduled for 12 people.

Typically, these private dialogues contain similar questions to ascertain what’s truly happening behind the scenes; a ChangeWorks!® assessment is prepared to determine activities causing the greatest stress; and an agenda planned for a minimum of 1.5 - 5 day business retreat.

In those initial discussions, it was determined that the work environment among the management team did not even remotely mimic what was stated on their website career page.

“We foster family and relationships.” “We are a growing community poised for taking actions to lead us to become the best XXX service provider in the global market.” “Our employees are our backbone. We treasure each and every member and what they have to say about making us a better company.”

What I found during the private conversations was evidence of silos; blame shifting on the performance of other departments; lack of trust and literally no meaningful communication. Division managers wanted to point the fingers at others and draw blood for problems each had identified as everyone else’s fault.

They were looking forward to me facilitating a drawn, drag-down fight where folks would be humiliated in front of others and so be it. Other managers deserved to be demeaned. It was everyone else’s fault they were not making bonuses and had nothing to do with the behavior of themselves or their team. There was an overarching “exterminate and take prisoners” mentality. I heard nothing similar to what was stated on the website.

My work was cut out for me.

Not One of a Kind

This team was not unusual. Whether you have 5 or 500 employees; 1,000 or 10,000 staff, organizations are near-sighted. The managers do not know how to lead. They manage work within their own departments, do not understand how their work should be integrated with that of the whole, and are motivated by money only. Slash and burn.

They operate from a place of fear, rather than a foundation for collaboration. They are interested in dominating others and submitting them into distress. There is no underlying concern about staff development, partnering, raising motivation, building self-esteem — none of the fostering of relationships alluded to on the their website.

So, if this is how the management team was operating, what were the messages from the top down where inspiration and direction should have been adopted?

How could that fear or shame-based mentality be changed? How long will the change take? How many books have to be read by whom? In what amount of time to shift any organization from a place destined for survival? How easy would it be to shift them to an organization that thrives?

Nothing is Easy; It Takes One Simple Well-Placed Statement

Clearly, leadership from the top is lacking. There may be a vision — but is it compelling? How is the leader articulating what will be tolerated and what won’t be tolerated? It did not appear as if there was any inspiration towards solid teamwork across department lines; nor, the belief that others could ever get the job done.

A typical response from organizations stuck in crisis mode, is for them to search for yet one more assessment to be completed. Does this sound like you? “… We’ve completed the Myers-Briggs, DISC, Strength-Finders. Hell, we’ve done 360’s on everyone. We’ve had Emotional Intelligence… even Positivity Intelligence… the Hogan, the Five Dysfunctions, the Action Wheel, the Wheel of Life, the Team Upside Assessment, the Team Downside Assessment… we REALLY know all about ourselves.”

Really? If you know all about yourselves, then, why hasn’t anything changed? Yes, leaders need to be self-aware, but it is critical for them to make a statement about leading and then, they need to do just that.

Nothing changes because there’s no communication; no plan to change anything and someone (the supposed LEADER) is perfectly content to let things fester and not pay any real attention to the handwriting on the wall. When the leader is complacent with chaos, then, turmoil will reign.

What To Do if This Sounds Like You

“…ruuuunnnn Forrest!....” People change jobs because of lack of leadership. They love the people they work with; but the leadership, (aka the boss or my supervisor) has much to be desired.

If you are in a position to make a change, do something — take action. There is no commandment or business principle that says you have to tolerate abuse at work each day; that you have to be unhappy or unfulfilled at work because you have a lousy boss.

• Commit to yourself that you will find a new job by a certain amount of time and then, find the courage to do it. There is no commandment or business principle that dictates you have to be a lousy boss to reach your goals and make money.

• Reach out for support.

• Look at all of those assessment results and do something.

• Take bold action.

• Remain committed to change that will move you forward.

• Learn how to become inspirational.

• Seek guidance.

• Engage others on your team to plan for that change and how to sustain it.

When we are able to dig deep down and find the courage; when we are willing to do what we know is the right thing; then and only then, can our motivation influence the change we desire.

As a society, we’ve moved past the Crusades year’s ago; we should not be at war at work. The cost of human dignity is too fragile, too high, and too great.

Leaders LEAD! Stop slashing and burning your team. Start inspiring and building those around you.

Kayte Connelly, Best Principled Solutions LLC, was recently named a 2014 Women of Influence by Lehigh Valley Business. She is a leadership coach, and organizational development consultant specializing in personal, professional and community leadership. She facilitates corporate retreats and conversations with dissimilar parties and helps individuals and organizations identify and eliminate what stands between themselves and their goals. Enriched customized services are designed to create and sustain generations of leaders for our community and elsewhere, based on research and global development. Please “like” us at www.facebook.com/BestPrincipledSolutions. Call 484.769.2327 for more information on how your company could become more collaborative, flexible, imaginative, and innovative and/or to discover your leadership “edge.”