Grappling with the Gray #122: Every which way -- but lose?

How can we explain toxic trends in opposite directions?

That's the question that drives the conversation when Kimberly Davis, Jennifer Hyland, and Peter Winick join the ethics panel to Grapple with the Gray.

Here is our topic:

In this week’s headlines, Inc.com highlighted a viral April 12 post that described the Robert W. Baird investment bank as “The Epitome of a Sweatshop.” In response, the Wall Street Journal reported bosses bullying into working 110-hour weeks, ignoring the firm’s no-work-on-Saturday policy, and sending emails at 3:30 am to check that employees were still online.

As far back as 2017, Inc.com columnist Jacob Morgan ranked Baird third on his list of companies with the lowest-scoring employee experience. The WSJ reported that such practices in the industry routinely contribute to serious health problems and have even been linked to employee deaths. Ironically, but not surprisingly, bosses at Baird frequently complain about low productivity.

The same news feed included an article in Forbes describing the rise of “snow-plow” managers who refuse to delegate, thereby contributing to their own stress, isolation, and burnout while disempowering and demoralizing employees.

It seems bizarre to witness the simultaneous rise of two such antithetical trends. What they do have in common, however, is bosses pursuing practices that so clearly run counter to their own best interests as well as those of the company.

How can we explain the rise of such disparate lose-lose behaviors? And what can be done to put a stop to them?

Meet the panel:

Kimberly Davis is an author, TEDx speaker, and founder of Brave Leadership, leading development programs world-wide, around authentic leadership, purpose, presence, and influence.

Jennifer Hyland serves as Deputy Chief Constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. She is an advisor and mentor dedicated to a future built on a foundation of principled leadership.

Peter Winick works with individuals and organizations to build and grow revenue streams through their thought leadership platforms and is host of the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast.


#ethics
#leadership
#culture
#accountability
#mindset