If people tell you that you have a tail, it’s time to turn around and take a look.

It’s not always easy to face the truth. When I embark on a project to improve the level of employee engagement (a key driver of customer satisfaction and bottom-line profitability) for a client we start with training the supervisors (supervisors are the key drivers of employee engagement) in Intentional Coaching methods.

But before we do any training we ask the supervisors’ direct reports to complete a 9-question confidential on-line survey to get their honest feedback regarding their satisfaction with the support they received from their supervisor. Prior to arrival to the Great Supervisors Make a Difference Workshop, each supervisor receives a summary of their engagement survey results.

Supervisors have a mix of reactions. The majority take the feedback in stride. But for some supervisors like Todd (real name withheld) the survey results are particularly painful to read — and to swallow. Of the 20 people on his team, only a few had good things to say about him.

One supervisor’s journey from denial to acceptance.

Stage #1: It’s not my fault.

Todd could sight several possible reasons why his employees gave him negative reviews. They were smarting from the recent meeting in which he had to “lay down the law.” He also sighted the fact that there had been a hiring freeze and there were no raises that year so employees blamed him for decisions made by upper management. A few people never liked him and that was never going to change.

Stage #2: I don’t need to be here.

Todd made it known that he considered spending time in a training class a complete waste of his time. While others might be able to use this stuff, he said, he had better things to do.

Stage #3: They just don’t get me.

Todd said that his people evidently don’t understand that his command and control persona is just the way he is. They must know that he really does care about them and could always depend on him to having their back.

Stage #4: OK. I get it. I do need to change.

At the conclusion of the second day, I asked each participant for a take-away from the workshop — something they learned that was particularly helpful or useful to them.

After everyone else had provided their response, Todd finally raised his hand and said that he had to admit that he needed to be more understanding and work on softening his approach. The gist of what he had to say was that he had always thought that it was up to his people to adjust to his brusque management style. The workshop helped him see the opposite was true. It was was up to him to adjust his approach to fit the individual needs of each person on his team.

The first step in the change process is to admit you need to change. I, as well his fellow supervisors, was delighted that Todd had his Aha! moment. But, we all knew that the hard part was ahead, the “heavy lifting” portion of their journey. That’s when the real learning takes place.

Make it a great week!

Barbara Burke

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.