Encourage, build one another

weekend.
It appears the argument emanated from the fact that Takaz failed to support Barnabas in a catch that probably would have won him the competition.
The National Parks officials and other competitors worked overtime to restrain the two menacing guys.
Barnabas did not take failure lightly and Takaz did not like to shoulder the blame for failure either.
Takaz was infuriated when Barnabas humiliated him in front of most of the participants.
As the liquidity crunch takes its toll on some former blue chip companies, I hear directors and managers are exchanging blows and angry unprintable words in the boardrooms these days.
The boardroom etiquette seems to prevail during good times only for most companies.
When losses start trickling in, it appears the blame culture and witch-hunting becomes the order of the day, though this rarely solves the burning issues. But how do you react when you emerge the loser?
In every game there are winners and losers. The way leaders react to losses has a strong bearing on the future performance of the team. The following are the most common reactions to losing in business or sports.
Witch-hunting
Some opt for the blame-shifting game and others resort to witch-hunting. In both scenarios, the team will be destroyed which further increases the challenges the company will be facing.
When losses occur and when the balance sheet is weak it might not be urgent to witch-hunt.
Witch-hunting destroys trust between players and management. Trust is crucial in improving team cohesion and moral in the camp. Furthermore, witch-hunting is unethical.
Witch-hunting and blame games are used to shift responsibility from the management. However, the buck stops with the leadership of the organisation.
Instead of focusing on witch-hunting, teams should be preoccupied with formulating strategies, which can help them to regroup after the loss.
The quicker they regroup, the more likely they are able to go over the loss and work on their shortcomings.
Punishing subordinates in public
If emotions are not controlled most leaders are tempted to punish the culprit immediately or humiliate him/her in public.
Indeed negligence is a punishable offence. Should punishment be required for the culprit, it should be done in private as compared to the treatment Takaz received in front of all competitors.
Attempting to discipline the offender in public can result in undesired reaction from the offender or culprit.
Had Barnabas restrained from humiliating Takaz in public, chances are they would not have ended up fighting in public. No one wants to be disciplined in public.
Public discipline or humiliation includes giving negative Press reports about the culprit, public confrontation (in front of customers and other stakeholders) and disciplining a subordinate in front of other members of staff.
Feeling let down
In every sport managers are often disappointed by their most dependable and talented players at crucial moments.
To minimise disappointments they have to work overtime during training to overcome weaknesses of the players in general and to deflate the inflated egos of the star players in particular.
In company settings most of the work has to occur during strategic planning sessions and board meetings. This is where leadership has greater control than in the field of play.
Failure to manage stakeholders
During crisis time, most stakeholders become key players in the affairs of your organisation.
The public gets very excited and the Press would want to grant you several interviews.
The politicians want an explanation. The employees will be agitated.
The leaders would wake up to realise that there are so many people they are answerable to and in most cases failing to manage the priorities of these “new key players”.
In this instance there has to be a structured way of giving information to various stakeholders.
Joint responsibility
Only teams that jointly accept responsibility during crisis periods are able to rebuild in the future.
There is no mistake, which cannot be rectified if teams remain united even during dark hours.
Even tough teams can accept joint responsibility, however, the buck still stops with the manager/leader.
Encourage and build one another
Incidentally, Barnabas means “the son of encouragement” though he was doing something totally different during the brawl.
With all due respect keeping cool during times of crisis is difficult but it is a must.
When failure beckons, it is time to encourage and build each other.
Forms of encouragement include giving thumbs up and positive feedback, cheering and picking up the broken heart.
I am the first one to admit that cheering on a losing team is harder than cheering a winning team.
Losers need support more than winners at any given point.
Managers are very affected when their bankable players misfire at crucial moments though we still expect the managers to encourage and support the culprit.
At this point managers panic due to fear of other stakeholder reactions and join in to criticise the culprit.
The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail [email protected].