<\/p>\n
Who writes the emails you look at right away?
\nWho do the requests come from that become immediate priorities?
\nWhen you’re working, whose face do you observe most carefully to pick up the messages of the eyebrows, the nuances of the gaze, the movements of the mouth?
\nWhose silences do you listen to the most?
\nAnd if you interrupt one phone call to immediately answer another, who is calling you?
\nAnd when you disconnect from a meeting, or leave a training course, is it to respond to…?
\nIn short, who occupies the center of our thoughts when we work (and sometimes beyond)?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I know.
\nYou’re all thinking the same thing….
\nThe CLIENT!<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
No clients, no business.
\nIn fact, you make huge investments in getting to know current and potential clients, attracting and retaining them.
\nAll very consistent.<\/p>\n
I beg your pardon?
\nNo…?
\nIsn’t that what we do with the Client?<\/p>\n
Hmmm…<\/p>\n
I get it.
\nWe do all this for our people.
\nCompanies always say, \u201cpeople at the center.\u201d
\nThey are right. Results are done together.
\nWe would never get into the habit of postponing meetings with collaborators to answer to someone else!<\/p>\n
How?
\nNo, it’s not the collaborators.<\/p>\n
Okay, then it’s the colleagues together with whom we carry out activities and projects.
\nNo?
\nNo.<\/p>\n
And so, sorry…
\nTo whom is all this attention, concern, listening and dedication directed?<\/p>\n
That’s it.
\nNow we can imagine dozens, hundreds, thousands of faces looking upward.
\nWe can imagine an entire organization with eyes that are frequently turned upward.<\/p>\n
It’s a metaphor, of course. People are working, busy, writing and receiving dozens and dozens of emails, many of them going from meeting to meeting non-stop, analyzing data, developing technology, checking the arrival of goods, producing parts, meeting with clients and suppliers…<\/p>\n
But.<\/p>\n
In which direction does the majority of their attention go?<\/p>\n
Upward.
\nToward the Boss.
\nToward the Boss of the Boss, and the Boss of the Boss of the Boss….<\/p>\n
Working by bringing attention upward has very important concrete consequences on the physical, on the mind, on activities, on relationships, and, of course, on business.<\/p>\n
So much energy is funneled upward.<\/p>\n
Those above are very much observed. The words and silences that come from above are studied, investigated, weighed. The signals, interpreted. The behaviors, evaluated… <\/p>\n
\nWho else in the organization is the object of so much attention?
\nAnd how much listening is left for clients, co-workers, colleagues, suppliers, partners?
\nHow much free space does this vertical posture leave for communication and mutual understanding with other stakeholders, for coordination?\u00a0 And how much for experimentation and sharing mistakes, for learning and innovating?
\nThis is what traditional hierarchy looks like.
\nThe solution that we as humans have found to make organizations work.
\nOf course, it was born in a world where those at the top thought, decided, planned, controlled. And below, you executed.
\nYou could plan for the long term anyway.
\nAnd because those on top valued those below (and not vice versa), you could also use fear as leverage.
\nThis approach is still present in our organizations today.
\nAnd, over time, it has created a rigid posture that is not in tune with the changing world and that, like anything that is not fluid and in step with the times, creates a symptomatic gap
\nWe can call it: organizational wry neck<\/em>.
\nThis is a painful individual and collective posture, because it reduces vision, speed of response, empowerment, initiative, Psychological Safety \u2013 that is, transparent and frank confrontations based on ideas and results, not hierarchical rank.
\nAnd so much more.
\nLike so many tensions that we do not perceive, it conditions our movements and we do not notice.
\nIn short, a posture that becomes culture.
\nIsn’t it time to preside over enterprise competitiveness and people skills using the agility of movement?<\/p>\n