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Good Cop, Bad Cop Leaders

April 27, 2016 Caryn Walsh

Good Cop, Bad Cop Leaders

Why are good cop, bad cop leaders necessary? This topic of setting and following rules came up in a Leadership Program I ran recently.

What was clear is that if firm rules are not set and consistently followed by EVERYONE, they will be broken, loosely followed (or not at all) and complacency and low productivity become the order of the day.

Example: A department has rules that need to be followed.

The senior manager insists that his manager abide by them, but he does not routinely do so himself.

His supervisors are inconsistent in how they apply the rules (why wouldn’t they be if their manager is?) and staff then become confused about what rules to follow, if and when.

Staff then follow rules, depending on how they feel and the day and so chaos exists.

The deal is:

  • Set firm and fair rules
  • Expect all of them to be followed
  • Rules and regulations bring order, structure and predictability to a business
  • Develop consequences
  • Implemented them when rules are broken
  • This does not mean stifle creativity.
  • Rules are made to ensure everybody is aware of expectations of them and the company as a whole

If you are an organisation that is lax about following rules and processes, start again.  Involve your people in creating the rules and hold them and each other, responsible for implementing and upholding them.

It makes good business sense!

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