This Is the Worst Leadership Habit Spreading Through Business Right Now Anger is the new management shortcut. Smart leaders should avoid it.
EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @TULLMAN
One of the many noxious and contagious byproducts of the Trump era—where the Orange Monster rants incessantly in bitter and infantile “Truths” all night—is that everyone’s first reaction these days to anything going wrong is anger followed closely by the assignment of blame to anyone other than themselves. The more trivial the issue, the greater level of “righteous” anger it seems to provoke. Trump is the undisputed master of rage baiting and blame shifting and, sadly, it’s worked far too well for him. After fear, anger is the world’s greatest negative motivator.
To say that today the world is more easily provoked, offended, and pissed off than ever before is an obvious understatement. It seems that everyone you encounter has a list of offenses and grievances which they maintain top of mind and are eagerly prepared to share. We’re seeing it all day long in growing instances of road rage, outrageous abuse and childish behavior in sports, and neighbors confronting and setting upon neighbors for minute and imagined violations of their respective spaces and newly conceived “rights.”
While MAGA may be louder, more detailed and particular, and far more out front with their scripted ailments and fallacious arguments, egged on by the ignoramuses at Fox News, you don’t have to inquire too deeply into the psyche of almost anyone to uncover what has most recently gotten their goat. Maybe people always stewed and squawked, but they were never so outspoken, amplified and broadcast by social media.
Because Trump has turned over every rock to unearth and release scumbags and slimeballs of all kinds, the rest of what were once the normal folks—who had some sense of restraint, courtesy and decorum—now also feel (perhaps in self-defense) that they too have to “get their licks in” whenever and wherever possible.
Facts no longer matter—science, expertise and even reality are debatable—and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, right or wrong, and sticking to it. In most multi-generational households, it’s easier and more prudent not to have any discussions of verboten issues instead of engaging in useless and unproductive arguments with elders whose minds are already made up and whose heads are stuck in the sand.
As we’ve always known, nothing sells more newspapers or sucks up more media and online time than performative displays and fake hearings by the clowns in Congress and intemperate tantrums by government officials who are clearly more concerned with “hits” and airtime than with any attempts to tell the truth. The D.C. press is a little lost these days because they’re afraid to aggravate Trump and there’s not much hair-raising news being made by the Dems.
Stirring the pot and feeding more lies and poison to their ignorant base is the prime Republican activity in D.C. these days, although there’s a fair amount of fear mongering on both sides of the aisle. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan (of sleazy locker room and sordid shower fame) has already logged more than 100 appearances on Fox News but has never introduced a single bill in Congress in his entire career.
There’s plenty of shame, blame, and damage to go around, but the real harm that’s being done for the long term is that too many experienced business leaders, eager entrepreneurs, and successful sports coaches are internalizing the Trumpist tactics and making manufactured anger a prominent and driving part of their strategy, philosophy and approach to teaching their teams, exciting and encouraging their sales folks, and literally inciting their athletes to all act in an unhealthy, unethical and demeaning manner when dealing with their opponents and competitors. Winning is important but making sure your “enemies” lose is the most important consideration. Forget respect—it’s all about revenge.
This is a page directly torn from Trump’s operating manual: degrading and diminishing the opposition, creating false offenses, attributing evil intentions, and alleging illicit actions—all with the objective of fostering, festering and promoting fear and anger in the troops. This is what we’re seeing implemented by Trump clones and followers in various programs across the country. Coaches teasing, taunting, and angering their charges with press accounts, inflammatory videos, and other media. Trainers telling their charges that working up a good “hate” is great for your game time adrenaline and pumps up your energy. Entrepreneurs telling their team that they need to hate their competition and remember that those “people” are trying to take away their livings and put their families out on the street.
This fundamentally corrupt approach is bad for the mental health of the athletes, which is sad, but where it really hurts is in business. Anger may work overnight, but over time, it fades and can’t be effectively sustained. There are four major reasons why it’s a bad bet from the get-go and needs to be avoided.
First, artificial anger flames out quickly, wears out its welcome rapidly, and accomplishes nothing sustainable.
Second, anger without a concrete objective and a finite end in sight is a waste of energy.
Third, anger may energize and mobilize the team but without hands-on direction leads nowhere.
And finally, while it may be an effective short-term mobilizer, it’s a lousy long-term management tool.
It’s fine to fire up your folks with passion and purpose, and that’s a sustainable foundation to build your business. Having to find someone or something new to hate every week is a tough task, a fool’s errand, and the worst way to lead. A great leader understands that some anger may be inevitable and usable, but he or she works to convert that emotion into constructive energy and real solutions that ultimately address the root causes of the anger.
