Should a Leader be vindictive?

There is a story of a man who was promoted to become the president of a big business corporation. Prior to his promotion he was first strictly evaluated by the Board of Directors of the organization. Those who were opposing his promotion were given the space to talk against him most specifically about his moral fitness for the position.

But because of his sterling performance the BD did not put much value to the valid accusation, thus the man was still promoted. Immediately upon his assumption of office he arrogantly cursed those who opposed him and he made life difficult for them in the organization.

Soon after it created a wedge in the company which resulted to the company’s missing its goals and targets. His arrogance also created factionalism among his subordinates: those who were for him and those who were against him.

After two months his attention was called by the board of directors and he was told to improve the organizational climate and achieve the targets of his organization. But the problem persisted and he was eventually told by the board of directors to resign from his position.

What if he did not become vindictive? What if he simply called for a meeting with those who were opposing him. And extended his hand in reconciliation and told them to move forward and let bygones be bygones? He could have effectively governed his office and in the process achieved its organizational targets.   

Vindictiveness is arrogance it's also power and ego tripping, therefore it has no place in an organization more so in leadership. The leader is only dividing his organization by being vindictive thus this will result in the polarization of his people which will result in the failure of his organization.   

A good and effective leader must be humble, he should be a uniting and not a dividing factor in his organization and most importantly he must not be vindictive. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

President elect Rodrigo Duterte’s communication style

After nine days we now have a new president in waiting in the name of Mr. Rodrigo Duterte. Why was he very successful in communicating his message of change, discipline and honest governance to the Filipino electorate?

Duterte employed simple and ordinary language, language which can easily be understood by the ordinary folks as well as the educated. He communicated himself with authority and conviction and as someone who understands the plight of everyone.

 He also presented himself as himself, in other words what you see is what you get. He presented himself as an iron fisted candidate who will not hesitate to combat, criminality and the menace of illegal drugs. This has been the identity of president elect Duterte even when he was still a mayor for many years in the city of Davao.

By presenting himself as a simple man, by using simple language, by not hiding beneath an identity that was not himself and by presenting himself as a strong leader. He connected with the Filipino people and he effortlessly communicated his message of change and discipline. Thus, Duterte was elected as the next president.    

What can leaders and managers learn from president elect Rodrigo Duterte’s communication style?

1   1.  Use simple language when communicating with your subordinates.

2      2. Be yourself and be sincere don’t pretend whom you’re not.

3    3.  Be simple in your appearance so that your subordinates can identify themselves with you.

 4. Communicate with authority and conviction. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Do you find it hard to connect with your subordinates?

Many managers/leaders find it hard to establish a connection with their subordinates. Connection means establishing a rapport wherein a manager/leader will have a healthy relationship with his people. where there is no barrier that impedes the flow of formal and informal communication between the manager and his subordinates. And if there is no barrier there is a smooth flow of communication that will result to an open and dynamic organizational environment.

How will a manager/leader establish a healthy connection with his subordinates? Here are three for your consideration:

1   1.) He should reach out to his subordinates – Reach out means that he should find time to mingle and talk with them. He should initiate the conversation and not wait for his subordinates to initiate it. If the manager/leader initiates the conversation it shows his humility and willingness to build bridge with his subordinates.

2    2.) He should learn their topics of interest - This means that if your subordinates love to talk about current movies by all means try to learn more about current movies. So that you will have a natural conversation with them.  If their interest is about God and strengthening of family values try to learn about these topics as well. In other words a manager/leader who desires to connect will not hesitate to walk the extra mile to achieve his objective/s.

3    3.)  He should learn to use simple language – This means that you should use simple and easy to understand words. It’s a mistake for a manager/leader to use complicated and hard to understand words, for the reason that this would create an environment of aloofness and egotism.

If you know how to connect with your subordinates you can easily communicate to them your ideas, visions and goals for your organization. – Marino J. Dasmarinas