Set-up-to-Fail Syndrome

6

_________________

The Cost Iceberg

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.

—Aldous Huxley

BOSSES HAVE SEVERAL WAYS to protect themselves from the pain of difficult relationships with their perceived weaker performers. One obvious alternative is to disconnect emotionally from these subordinates. Once disconnected from them, bosses tend to underestimate the costs of the situation for the subordinate, in terms of pain and stress, and in terms of missed opportunities and rewards. Bosses also underestimate how much subordinates feeling alienated costs the company in terms of energy lost to reading between the lines, overreacting to perceived slights, or pursuing reassurance— not to mention the talent, efforts, and ideas these subordinates ...