Could your managers be “crying wolf” too often? Could you be doing it too?
By “crying wolf,” we mean how the Harvard Business Review describes leaders who over-use motivational techniques.
When staffers hear over and over again – “This is a critical project, we need great results on this” – they start to tune leadership out.
If the message becomes that practically every task, work order, project, etc., is important, the end result becomes: “None of this is really that important.”
Don’t let supervisors fall into this trap
Staffers become de-motivated because:
1) The motivational tactics have become stale
2) Staffers are less likely to buy into the “critical” persuasive argument if they hear it all the time, and
3) Over-use makes the manager seem desperate – almost as if his or her job is on the line.
Solution: First determine if and when you’re over-motivating.
Be more selective about when you should raise the alarm and push people to focus their attention on one particular job.
The less often you do so, the more likely staffers will respond in kind during a true emergency.
