“Fish Smells From the Head”

That’s a favorite line of one of my colleagues.  She uses it to make the point that if you have a poorly performing group, sometimes you need to look no further than the poorly performing boss.

Recently I was reading Daniel Goleman’s book Social Intelligence, and I found another possible meaning for the phrase.  Goleman quotes Australian researchers who found the following:

“Employees recall a boss’s downbeat comments far more often than they do his encouraging words.  And when negative remarks become a preoccupation, the employee’s brain loses mental efficiency.”

Now I’m the last person to say don’t give constructive feedback!  I swear by its importance.

But downbeat remarks can often be the result of a manager’s bad mood. If you’re constantly stressed out or if you’re just plain grumpy, you’re more inclined to focus on what’s wrong or what’s not working – and this will drag down team performance.

While we are human and not always upbeat, as leaders it’s important to maintain a balance and, whenever possible, tip the scales towards the positive.  Research supports it, and your team will benefit.