Tag: Tone at the Top

Tone at the Top

I will sound like an obnoxious Boston Sports Fan this morning. Boston is back to being a championship city with the Red Sox winning the World Series. As an announcer said, it’s been five years since they won the World Series. Switching sports, it’s only been one season since the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl.

It has not always been like this. I grew up going to the perennially losing Patriots. We would sit on those cold aluminum benches, just waiting for the team to disappoint us once more. The one time they achieved some success, they got embarrassed by the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl.

Growing up, it had been so long since the Red Sox had won the World Series. Grandpa Cornelius had just emigrated to the United States when they had last won the title.

What changed for those two teams was a change to the tone at the top. The mantra of compliance. New owners came into each team with a dedication to winning.

John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group bought the Red Sox in 2002. Since then, the team has won the World Series four times. The prior owner was a trust running the team for a decade after the death of the long time owners.

Robert Kraft’s Kraft Sports Group bought the New England Patriots in 1994. Since then it’s been five Super Bowl titles.

New ownership changed the tone at the top.

Power Corrupts – So Does Powerlessness

Rosabeth Moss Kanter points out another reason that the “tone at the top” is only one factor for corporate compliance in Powerlessness Corrupts.

“Power corrupts, as Lord Acton famously said, but so does powerlessness. Though powerlessness might not result in the egregious violations associated with arrogant officials who feel they are above the law, it is corrosive.”

  • Managers spread powerlessness by limiting information.
  • They compound the insult by sneaking unpopular decisions through when they think no one’s looking.
  • Powerlessness burgeons in blame cultures.
  • The powerless retaliate through subtle sabotage. They slow things down by failing to take action
  • Negativity and low aspirations show up in behaviors psychologists call defensive pessimism, learned helplessness, and passive aggression.

Those are a lot of points for targeting the tone at the middle and the tone at the bottom.

Dilbert, being the epitome of powerlessness, captures some of this in today’s strip.
Dilbert.com