At a leadership training session last week I boldly declared to all forty participants that my mission in life was to bring humanity back into the workplace. Pretty lofty goal huh? What does it mean anyway?
To me it is crystal clear but, as I have made this declaration over and over in the last eight years or so, more often than not I have gotten blank stares or puzzled looks from my colleagues and friends. So let me explain...
I believe it is in the book Gung Ho written by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles that I came across the best description of what it means to me to have humanity in the workplace. In a humane organization "people do not leave their spirit at the door of their workplace".
Humanity in the workplace means that as an employee, I proudly bring my whole self to work: my strengths, my weaknesses, my passions and my dreams. There is no need for me to develop a split personality: a work persona and a "at home" persona.
How often have you bumped into a colleague out there, in the real world, doing something "unexpected" like volunteering for a charity or running a marathon or coaching their kid's hockey team. Would you have guessed that your quiet cubicle neighbor had those interests? Why is that?
There seems to be an unwritten rule that says that the only relevant contribution we can make in the workplace is directly related to the skills and knowledge we learned during our formal training. In our current workplace culture, a competent worker is someone who is doing exactly what is expected of them according to their job description… period. Like they say in my workplace, you may think you are indispensable but you would be surprised at how easily you can be replaced. I can accept that the functions I perform can be done by someone else. But what does it say about the human being who was responsible for those functions - what does it say about me and everything that makes me unique? Does it not count for something?
It is unfortunate that we are not tapping into the vast resources of our human workforce within our organization. What treasures we could have access to if we encouraged every employee to bring their spirit, their enthusiasm, their zest for life into the workplace!
As part of the leadership sessions that I lead we build in many relationship building activities like interactive icebreakers, speed networking, storytelling circles, coaching exercises, etc. I am always amazed at how much we find out about each other if we just take the time to ask and to remain curious. At every one of those training sessions people come up to me at breaks and confide that even though they have worked with such and such a person for years they never knew that he or she was... a watercolor artist, an avid butterfly collector, a classicaly trained pianist, a professional photographer, or a mountain climber who reached the top of Mount Everest (you fill in the blanks).
What could a pianist possibly contribute to the workplace you ask? Well my friend André Beaudoin, an accomplished pianist, produced a multi-media show on leadership that features splendid photographs he has taken during his mountain climbing days with thought provoking captions on leadership and a breath taking live rendition of classical piano pieces. As a scientist, André's job description does not allow him to showcase his artistic abilities. The strength of his passion and the gentle encouragement of some friends gave him the impetus to find his own unique way to put to use his many talents as a powerful medium to start a meaningful dialogue on leadership in his organization.
My challenge to you this week is to ask yourself if there are any parts of your identity that you are not allowing yourself to express in your workplace. And if so, how can you bring those many aspects of who you are into what you do at work?
References:
Gung Ho!
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date: October 1997
ISBN-13: 9780688154288
Ken Blanchard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ken_blanchard
A propos du néolibéralisme (« Le Monde » du samedi 4 avril 2009) :
ReplyDelete...le mode actuel du gouvernement des hommes et des sociétés. Ce mode a un nom : le néolibéralisme. Pour le dire avec Michel Foucault, cette rationalité consiste en une certaine "conduite des conduites", une manière d'inciter les sujets à se conduire selon le modèle de l'entreprise et la norme générale de la concurrence.
En établissant partout des situations de concurrence entre les sujets, en les incitant à devenir les gagnants d'une compétition universelle, en instaurant contrôles et surveillances, et surtout en poussant à l'autocontrôle, en faisant de la performance la règle de vie de chacun, elle a pour effet la construction d'un nouveau sujet, d'un néosujet comme disent certains psychanalystes.
Une telle logique normative relève en effet tout autant du rapport à soi que du rapport aux autres. Elle est autant subjective que politique. C'est ce qui fait sa force et rend difficile de l'enrayer. Que l'on considère le chef de service qui se prend pour un "manageur moderne", le salarié soumis aux procédures culpabilisantes de "l'évaluation", le consommateur dont les désirs sont captés par l'espoir de joies ineffables acquises à bon prix, l'étudiant invité à confondre les progrès de la connaissance avec la croissance individuelle d'un "capital humain", c'est chaque subjectivité qui, sous tel angle particulier, est amenée à se conformer à l'impératif de l'illimitation. Se dépasser soi-même, s'outrepasser, telle est la maxime de la subjectivité néolibérale.
L'accumulation du capital est devenue le principe du fonctionnement individuel, comme s'il fallait que l'existence soit indexée à la vie de la finance, comme si chaque individu devait se regarder comme une "autoentreprise" : au "toujours plus" exigé des travailleurs (performance) répond le "toujours plus" espéré des consommateurs (jouissance). Pire encore, la jouissance de soi est censée s'éprouver dans le dépassement de toute limite. Aussi convient-il de parler d'un dispositif de "performance-jouissance".
Trois décennies de gouvernement néolibéral livrent cette leçon : pas d'extension possible du capital sans transformation de l'homme. Il s'agit en conséquence non seulement de prolétariser les populations jusqu'aux confins de la planète, d'accroître les inégalités entre riches et pauvres, mais aussi de "dynamiser" les sujets en faisant de chaque salarié un individu calculateur, maximisateur, un "entrepreneur de soi". Mme Thatcher, fidèle à l'éthique puritaine, avait trouvé la formule : "Economics are the method, the object is to change the soul."
Pierre DARDOT et Christian LAVAL, Vers un krach du sujet néolibéral ? L'échec du modèle performance-jouissance.
Chère Sylvie,
De tout coeur, je vous souhaite d'excellentes fêtes de Pâques. Have a nice Easter vacation.
Looking forward to reading your posts.
JLBO
"Un dispositif de "performance-jouissance"??? Eh bien, on aura tout vu! Plutôt que de parler de capital humain, je souhaiterais que l'on se préoccupe de l'Humain et d'en faire la chose capitale.
ReplyDeleteJoyeux Printemps à toi aussi. C'est ma saison préférée car tout semble possible lorsqu'on assiste à ce miracle de la nature qui renaît.
Sylvie