Transcript Dealing with Difficult People

New Solutions to Repetitive Old Problems …
‘Dealing With Difficult People’
Fourth Annual University of Leeds Learning &
Teaching Conference
Ian Lawrence
Senior Lecturer in Sports Studies
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Who Are ‘Difficult People’?
Who Are ‘Difficult People’?
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Look in the mirror!
Family issues at Xmas?
Who did you fall-out with?
Why? Give me 5 typical reasons!
What would make you behave 100% of the time?
Most problems are with our managers/supervisors …
but aren’t we all managers at some level?
• Poor management causes large scale employee
dissatisfaction
• Research: How long you stay and what you
contribute depends on the relationship with your
immediate supervisor or manager
Applications of Football Management
Research
• Why?
• Media attention intensifies the problems and
accelerates them
• High profile managers are the best practitioners …
demonstrated by their results
• In business they are difficult to identify … lost in the
fog of bureaucracy and corporate politics
• Lack of openness/visibility damages management
performance … meritocracy suffers
(Rothenburg, 2001)
• Access to key personnel difficult … need to establish
trust … bung scandal
• Autobiographies, biographies, personal interviews,
media reports
Agents
Peers
International Manager
WAGS
Players
Football Manager
Support Staff
Chairman
LMA
Media
Fans / Shareholders
Evidence from Professional Football
Management?
• Conflict often naked and highly visible
What do we want from our managers?
• Integrity
• Passion …
• "There are those who say maybe I should forget about
football. Maybe I should forget about breathing."
Gerard Houllier
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Ability to relax
Analytical skills
Hunger to learn
Attention to detail
Ability to get things done
Self-belief
Enthusiasm
Ruthlessness
Presence
• Luck?
“Some people believe football is a
matter of life and death, I am very
disappointed with that attitude. I can
assure you it is much, much more
important than that”
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Bill Shankly
• I believe leaders in my organisation are genuinely in touch
with how people are feeling
• 62% DISAGREE
• There is a good buzz and feeling of energy in my
organisation
• 50% DISAGREE
• We work hard but senior management also make sure that
we have fun
• 54% DISAGREE
• One-third of followers admit that they have never worked for
an Inspirational Leader!
• 50% of city workers in London expect to stay only 1 more yr
in their job
• 20% plan to move within 2 yrs
• Institute of Management Survey found that 43% of Britain's
senior managers said that their loyalty is to their own
careers and not their employers
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Source: Chartered Management Institute
‘ABC’ of Behaviour Modification for
Inspirational Leaders
• A – ANTECEDENTS events that prompt,
precede or trigger behaviour
• B – BEHAVIOUR the specific actions of an
individual
• C – CONSEQUENCES subsequent events that
make the behaviour more or less likely to occur
• The model is powerful in that it offers the
possibility of altering behaviour by changing
either antecedent or consequence ...
• Prevention better than the cure
A cycle of classroom management
Bill Rogers (1998) produced this framework of key
principles for successful classroom management
Prevention
Encouragement
(of disruptive behaviour)
(of positive behaviour – correcting as
necessary)
Consequences
(for unacceptable behaviour – certainty
rather than severity)
Repair and rebuild
(the relationship following correction)
Exercise:
Work in four groups, each group taking one of the areas of the cycle above.
Each group will develop strategies for their area of the cycle.
Prevention
• Teach and establish rights, rules and
responsibilities.
• Have a major focus on positive relationships
and self-esteem.
• Build rituals and routines for starting and
ending lessons and for gaining attention.
• Consider learner states and styles – play to
their strengths – differentiate.
• Develop scanning – intervene early and
quietly.
Encouragement
• Create a relaxed, peaceful environment.
• Have high expectations of all learners.
• Achieve a 6:1 ratio of encouragement :
correction
• Use verbal and non-verbal
encouragement.
• Give clear instructions, positive feedback
and set realistic targets.
• Frequently ask yourself: “Why would
learners want to return to my class?”
Consequences
• Discuss when establishing ground rules
• Should be fair, reasonable and related to
appropriate behaviour
• Emphasise they are in direct response to
learner’s choice
• Certainty rather than severity
• Offer some negotiation and opportunity to
make restitution where appropriate
Repair and rebuild
• Correction can erode relationships
and damage self-esteem.
• It’s our job to develop and manage
positive working relationships.
• A simple acknowledgement of
improved behaviour is often enough.
• A friendly and courteous word as
learners leave goes a long way.
Inspirational Leadership in
Football Management
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What defines an inspirational leader?
Personal ‘make-up’
Novel outlook
‘Turn-on’ capability
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N.B. They
communicate effectively
Communication
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British people tend to talk around issues!
You need to be succinct and polite
Unambiguous
“so many managers need 20 minutes to get
their point over, Arsene will do it in 10 words,
so succinct and so simple”
• “If you're in the penalty area and don't know
what to do with the ball, put it in the net and
we'll discuss the options later.” Bob Paisley
• Eriksson lesson?
• Quiet authority can later be interpreted as
devious prevarication!
Ground rules for life :
practice what you preach to your children
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Share
Play fair
Don’t hit
Remember to flush
Hold hands in traffic
Tidy up after your own mess
Put things back where you found them
Don’t take things that aren’t yours
Say sorry when you hurt someone
Conflict resolution …
Anfield style!
Sample of References
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Bolchover, D. & Brady, C. (2006) The 90-Minute Manager. Prentice Hall.
Bramson, R.M. (1981) Coping with Difficult People. Ballantine Books
Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. (1999) First, Break all the rules. Simon & Schuster.
Carter, N. (2006) The Football Manager: A History. Routledge.
Capelli, P. (2000) ‘A market driven approach towards retaining talent’, Harvard Business Review,
Jan/Feb.
Crust, L. & Lawrence, I. (2006) A Review of Leadership in Sport: Implications for Football
Management. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology. Dec, Vol 8 (4).
Hopcraft, A. (1971) The Football Man: People and Passions in Soccer. Penguin.
Rothenburg, R. (2001) ‘Arie de Geus: the thought leader interview’. Strategy and Business, No.2.
Szymanski, S. & Kuypers, T. (1999) Winners and Losers: The Business Strategy of Football.
Viking.
Wagg, S. (1984) The Football World: A Contemporary Social History. Brighton: Harvester.