Written by: Steven N. Adjei, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
How do you deal with confrontation? This article examines the two extremes of confrontation: Cowardice and Hypocrisy and suggests the correct way to confront is somewhere dynamically in the middle.
I hate confrontation, it makes me uncomfortable My brain goes hazy, racin', when I get vulnerable It's a lose-lose situation Communication Just makes it worse I wish I could just say it straight away Oh, I hate bein' this way, learnt it from such a young age My needs and wants ain't important anyway When you say something's wrong, I just wanna make it better Oh, but I've realized that you just wanted me to listen But listen when I see you cry, I can't stand what I feel inside Oh, I just wanna fix you Guess I'm what they call a people, people, people pleaser, plеaser, pleaser
Cat Burns, People Pleaser, 2022
It was the year I lost my sister, had a rebound of epilepsy, and lost my job.
I walked out of my job.
But it wasn’t for the reasons you might expect.
I worked with the CEO of a small independent chain of health shops scattered across towns in Southwest of England.
But one day, I had had enough.
The CEO was not a bad person.
On the contrary, he was a very nice man. Polite. Professional. Kind.
He was honest, a fantastic father, a great husband, and a pillar of his community.
And there was something I remember distinctly about him. His smile.
He seemed to care, and we got on well.
But there was a huge paradox.
There seemed to be a steady stream of employees leaving the organisation as far back as I could remember – and they all left bitter, twisted, and hurt. Everyone who left the organisation had nothing good to say about him. And I mean everyone.
Without Exception.
And I’m talking about scores of employees representing different backgrounds, professions, genders, and ages.
At first, I could not reconcile my impressions of him with this mass departure. It seemed like an oxymoron, a paradox.
But it came to me years later when I joined that exodus.
His former employees were frustrated, bitter and angry, not because of him as a person, but because of his failure to personally act when tough decision had to be made. Instead of grabbing the bull by the horns and making the tough call when tough calls had to be made, he hid behind WhatsApp messages, texts, emails, and ‘delegation’ to deliver bad news.
Of course, he was the first to show up and smile when there was good news.
The paradox was that the same smile that attracted people to work for him was the same smile that drove them away.
He smiled employees in, and he smiled employees out.
This CEO had a lack of courage.
He saw the problems. They were staring him right in the face.
He knew the solutions. They were staring him right in the face.
He just lacked the inner courage to go and do them.
To put it bluntly, he was a coward.
So, the exodus continued, and still does to this day. The businesses continue to suffer, and people continue to leave.
And he continues to smile.
A few years prior to that job, I also worked as an employee in a high street chain of pharmacies.
There was a middle manager whom I’ll call Peter. His fiery temper, loud voice, constant swearing, and bullying left a wake of destruction wherever he left.
He was so vindictive, such a bully and so intimidating, that employees literally used to cower in fear when he turned up.
Employees were beginning to leave in droves.
But his bullying caught up with him.
He was eventually fired when reams and reams of complaints were filed against him, and when the wake of destruction and broken relationships became too great to ignore.
But the paradox. He was doing the very things he accused his subordinates of. Rudeness, Unprofessionalism. Personal failures. Bad results.
This manager was a hypocrite.
The thing about business?
Offence.
You are either giving it or taking it. There is no middle ground. It’s a price you will have to pay whether you choose to or not. How you choose to pay it is entirely up to you.
On one end of the spectrum is the coward who tries to dodge confrontation and please everyone.
On the other end of the spectrum is the hypocrite who, like a bull in a China shop, enjoys confrontation, treats every tool with a hammer and upsets everyone.
The truth is we are all prone either being a hypocrite or a coward.
The perfect way to confront, depending on the situation, is dynamically somewhere in the middle.
I lean towards being a coward, I’m ashamed to admit. My first instinct is to dodge confrontation, smooth over differences and cause everyone to smile.
But sooner or later, like the former CEO, tough calls must be made. And that’s where my fear instincts kick in and my blood pressure begins to rise, and everything in me wants to make a speedy exit. I’m learning to confront more.
On the contrary, the hypocrite needs to empathise more and confront less.
Pleasing everyone is hard, and you end up pleasing no one.
And pleasing no one is hard, and you end up pleasing no one.
So, the balance needs to be dynamic, depending on the situation, the person and our personality.
To confront, you must accept your vulnerability as a fallible person, but have enough inner strength and integrity to take on the problem regardless.
So, what is the fundamental difference between a hypocrite and a coward?
A hypocrite is one who ignores the huge deficits of character in his own life but is quick to point out the shortcomings of others.
A failing department. A disruptive manager? An unreliable supplier? Make sure you’re not one yourself.
On the other hand, your internal struggles, fears, and vulnerabilities should not stop you short from confronting destructive behaviours in others when you notice them.
That is when you start to become a coward.
Employees are not looking for perfection – we all know it doesn’t exist. But people will follow a leader who is working on his own issues.
Correct confrontation calls for three attributes: character, courage, and compassion.
Both the coward and hypocrite require character.
Character, according to Dr Henry Cloud, is simply ‘the ability to meet the demands of reality’.
The hypocrite needs more compassion – I define compassion as simply the sum of empathy and action.
The coward needs more courage – I define courage as the sum of intention and action.
So, do you lean towards cowardice or hypocrisy?
A tough question, and food for thought.
Three things to share:
Going forward, this newsletter will begin to showcase finalists from the Kuenyehia Prize for African Contemporary Art, one of Africa’s most prestigious Art Competitions. Professor Elikem Kuenyehia is a personal childhood friend a professor of Practice at England’s Buckingham University. For more information or to get involved, phone, email or browse the website: +233 (0) 242 2041645 | info@kuenyehiaprize.org | www.kuenyehiaprize.org. This art features one of Ghana’s most exciting artists, Josephine Kuunire, a victim of domestic sexual abuse – and aptly, she says: ‘’Mixtape Notes to the Shadows is a confrontation’’.
This month marks a full year since I was invited to be an executive contributor for the famous Brainz Magazine. To see all my 12 articles to date, please go to my personal page.
Yesterday marked the landmark 5oth review on Amazon for my debut business book, Pay The Price. There has also been a flurry of endorsements from Readers Favorite, the IAOTP, business schools and universities across the UK, and readers from countries as far flung as Australia, India, Ghana, and Nigeria. I’m extremely humbled, and Amazon are currently running a deal which is 15% off. Please see links below, and I am gunning for 50 more reviews by the end of this year. I’d love your help.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!
Steven N. Adjei, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Steven N. Adjei is an award-winning British-Ghanaian best-selling author, poet, speaker, healthcare consultant, entrepreneur, and pharmacist. He is the founding partner of BlueCloud Health (part of the Emerald Group), an advisory and consulting firm with offices in London, Dubai, and Delhi with clients all over the world. He has an MBA from Warwick Business School.
His first book, (Pay The Price: Creating Ethical Entrepreneurial Success Through Passion, Pain and Purpose) released on 17 October 2022 was an instant international bestseller in 18 categories on Amazon, has garnered 2 prestigious awards, and has received critical acclaim throughout the world. He is currently working on his second book, “Chasing Permanence: thriving you and your business in a constantly changing world” , set to be released in early 2024.
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