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Jill Geisler
"What Great Bosses Know" and more practical advice for managers & leaders from Jill Geisler.
Posted by Jill Geisler at 1:52 PM on Aug. 30, 2010
Leaders often want to improve the culture of an organization. They see a flaw or weakness and start an initiative to make things better. Somewhere, right now, there are bosses trying to transform cultures to make them more (take your pick):
  • Innovative
  • Customer-centric
  • Collaborative
  • Empowering
  • Nimble
  • Diverse
  • Accountable
  • Risk-taking
  • Tech-literate
Good goals, right?

So leaders form task forces to hammer out new mission statements. They write up new goals and policies. They hold meetings to share and spread the new vision. They reinforce the message with posters, maybe even T-shirts. Then they pray for it to work.

When it doesn't, it's likely because bosses failed to break through a tough, invisible barrier. It's one simple word: Assumptions.

Read on to see how those underlying assumptions are the unseen barrier to changing a culture.

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Jill Geisler heads Poynter's Leadership and Management Group.
She works with managers at every level of print, broadcast and online news organizations, helping them become more effective leaders.
@Jillgeisler on Twitter

The "What Great Bosses Know" Collection
What's your challenge? Jill's columns and podcasts organized by topic.


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Aug. 18, 2010

What Great Bosses Know about the Myth of the Open Door
Posted by Jill Geisler at 2:20 PM on Aug. 18, 2010
Two things we know: Employees would like more feedback from their bosses and they'd like to be heard as well. In one recent survey, 66 percent of employees said they had too little interaction with their bosses.

It's tempting to blame that on supervisors who consciously keep their distance from staff. But I suspect there's more at work here. Even well-intentioned bosses contribute to the disconnect. I call it The Myth of the Open Door.

That's what exists when managers, knowing interaction is a two-way street, announce that they have an Open Door Policy. They state, and believe in their hearts, that people who report to them are free to stop by and share what's on their minds.

Because some staffers walk right in, the managers see it as proof that the policy works. But that logic is built on counting those who show up rather than those who don't. It's easy for bosses to assume that since the door is always open, those who opt not to stop in are satisfied with the status quo.

It can be a real surprise when managers discover that to some staff, the open door mantra is a myth. Good employees can feel shut out.

Read on to see the four ways that this can happen.

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