Meet Mr. Good and Mr. Evil. This was the strangest leadership style I had ever encountered. It was typical to leave the CEO’s office feeling great about the company, pumped up, energized and feeling good about work and life. Meetings with the CEO’s powerful second in command, on the other hand, left you feeling drained, deflated, confused and worried if you would even have a job the next week.

Psychopathic Polarized Leadership Sinks the Ship

The CEO was cordial, respectful and seemed to have a positive outlook on life.  His second in command was an abrasive bully who was arrogant, foul mouthed and narcissistic. This psychopathic polarized leadership style would later prove devastating to this company.  Communication within the organization was dysfunctional at best.  Executives did not know where the company was going and were hesitant to pursue cold, hard facts in a fear-based buffer that surrounded the CEO thanks to leader number two.

Good Cop-Bad Cop?

The senior management’s leadership style was confusing and left many company leaders and professionals bewildered at times. The top two management duo’s modus operandi was similar to good cop-bad cop.  Except this was good leader-evil leader.  The players were not cops but irresponsible business leaders. The victims were not crime suspects but well-respected business leaders and professionals.

Public Speeches about Great Workplaces

As the head of human resources, I would occasionally be asked to speak to groups. I was very proud of our company and the progress we had made in creating a great place to work. This was an absolute miracle considering the psychopathic leadership model at the top. Not only had we grown from obscurity to number five on the Forbes list of largest privately held companies, we also were well known throughout the city and the region as an employer of choice.

When job openings were advertised on our website, within minutes hundreds of people would be applying.  In fact, we were aware of job applicants working at other respected companies waiting for positions to come open so they could apply for a chance to work in a great workplace. This was a talent recruiting position many leaders only dream about.  We had become a magnet for the best and brightest people.

Unhealthy at the Top

When speaking to groups, it was only natural to tell audiences my philosophy of creating an employee-friendly corporate culture where people should be treated with trust and respect. The importance of a company’s internal personality cannot be overstated.  However, I knew our company’s personality at the top was sick and twisted.  Overall, ninety-nine percent of the company was comprised of very good, respectful people who cared about the organization and its people.  The company was unhealthy at the top.

Two Ten Thousand Pound Gorillas

It has been said, “You are only as strong as your weakest link.” Unfortunately for us, our weakest link was two ruthless, clever, greedy scheming executives at the top. In other words, underneath our great workplace story was two ten thousand pound gorillas.  Mr.  Good and Mr. Evil.  I dared not talk publicly about their confusing and exasperating leadership styles.

As time went on this became an enormous problem. It created fear, dread, aggravation and knots inside many peoples’ stomachs.  At first I simply thought we had an out of control, certified asshole executive along with a beloved CEO who avoided conflict and would not rise to the occasion and stop the internal psychological terrorism on employees and fellow leaders.  Later I realized they were working together to create a polarized management system.

Moral of this Story

Learn from this sad but true story. This is an extreme example. However, it is important because you need to know who is running or ruining your company. Is Mr. Good really working for the best interests of the company?  Is Mr. Evil really worth keeping around?  People practice professionals need to speak freely about what ills the company. Many executives do not want to hear about problems.  That is why it has been said most human resource executives need a “go to hell fund.”

Live your life with utmost integrity and be willing to tell the truth, even if the truth will likely cost you your job.  In the long run an integrity-based journey will make sense and bring worthwhile rewards.

The benefits of creating a Great Workplace cannot be more evident than when the economy turns south.  The U.S. and World economies are subject to cyclical movements in both positive and negative directions.  It is a given; there will be periods of growth and expansion, and conversely, there will be periods of restriction and conservation. We know with certainty that each cycle, and the period in-between, is coming.  Companies ride high during times of expansion, growth and spending, and hunker down during the slow, restricted and conservative economic periods.

Unfortunately, the companies who live in a short-term world and do not develop a long-term Great Workplace strategy will eventually succumb to the enemy of average and/or economic conditions.  At best, they are only prepared for economic high times.  The moment trouble comes, however, these ill-prepared organizations eventually close their doors.

On the other hand, companies who have conscientiously developed Great Workplaces where people thrive are prepared for both sides of economic weather conditions.  They ride the waves when they are high, taking advantage of all the good momentum.  And when economic conditions turn bad – and they will – companies with great work environments seem to ride out the storm in a calm and collected fashion; even picking up business from alternative sources, adding new clients, capturing untapped markets, pulling in revenues from varied sources and innovating their way out of an economic disturbance.

Why do companies with Great Workplaces survive economic storms?

The people inside Great Workplaces make the difference because their company truly cares for them by creating a sustainable, flourishing culture.  As a result, a majority of their energized employees are engaged and running on all cylinders. The benefits of creating a Great Workplace are numerous.  As chairman of the board, CEO, business owner or start-up entrepreneur, the proven benefits of building a Great Workplace will likely make your company a powerful force even in the most difficult of times.  Why? The benefits of creating a Great Workplace have been researched and proven by the Great Place to Work Institute:

• Higher productivity
• Higher profitability
• Better customer satisfaction
• Lower staff turnover rates
• Greater number of applicants for open positions
• Attraction of the best and brightest talent
• Less resistance to change
• Lower health care costs
• Lower workers’ compensation costs
• Lower absenteeism rates
• Lower presenteeism rates
• Higher levels of cooperation
• Higher quality products and services
• Increased innovation and risk taking
• Higher returns to stockholders

When you build a winning team with a great work environment, employees will take care of business during both good and bad times. It is a winning formula for building a long-term, growing and profitable organization.

The Good News

It is never too late to begin the process of building a Great Workplace.  Any company can get there from where they are today as long as the top business leader is the one leading the charge.  It is better to invest your time and resources to develop a Great Workplace and survive an economic storm than to carelessly leave your company culture to chance and file Chapter 11 when the next storm blows in.

Most American workers want to put in a good day’s work. There is a deep desire created in all people to be productive, creative, innovative, inventive, and to leave this world in a better condition. However, our American corporate culture is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of employees and has fallen far from the mark. Rather than working to win the hearts and minds of employees, corporations are driving a stake in the soul of the American worker. After a two-year feasibility study, the non-profit organization Winning Workplaces identified in their Case Prospectus the cruel realities we face in our current work environment.

• The American workplace, a source of our nation’s strength, is also at the root of considerable burdens for many individuals, families and communities.
• Trust and respect in the workplace is breaking down, with less than 40% of employees believing or trusting their senior managers.
• Employees are feeling less control over their jobs.
• Opportunities are shrinking in the workplace.
• Employees are often forced to choose between work and family due to company demands.
• Workers are becoming more detached from their employers due to globalization and outsourcing.
• Work is dominating the life of the American worker.
• Employees spend, on average, 46 hours a week on their job, not counting time online at home or linked to a BlackBerry away from the office at night or on weekends.
• When jobs are satisfying and challenging, it invigorates employees in other areas of their lives.
• When the workplace deflates, frustrates and demeans people, workers are robbed of their energy and desires needed to optimize performance as spouses, parents and citizens.
• Up to 66% of employees say they regularly experience high levels of stress on the job, a significant and growing public health concern leading to drug abuse, mental health problems, accidents and absenteeism.

There is no better time than today to help companies create great workplaces. Our citizens need great workplaces to be fully productive. Our children need their parents to work in physically and mentally healthy work environments to prevent toxic workplace residue from coming home. Our society needs great workplaces to reap the rewards of successful employees and organizations. Non-profit organizations benefit from the increased volunteerism that happens as a result of great work environments. The health of our nation depends on the creation of great workplaces where employees are treated respectfully. And business owners need great workplaces to survive global competition and enjoy long-term financial success. Organizations where the employees have identified their workplace as a great place to work are far superior economically and socially. The Great Place to Work Institute has shown in its research it pays to provide a great workplace. Win the hearts and minds of your employees and you will outperform your competition and increase the return to your shareholders.