Once upon a time, I barked at an employee who was pushing back on a client request.
I completely understood his pushback; he was right, and the client was wrong.
But this was what the client wanted, so “right” and “wrong” weren’t relevant. (To be clear: it wasn’t going to break anything, including the law; it was a difference of opinion on the best way to set up a software tool.)
I’d been debating this with him for more than long enough, and I finally got angry enough to bark, “Just do it!” (Apologies to Nike.)
He did it. He wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy. But the client was happy. And we moved on.
Was I wrong? I’ve debated that with myself ever since.
But here’s the thing: a little anger is sometimes necessary. Visible exasperation can go a long way in getting done what needs to be done, regardless of how people may feel about it.
I put up a LinkedIn poll about this last week, asking, “Is it ever appropriate for a leader to be obviously angry?” The majority (90%) agreed with me. (Frustratingly, the 10% who disagreed didn’t comment about why.)
There are those who have actually stated that it’s okay for employees to be a little afraid of their leaders. I absolutely disagree with that.
But I do believe there’s a place for a modulated, disciplined expression of anger under certain circumstances.
The key, of course, is in those words modulated and disciplined. Yelling, raging, an uncontrolled blowup – they’re never acceptable, in the workplace or anywhere else.
But sometimes, as leaders (in the workplace or anywhere else), we need the vehemence that anger can provide.
We all have emotions. And as I point out in my workshop on Change Leadership, the myth that emotions don’t belong in the workshop is exactly that – a myth, and a remarkably unhelpful myth at that. When leaders are self-aware enough to understand their own reactions, they can modulate them in appropriate ways to – as unlikely as it might sound in an article about anger! – gain their employees’ trust and engagement.