{"id":46816,"date":"2024-12-16T00:02:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T06:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/?p=46816"},"modified":"2024-12-13T18:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T00:05:35","slug":"is-kiss-up-kick-down-your-organizations-default-leadership-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainingmag.com\/is-kiss-up-kick-down-your-organizations-default-leadership-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Is \u201cKiss Up\/Kick Down\u201d Your Organization\u2019s Default Leadership Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When an organization does not intentionally set a leadership culture, a kiss-up\/kick-down mentality can set in.<\/p>\n

In such as culture, which rises by default, leaders do everything they can to win favor with all the executives above them while putting little-to-no value on how they treat those working under them.<\/p>\n

What Does It Mean to Kiss Up\/Kick Down?<\/h2>\n

In a kiss-up\/kick-down culture, a leader might, for example, advocate for a cost-cutting measure that will make them look good to their boss while negatively impacting those working below them. In some cases, the suggested \u201cimprovement\u201d might even be deleterious to the organization\u2019s customers or clients. The kiss-up\/kick-down leader cares as little about the impact on customers as they do about the impact on lower-level employees. What they most care about, above all else, is currying favor with their boss and even more senior upper-level leaders.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are alternatives to kiss-up\/kick-down leadership cultures, including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Offering a Different Example<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The first alternative isn\u2019t a school of thought with a formal name. It\u2019s simply having top leadership that sets an intentional example for other leaders to follow.<\/p>\n

    In this scenario, the top leaders show in company announcements and in every meeting that their top priorities are the company\u2019s customers and the employees who are producing work for those customers. They make a point of talking about how every proposed change would make the company\u2019s products or deliverables for customers better and, also, how the change would impact the daily work routines and quality of life of employees. They let the organization know that improvements that help save money and create better products for customers are not viable solutions if they create an unlivable, or unethical, workplace for employees.<\/p>\n

    If the leader making the announcement is not at the top of the hierarchy, they might even show that they care about those working under them by posing respectful, but challenging, follow-up questions to their bosses <\/em>about proposals that might negatively impact employees.<\/p>\n

    The top leadership then would have to do their part and reinforce the leadership culture by showing they welcome the questions and reward, rather than punish, those who care about the organization\u2019s employees enough to ask them.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Servant Leadership<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      According to the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership<\/a>: \u201cThe servant-leader is servant first\u2026 It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

      The servant-leader can show their servant mentality by more than just the decision-making process in which they put the needs of customers and employees before their own. They can live out this philosophy in small, personal gestures.<\/p>\n

      For instance, a healthcare practice owner I know hosts holiday parties, inviting his team of employees into his home. He and his wife cook a meal for the employees themselves and serve it to the employees who are there as honored guests.<\/p>\n

      Communication with the Boss vs. Employees<\/h2>\n

      Servant leadership also plays out in day-to-day communication styles. A kiss-up\/kick-down leader communicates differently with those above them than they do with those under them.<\/p>\n

      They can be downright obsequious when corresponding with their boss or a higher-level executive. On the flip side, they can come across as demanding and brusque, sometimes rude, when communicating with those lower in the corporate hierarchy.<\/p>\n

      One leader I came across was known to not even look at her employees when \u201cspeaking\u201d to them. She would keep her eyes on her computer, sometimes with her hand over her mouth for some reason, while barking orders and questions at them.<\/p>\n

      Meanwhile, she showed an entirely different face to her boss and upper-level executives. She was known to be charming and chatty with them.<\/p>\n

      Leaders who show two different faces to employees and bosses are a huge red flag that your organization has a kiss-up\/kick-down leadership culture.<\/p>\n

      Do you think, and talk about, the desired leadership culture you want in your organization or is your leadership culture created by default? Are there signs it\u2019s a kiss-up\/kick-down culture?<\/p>\n

      \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In such a culture, leaders do everything they can to win favor with all the executives above them while putting little-to-no value on how they treat those working under them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs \u201cKiss Up\/Kick Down\u201d Your Organization\u2019s Default Leadership Culture?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In such a culture, leaders do everything they can to win favor with all the executives above them while putting little-to-no value on how they treat those working under them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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