I recently worked with an elementary school principal who had asked for advice regarding a substitute teacher assigned to his building on a long-term basis. Well, the principal had just learned from credible sources that this long-term substitute was a fairly regular user of marijuana.
The principal pondered, “This isn’t a problem, is it? I mean, I haven’t really seen her smoke pot. She’s a great employee – she’s here on time every day, the students like her, and she’s doing a good job. I mean, there’s nothing I can do, right? I would be violating her employment rights if I told her she couldn’t work here any longer, right?”
Heavy sigh. Obviously, this school principal was trying to justify in his own mind why he didn’t need to address the situation. (I mean, really . . . how many of us know someone who smokes a little weed from time to time.) I knew I had to offer this principal a quick lesson on the difference between his personal boundaries and those required of him as school principal.
When we accept a job in any organization, we are not paid to show up and be our sweet little ol’ selves; rather, we are paid to step into a role that serves the organization. Further, in a management or other leadership position, we are paid to represent the interests of the company. I like to think of it as literally stepping into a suit of clothing that represents the position. In this case, the individual who contacted me was required to step into the role of “manager” or “school principal”. Sounds simple enough.
When stepping into a managerial role, it’s really easy to make the transition from “individual person” to the “manager” when our personal values, beliefs and ways of operating mostly align with those required in the work role. The rub comes when our personal values, beliefs, and ways of operating are either more expansive or restrictive than those required of the role we’ve assumed.
And this is where the principal was having a hard time: He saw this substitute teacher as a “good employee”, so why would the school district care about whether or not she smoked pot at home. After all, weren’t dependable employees hard to come by? Why would he need to do anything as long as the substitute wasn’t bringing pot into the workplace?
In short, he was looking at the situation using his more “open” personal values and beliefs, instead of viewing the situation through the lens required of his position as school principal (which dictated that he enforce the school district’s drug policy and hold those working with students to a higher standard than the average Joe).
When you look for a job, how much do you research the values and beliefs of the companies you apply to? As a manager or leader in your company, are you aware of your responsibility to represent the company’s interests over those of an individual employee? When you hire new employees (management or otherwise), how do you determine whether or not there is alignment between their personal values and beliefs and those of the company? And how does your company convey its expectations to managers about carrying out the role as company representative?
Something to think about.
