Business Comment – our regular column on a variety of issues, by Mike Johnson, consultant, author and chairman of FutureWork Forum, an independent global think tank on the future of work.1
All those diseases it appears you can catch – or develop – in the workplace have got me really worried. Everything, it seems, from stress (and consequent ulcers) to colds, flu and other airborne ailments – not to mention all the broken hearts caused by that research assistant in R&D.
But, it seems to me, there is something far worse than that stalking the corridors of the executive suite. I call it the Dr Jekyll Syndrome after the 19th century novel where a man is not – this is an understatement – all he seems to be. In effect, he is two people, one good, one evil.
By my own observations and experiences, the Dr Jekyll Syndrome should be a recognized disease. If it were, many of our workplace experiences may be less frightening and more productive. Let me explain.
A monstrous transformation
The other day I was sitting in a restaurant in Paris with an old friend of mine – let’s call him Jacques. I’ve known him for years on a social level, we’ve played tennis and golf together. He’s fun, great sense of humour and has a wonderful wife and three lovely children who adore him. While we were sitting chatting, two other people I know came in and sat down nearby. They kept glancing over at us and then talking quietly, their heads close together. My friend Jacques had to leave quickly (an important meeting) and so I lingered over my coffee and passed the time of day with the two new arrivals.
The atmosphere was strange, a little tense. Finally, one of them said: “Mike, how do you get on with Jacques?”
“Very well,” I replied. I’ve known him for a long time and his family. We’re not close friends but I often look him up when I’m in town.”
Then it slowly came out. “So you’ve never worked with him?” asked the second person.
“Never”, I said. “Why?”
“So you don’t know about Jacques?” he challenged. Then he took what appeared was a very big gulp of air and a torrent of French came rushing out.
“He’s a monster!” he shouted, “the most horrible, difficult, nasty person I have ever had to work with.”
“Yes,” agreed the other, “he has a terrible personality disorder. He becomes angry, irrational and totally impossible to work with. Trouble is, he is such a good salesman that the company won’t do anything about it - people around him leave instead.”
From rage to relaxation
This encounter naturally surprised me, but I forgot about it until a few weeks later when I saw for myself Dr Jekyll in action.
I was sitting in a meeting at a client’s office in Amsterdam when I witnessed a complete loss of temper, rationality and sense of any civilized behaviour by a senior manager. I could see that this was not the first time and that the other people in the room seemed – while intimidated and embarrassed – resigned to it.
Some hours after the incident, I met the ranting lunatic of my morning’s meeting quite by accident in a totally other context. Invited to a gallery opening at a new atelier on one of the city’s canals, who should I come face to face with but the scary screamer himself. But he was talking to a good friend of mine and they were laughing and joking together. Gone was the edgy, weird behaviour.
I exchanged some basic social pleasantries and then diplomatically took my Dutch friend aside and said softly: “Ruben, tell me, that guy you were talking to, how well do you know him?”
“Erik? Oh for ever. We have been friends for years, our families often vacation together. Isn’t he a great guy?”
Pressure to perform
That encounter got me thinking. Are there a lot of Jacques and Eriks out there? Lots of what I’ve termed Dr Jekylls and Mr Nice Guys. People, who if you know them socially are charming and the best kind of friend you can get but, put into a work context become, literally, another person, unrecognizable to close friends or family?
It seems that in this supercharged, high-achiever, non-stop, 24/7 life we have created for ourselves there are a great many people who undergo a personality change (rather like Superman) as they walk through the company car park. A total metamorphosis from mild-mannered, much-loved Daddy (or Mummy) to foaming-at-the-mouth, ranting, raving ogre.
For them, the only way it seems they can achieve what they have to do is by burying Mr Nice Guy and donning the Dr Jekyll persona each day.
So is there a cure?
Do these people need help, can they be treated? I talked to some business psychologists about this. Their view is simple. It is today’s stressful environments that bring this on, coupled to fear of failure and a determination to be seen as a hard guy – uncompromising and results driven.
“Let’s face it,” said one, “there is a lot of pressure around and some people find it easier (for them, not for others, of course), to adopt an at-work, professional personality. Others just drift into it, not wanting to let people down and finding it easier to become a totally driven, focused, yet increasingly irrational person.”
Can you cure it? Yes, but it needs a lot of work over time. And with pressure on most of us to deliver results, that’s not easy to achieve.
My take on this? There are more of these people around than we might at first think. No matter how much you don’t like their behaviour, it might be a good idea to see if there are ways to help out for the ultimate good of the business.
True, Mr Nice Guy may not win the salesman of the year award, but his colleagues and staff will work a whole lot better when he hands in the tough-guy disguise for a smile, a word of encouragement and a helping hand.
1 The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886
mikeajohnson@compuserve.com
