Neutrality is a virtue when it is “authentic neutrality”. Unfortunately, a lot of “inauthentic” neutrality is prevalent in workplaces.

“Inauthentic” neutrality means not taking a stand even after knowing the truth of the situation, and when the situation is important enough to demand the leader’s intervention.

For e.g, two colleagues Swati and Srinivas are working on a project. Swati does not put in her share of the work, and Srinivas ends up doing her work. Srinivas spoke about this to Swati and requested her to complete her part of the work. But nothing changes, so Srinivas discusses this with his boss Naveen. Naveen tells him to resolve it between them. Srinivas discusses this once again with Swati, yet there is no change.

Srinivas tells Naveen about this, but Naveen evades the topic, and just repeats that they should resolve it among themselves. There could be two reasons for this:

  1. Cowardice — Naveen is a coward who evades conflict even when it’s needed. He is only interested in his own convenience, and protecting his position. He doesn’t want to go through the pain and discomfort of conflict. So he does not stand up for his team members when needed.
  2. Lack of care for the team — Naveen just doesn’t care enough about the situation and about Srinivas.

Often, both cowardice and an uncaring attitude are at play. Leaders think they can get away with it. But subordinates watch their leader with a microscope, and can see through everything. Every flaw and every strength is noticed.

The team starts losing respect for the leader, which shows up as passive aggression from the team. It causes unproductive conflict and also lowers performance.

It’s important for leaders to understand the consequences of their cowardice and uncaring attitude. By evading constructive conflict, the leader tries to protect his position, whereas it actually ends up eroding his respect and therefore his power.

Self Reflection

  1. As a leader, have you evaded conflict when you needed to intervene (deadlines /performance / results / engagement /commitment were being impacted)?
  2. Why did you evade it?
  3. How could you have intervened in a way that would have stopped the damage? How different would the situation be if you had intervened
  4. Did it impact the engagement and commitment of your team?
  5. Did it impact the respect you earned from your team?
  6. What will you do the next time you are faced with such a situation?

Good luck!