College Station, TX — Do you ever feel like the ideas you offer to a supervisor get shut down? Results of a recent study suggest it might be because they view the suggestions as “threatening” to their authority.
Researchers from five universities (four in the United States and one in China) presented fictional situations to supervisors in the United States and asked for their reactions. The group also surveyed workers and supervisors in China.
Then, the researchers asked the workers whether they believed their voice was welcomed by their supervisor. They also gauged whether the supervisors viewed employees who spoke up as threatening or corresponding with organizational goals.
Findings show that the supervisors often viewed workers who present innovative ideas as a challenge to their authority.
In a press release, Stephen Courtright, study co-author and management professor at Texas A&M, suggested that “the supervisor may engage in fight mode when they view that employee as a threat by isolating them, shutting them down or undermining them. Or they may engage in flight mode by disengaging or removing them from the conversation. Either way, it disempowers these individuals.
“On the other hand, supervisors tend to see yes-men as more aligned with their goals or more loyal, so they may trust them more with certain initiatives.”
Courtright and his colleagues urge managers to consider evaluating whether their ego is interfering with workers’ ideas.
“Maybe this employee really does have the group’s interests as their first priority,” Courtright said. “So, if you can align those interests, then you’re more likely to listen to them and they become less of a threat.”
The study was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
