The Walk of Fear

I like to get input from people, including my employees. Often, when I’m in a planning meeting with my managers that involves a particular work process, I’ll call in some frontline employees who handle that process so I can get the benefit of their perspective. I do the same thing when I’m in my office trying to figure something out.

Ideally, of course, one would recognize in advance the need for input and invite the employees to the meeting ahead of time, giving them a few days to think about the topic and put their thoughts in order. I do that too. But sometimes when an issue is being discussed or I’m working on a problem, it suddenly strikes me that a frontline perspective could be quite illuminating. So then I pick up the phone and call a couple people.

If you do this sort of thing, I'd like to share a little tip with you. If you follow it, your employees will appreciate it very much. Here it is:

When you call your employees and ask them to come to your office, tell them why.

I had to learn this lesson the hard way. My first title as a manager was Chief Operating Officer. I went from having never supervised anyone in my life (as an attorney I hadn’t even supervised my own secretary!) to being a bigwig in the executive suite. Shortly after I was elevated to this lofty post I called one of my best frontline employees and asked her to come to my office. A few minutes later she rather tentatively poked her head in the door. I asked her to have a seat and started talking to her about the problem I was working on that I wanted to get her insight on. She seemed a little odd and wasn’t saying anything. Finally, several minutes into the conversation she let out a big breath and blurted out, "Oh, thank God."

Well, that got my attention. I asked what was going on. She said "When you called and told me to come to your office I thought I was in trouble. The whole time I was walking to your office I was trying to figure out what I’d done wrong. I’m just so relieved that I’m not getting disciplined. Now, what were you saying?"

I tell you folks, hearing this was like a dagger in my heart. I had worked with this woman regularly in my previous position as legal counsel, we got along well, she did excellent work, and she was a person I liked and admired. Which is why I was seeking her advice. But I had unwittingly subjected her to the Long Walk of Fear to the Boss’s Office. No wonder she had seemed so tentative when she showed up at my door. I felt pretty awful about it.

Now on a rational level she had no reason to worry: her work was excellent, her behavior was exemplary, and she and I had a good working relationship. But rationality has nothing to do with the Walk of Fear. It’s like when you show up at the office one morning and your keycard doesn’t unlock the door. For a moment, you can’t help wondering, "Have I been fired?"

Maybe this goes back to childhood experiences of being called to the principal’s office. For many of us, that was our first experience with the Walk of Fear. Again, it does not have to be based on any rational concern. When I was a kid I was a great student: I got good grades, did not cause trouble, and generally enjoyed being in school. But whenever I got called to the principal’s office I couldn’t help but worry as I took that long walk down the hallway, even though it always turned out to be something innocuous.

If you're trying to build a positive workplace culture, you do not want to unwittingly inflict this unpleasant experience on your good employees. I was lucky that, early in my career, I had this experience with an employee who was so open and honest about being worried when I called her. The vast majority of employees, of course, will never mention that they had been worried when you called them to your office. They will just play it very cool. So it tends to be an invisible problem.

I recommend doing the same thing I have done, which is to develop the habit of telling employees what you want to talk to them about when you call them. I might say something like, "Are you free for a few minutes? We are discussing when to do an AME and when to skip right to a panel exam and we would like to get your input." That’s the best way to do it, because then they can actually warm up their thoughts on the topic as they walk over. However, sometimes the topic is too complicated to easily summarize, and then I’ll just say something like, "Could you help me out? I’m working on a project and I’d like to get your advice on it." That, at least, makes it clear that they are not in trouble.

Comments

[CMR]

You are right about the origins of this unfounded fear. Almost everyone has been in situations, as a child, a student, or a spouse, where “We need to talk” is code for “You’re in trouble.” And not knowing exactly what the trouble is makes the wait almost unbearable. Good or bad, knowing is better than wondering.

[Napolean21]

This is a great idea! And so easy to implement too! I work in an office where the manager's office has a huge glass door that everyone can see into. Everyone knows when you get called to the office. It would be great to be able to say, "They just need my advice." It can also take a while to shift from the "Walk of Fear" mindset to participating helpfully in a discussion.

[Reagan]

Thanks, Napolean. It's interesting that the glass door, which should be a good thing as a symbol of the openness of the manager, instead becomes a negative thing, namely creating a fishbowl in which your co-workers can watch you and talk about you as you get called on the carpet. If everyone knew you were in their providing support rather than getting reprimanded you could feel a lot better about the situation!