Visual Status
There are business leaders who would rather lose pay then negatively alter their title or office. In my 25 years of experience in personal and organizational change, I encountered many leaders who would accept an income reduction; rather than a loss of status through a reduction in the size of their office.
The leading concern of many leaders acting in a corporation going through structural changes is a change in title. When a leader is presented with a choice between a reduction in title or a paid decrease, the leader will most likely accept the paid decrease. The reason is to save face.
We can never under-estimate the value of the external status items which can be seen by others. A leader’s salary or bonus is usually somewhat confidential. It is usually taboo to talk openly of leader’s remuneration. However a precious title or an expansive office is apparent to all. Upgrading these visual items can give enhanced status while scaling back these visual status items has a dramatic affect on the individual’s perceived value.
A rational senior executive would assume that adjustments in his or her manager’s salary would lead to the greatest impact on motivation. However it is my belief that the more visual of rewards lead to greater manager motivation in most corporate cultures today.
After hundreds of career counseling sessions during structural change projects; this unusual pattern of behavior held true.
“How will this affect my status?”
This is one of the first questions racing through many leaders mind’s when any major organizational change is rumored. It is so much about status. It is so much about the perception. It is so much about the visual aspects.
Many leaders today are politically savvy and refrain from openly expressing this concern. However they will stoup to all sorts of levels to save face and protect those external items that can be viewed by others: the office, the title, the assistants, the latest tech toys, the fancy company car, staying at the right hotels, seen at the trendiest restaurants and so on. This traditional thinking is extremely counter productive in today’s competitive world.
I am still amazed at how important titles are in so many cultures and organizations today. How individuals will totally define themselves by these few words on their business card or email greeting. As well, others will perceive individuals in a certain manner based solely on their title. How much it means to certain leaders to boast of their title. Or how people will boast of someone they are close too and flaunt that individual’s title.
Now in the area of offices, how those extra few feet of real-estate make a dramatic difference as to how an individual perceives themselves and how others will perceive them. And of course window space is of prime importance and the ultimate is the “Corner Office” still.
These visual status symbols can completely identify the essence of some leaders. Being blind I will intensely listen to someone’s walk, their tone and even their overall presence and attain a definite understanding of their level of arrogance and aura of superiority. With some leaders it flows from their head to their toes. Then when one of those visual or external status symbols is negatively altered, for example the title, professional standing or office, then their walk, tone and aura is shattered. All their arrogance and feelings of superiority were based on artificial external status elements. It did nothing to build the overall essence of the individual.
We must understand that it is the internal elements that truly generate and sustain a real sense of fulfillment, self-worth and well being for all of us. These are so very critical in lofting individuals and organizations to new levels of success. It is time to begin the long term cultural change process required to bring visual status items into balance with those of more substance. However in the short term we cannot ignore the importance of these visual status items. A change project’s success can hinge on it.