B.L. Brown
@b.l.brown
About
“Don’t Allow Anyone to Confine You to a Box,
Disabling Your Growth”
The workplace, as we know it, is becoming more and moreunbearable. There are so many hidden personal agendas impeding workforceproductivity. Many organizations are filled with contaminated, dishonestleaders who treat employees with a lack of human regard. These same leaderstake every opportunity to confine certain employees to a “box” in an attempt toinhibit their professional growth. When you find a manager striving to confineemployees, that manager is personally and professionally unfulfilled with noclue as to who he or she is. When a manager exhibits self-confidence andself-assurance, utilizing their time and efforts to destroy others will not bea part of their workplace behavior. In life, only a fool says whatever is ontheir mind, all the time.
I am a proud, strong,African-American, divorced mother of five when I rise in the morning and when Ilie down at night. I am fortunate to parent five amazing children who areunique in every way. The genesis of Halo-Orangees’ Brand:HelpingAdvocate Longevity of Organizations by Obtaining Objectives through RedefiningAbove-Board New Generational Guidelines for Employer Employee Standards wasinspired, developed, and birthed from my reaction to an unethical manager withwhom I, B. L. Brown, had the pleasure—that is, in making me stronger—of workingfor. My executive director, Melvin Booker, had perfected the art of insultingstaff members on a daily basis. I could only surmise that this leader saw theentire group of employees as confined to a small shoe box. In a one-on-onemeeting with my executive director, he made the statement that anotheremployee, who held the same title, was better than I was. In response, Iinformed him that this employee was not better than I was, nor was I betterthan she. I also asked him to explain the basis for his statement. He stumbled,stuttered, and finally replied that this employee was better than I was becauseshe held two master’s degrees. In my opinion, a leader should never letanything like this come from his mouth. A leader who would say this to anemployee likely has low-esteem and should not be hired to lead a team. When aleader possesses low self-esteem, they are not strong enough to lead a team inachieving organizational goals and objectives. In retrospect, the employee whothe director believed to have been better than me, after nearly two years onthe job, was still relying on me for assistance on otherwise simple day-to-dayoperational tasks. As the director and executive leader in command of managersand employees, what is the central theme of putting frontline team membersdown?
This leader was well-knownfor insulting and verbally attacking employees, attempting to confine us to a“box” by expressing his opinions of how no one met departmental standards. Notethat our department had no written standards, policies, and/or procedures inplace. The only policies and procedures that existed were the ones written bythe employees from their own knowledge and self-training. This department alsohad no training or employee development period. The employees’ training wasbased upon trial and error. Neither my director nor any member of hismanagement team, with the exception of two employees, could log into the systemor outline the basic fundamentals of the day-to-day operations without callingon frontline employees. I often asked myself how he could label the team as notgood enough.
Another glaring example of the lack of respect andappreciation for employees was when a department manager put another director’srequest for a hard copy of a report on hold for forty-eight hours until aspecific frontline employee, who oversaw that reporting system, returned towork. The manager had system access to run this report; however, he did notknow how. It can only be surmised that he felt “That is what the staff is for.”If frontline employees resign and the department only consists of managers, theday-to-day operations will halt because the managers will lack the know-how toeffectively use the department’s systems.
As a leader, it is counterproductive to belittle employeesunder any circumstance. It is an extra slap in the face to insult employees andthen excuse poorly performing managers who fail to perform their own jobdescriptions, as if the requirements do not exist. Is it fair to allow managersto be a part of the weekly payroll when they route their duties to otheremployees, basically forcing other employees to perform their tasks while themanager earns the credit and pay?
Self-awareness is being mindful of who you are, the good andthe bad. Self-awareness in a leader is a critical component because when aperson has a clear understanding of himself or herself and recognize negativecharacteristics, they are encouraged to make a positive change. In theworkforce, when a person identifies negative things within him or herself, heor she can quickly self-repair and begin to redirect his or her energiestowards the organization’s goals. Inner belief is the awareness of knowing whoyou are as an individual and believing in who you have the power to become. Itis your inner valuation that determines who you are. In life, it is of theessence that all human beings know their self-worth, both personally andprofessionally. In order to obtain any form of achievement, you must know whoyou are as an individual. An innovative leader self–assesses by analyzing theirown performance and, subsequently, raises the standards and expectations forthemselves.
Everything we do in life requires some form of communication.In the workplace, effective communication is indispensable. Managers who lackleadership skills are becoming a regular fixture in the workplace. There are somany organizations with managers who confine their staff to a box, stiflingemployee success. What is the benefit of this? Is it possible for a leader’sself-esteem and confidence to be so low that he or she would purposely create anegative working environment, thereby decreasing the productivity in theworkforce and interfering with the organization’s targeted goals for success?When a leader labels and inhibits staff, they are destined to fail.
Halo-Orangees Daily Meditation Moments
Life is filled with workplace leaders whose self-esteem is solow that, in an attempt to lift their esteem, they make every effort to teardown skilled employees. In some companies, leaders overlook their talentedemployees and draw in unskilled employees, forming an alliance so that they canfeel better about themselves. The unskilled employees in these workenvironments “kiss up” to managers, telling them how great they are, inexchange for having their lack of knowledge overlooked.
What is confinement in the workplace? Why would a leaderconfine or hold back skilled employees? When leaders confine employees, aren’tthey disabling the organization’s growth? Aren’t they crippling the financialbottom line? Is there any value in confining staff members, disabling theirsuccess? Does a leader’s attempt to confine employees to a box, with no growthpotential, demonstrate an intent to intimidate these employees? When leaders inthe workforce maliciously mistreat you by attempting to stifle your success,put on your inner shield of strength, ethics, and excellence—then rise aboveit. When you are forced to work in an environment such as this, look to thefuture, plan your destiny, view your current situation as a test of endurance,and show your true character, because the doors of opportunity are sure toblast open. Exhale; the best is yet to come. The upcoming days will bebrighter. Don’t ever allow anyone to define or confine you to a box, stiflingyour growth by forcing their negativity and lack of self-assurance on you.
You are the only one who defines you, so don’t ever allowanyone to tell you who you are, or that you are not good enough. Don’t everallow anyone to attack your self-esteem, kill your passion, or tell you thatsomeone else is more worthy than you. Don’t ever allow anyone to disrespect youor make you feel ashamed of your rate of pay. Don’t ever allow anyone toisolate you into workforce confinement or knock you down and claim defeat overyou. Don’t ever allow anyone to make you angry by imposing his or her workplaceignorance into your world. Don’t ever allow anyone to bring you gossip (unnecessaryand unproductive comments) against you by your boss. Don’t ever allow anyone tobreak your spirit of peace, control your mood, or suppress your workforceexistence, making your tenure in the organization a horrible experience. Don’tever allow anyone to slaughter your character or blackball you in theorganization—rather, always address issues such as this head-on.
Don’t ever allow anyone to destroy you in the workforce,forcing you to turn to antidepressant medications in order to survive. Don’tever give anyone the power to impact your actions or allow anyone to know theyare impacting your actions. Don’t ever give anyone the right to verbally abuseyou or tell you that another employee deserves more organizational support thanyou because their title ranks higher than yours. Don’t ever allow your boss todominate you, bully you, abuse their authority over you, or create aninequitable environment around you.
As you journey through this book, you will experience amultiplicity of real life work encounters from Halo-Orangees team members. Itis my hope that you will find yourself in this book and use it as inspirationto rise above the confusion, condescension, and disdain that your current orpast employer has created in your workplace. Confinement is not a part of yourdestiny. Your life purpose is to take the totality of your negativeexperiences, roll them up into one, and use them positively to lay thefoundation for your destiny. Think of your negative workforce encounters asgrass seeds entering the ground, planted and watered, especially designed foryou to walk on as you enter a new path into your marvelous future. I lookforward to seeing you at the top.
B. L. Brown
CEO and Founder, Halo-Orangees
http://www.outskirtspress.com/HaloOrangees
