Besides. We can still hear this sardonic laugh in the middle of a meeting: “Bravo! You have rediscovered the wheel! My 8 year old son is capable of making a plan like yours!” Failure, after weeks of “crunch” (period of intense work which precedes the development of a video game) which led to insomnia, an abolition of all social life – I no longer know who is behind the photo which appears on my phone – while having the feeling of having done an excellent job. Brushed aside by a member of general management. “The submissive leader equips himself with weapons that are the antithesis of feedback. He begins by showing off his power attributes to impress […]analyzes Stéphane Moriou, in Feedback. The power of conversations. The art of giving and receiving feedback (Dunot, 2023). When he goes off the rails, the submissive leader does not hesitate to denigrate. […] his authority is based on fear. He will go so far as to humiliate, including in his inner circle.”
“Domination is the tactic of least effort”
“He who controls people’s fear becomes the master of their souls,” declared Nicolas Machiavelli at the beginning of the 16th century (The prince, 1532). “Obedience to authority is an act of submission which is not simply suffered: it is learned. We are educated to fear,” continues Stéphane Moriou. The leader on the upper floor is the tyrant who rules by terror. He “micromanages” via order, injunction, and their corollaries, sanction, punishment. Feared. Like the manager through submission, he repeats this in any organization that relies on the short term. Submission works on “the fear-admiration duo”, which can fascinate shy, insecure managers, those suffering from imposter syndrome or, even, warm, uneventful people. They might use it to convey a complicated message. “An easy way out. Domination is the tactic of least effort.” This attitude causes discomfort in the subordinate leading to disinvestment. The victim can resign. Or hunker down, time to digest, in super-zen mode. A normal annoyance described by certain coaches, champions of happiness, who recommend evacuating it through meditation and a few euphoriants to ingest. However, it is not up to the victim to accept – and, moreover, can she? History rejects tyrants because, in reality, the “drifts of submission” are there, torpedoing the social, work or moral contract between two beings. However, “surprisingly, it is this pathology which will allow feedback to emerge”, announces Stéphane Moriou.
Giving and receiving feedback
The mathematician Norbert Wiener, who calls “cybernetics” (from the Greek “kubernetes”, “rudder”, “pilot”) the science of controlled systems, popularized in 1948 the concept of feedback or feedback (Cybernetics. Information and regulation in living things and machines). Controlling an action involves the circulation of information (circular causality) in a closed loop which allows its effects to be evaluated and the model to be adapted. A notion that has been all the rage since the second half of the 20th century. “It is a form of interpersonal communication which consists of expressing feedback to one’s interlocutor on one’s actions. The goal is to obtain a modification or reinforcement of one’s actions. It can be positive or negative, conditional or unconditional. One can give or receive feedback.”
This can be learned, assure Béatrice Arnaud and Sylvie Cahn (“Le feedback”, in The Collective Intelligence Toolbox, 2021). Among all the feedback models, that of the American psychologist Harry Levinson postulates positive criticism: remaining precise, because “precision is as important in praise as in criticism”; propose a solution to resolve the problem; be present and in front of your interlocutor; be sensitive in your choice of words, your attitude and show empathy (“Feedback to subordinates”, In Addendum to the Levinson Letter, Levinson Institute, 1992). As for the recipient, he must consider the criticism as information to improve himself, not have a defensive attitude and assume his responsibilities, the objective being to work together to resolve the problem. “Tyrants, come down to the coffin!” (THE Song of departure, Marie-Joseph Chénier).