The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

A Los Angeles Times story entitled “Is the Boss a Real Piece of Work” reports that several states are considering legislation to allow workers to sue their bosses “for being, basically, jerks.”

A proposed New Jersey bill would allow employees to claim $25,000 in damages if an employer created “an abusive work environment”. Similar measures are being entertained in New York, Vermont, Washington, and California. The other 45 states can’t be far behind. The court-clogging and potential for abuse makes the mind boggle, doesn’t it?

I’m one of those who thinks that fewer laws are better, and that anything the government does, it can do poorly. So my natural reaction is to oppose legislating leadership values. My personal preference is, as in most things, to let the market work its magic. Human nature being what it is, I tend to think that talented people, with lots of employment options, will seek effective leaders, and eschew the bullies. In theory, given enough time, talent will migrate toward places where leadership is done well, and away from places populated by jackass managers. It follows logically, then, that organizations with talent will perform substantially better than those with talent deficit disorder.

Makes perfect sense to me. After all, that’s the whole premise of our work at Contented Cow Partners. We’ve got the numbers to show that companies that make great leadership a part of their business strategy outperform those that don’t.

In a macro sense, I remain unwaivering in that belief. However, individual workers toil in the micro, not the macro. Bill and I have both seen way too many organizations that suffer bully bosses, and continue to limp forward in spite of the bad leadership practices to which they turn a blind, or at least, winking, eye to.

So I don’t know. Maybe a few hundred lawsuits at $25,000 a pop would shake up those companies that allow this kind of thing to continue, unchallenged.

Or maybe we ought to let the market keep doing what it does best. Witness the performance differential between say, Southwest Airlines, known for valuing skilled leadership, and Northwest, known for, well, known for pretty much being the lousiest airline in the air today.

What do you think? Let us know. Should laws be enacted to punish bully bosses? Or should we let companies slog it out in the court of market forces?

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