I’ve been keeping my 2014 New Year’s Resolution to “Read More” and in the last month got through the John Steinbeck classic Of Mice and Men (can’t believe it was never assigned at St. Xavier High School), and two from Mitch Albom I had always promised myself I would get to – Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. All well worth the read but “TCA” comes from the book I mentioned in January, The No Asshole Rule by Robert I. Sutton, PhD.
TCA refers to “Total Cost of Assholes to Your Organization” and I’ll highlight just a few that will hit home for anyone who has had one or more of these persons in your organization.
1) Distraction from tasks – more effort devoted to avoiding nasty encounters, coping with them, avoiding blame, and less effort devoted to the task itself.
2) Victims and witnesses hesitate to help or cooperate with the offender and they don’t give them bad news.
3) Management time spent:
- Appeasing, calming, counseling or disciplining the offender.
- Calming employees who are victimized.
- Appeasing and calming victimized customers, contractors, suppliers, and other key outsiders.
Just to close on this book I believe Sutton says it best on page 87: “Having all the right business philosophies and management practices to support the no asshole rule is meaningless unless you treat the person right in front of you, right now, the right way.”
I hope your business and personal year is continuing to go well and your New Year’s Resolutions are still intact!