A doctoral study conducted by psychologist Chiara Amati, from Edinburgh Napier University presented on Jan. 10 2013, at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society Division of Occupational Psychology contends that “"Faking it seems, to a degree, to just be part of good people management."
Faking it implies managers need to manufacture positive and encouraging emotions and override any unhelpful, private thoughts. This new contention is in diametric opposition to the much promulgated notion that good leaders and managers are authentic, open and honest in the majority of management literature.
Anyone who has experienced the onus of managing people has had to contend with the constant barrage of personal problems as excuses for absenteeism or poor work performance. As a manager one inevitably wastes valuable time listening to the excuses or problems of their employees when in reality the manager could care less and has better things to do with their own time.
“"Managers who spoke to me reported feeling obliged to monitor their public displays of emotions in order to manage staff performance and maintain good working relationships with their team. In many management roles, especially lower down the hierarchy or ranks of power, it is more important for managers to deploy influencing skills to get people to do things; they simply do not have the authority to command unconditional respect.”
Female managers were found to need to contrive their emotional displays more than their male counterparts.
In the age of an attitude of employee empowerment that in most instances is unsubstantiated by performance or ability, a manager must fake their emotional involvement and their true feelings in order to get the most from their employees.
One might consider the same necessity for politicians at all levels to fake their true emotions when seeking office, making well-rehearsed speeches, and performing for campaign contributions. Politicians and office holders are really just managers with infinite budgets.
The research was reviewed at the Science Daily website on the date of the presentation.
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