It's nothing personal folks...

Business Evolutionist relates a great story from a recent speaking trip:

It's nothing personal folks

That was the first slide of a Power Point presentation I saw someone putting together on the airplane the other day, seriously.

I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or pry or anything, but I couldn't help glancing over a couple of times...

"It's nothing personal folks..."

That is just wrong on so many levels.

First: Okay, then why are we here?

Second: Yeah, actually, it is personal.

Third: So, you don't care about me... then why should I care about you, this presentation or this company?

I wanted to lean over to the guy and suggest another approach: Get rid of the Power Point and instead take a boom box into the meeting and play that song "We're in this love together, we've got the kind that lasts forever."

Yes! Just imagine. A sense of humor and sense of humanity along with the necessary task of bearing what seemed to portend bad news. Not happy talk. Not covering your "people skill bases," but actually exercising your people skills.

One of the commenters to Jon's post offered a mea culpa--

I'll admit it--I use that line, too. I guess it's a matter of tact--it's the disclaimer that says "the following comments may sting a bit, but I still value you as a person."

Sounds lovely, but research shows that people's ears are far more tuned to negatives, than positives. It's that pesky R-complex again, always suspicious and looking for inauthenticity; always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Around here, we've learned from client/employee surveys on reorgs and M&A projects that "the following comments may sting a bit, but I still value you as a person" is not the takeway.

Everything one says after something like that disappears into a black hole called "What's wrong with me?" which quickly mutates into a vortex of resistance called "Who is this asshole?"

Kind of like saying, "To be honest with you, I think..."

Why fight reality? Everything's personal, work especially. Who wants employees who abstractly observe that your company's going down the tubes in some way, and then move on to passionately wondering what new lure they're going to use while fishing this weekend? Candor works wonders, well presented. It also flushes out the passive/agressive obstacle builders and the clock-punchers.

"It's not personal, it's business" is their weapon and excuse.

Take away their tools. Disarm them.