leadership, management, feedback, retention, message, conversation, expertise,

Alfred Hitchcock, the noted film director, was known for making a cameo appearance in his movies. A game among many moviegoers, was to watch the films and locate the scenes where Mr. Hitchcock made his guest appearance. Celebrities use this technique, to gain publicity, boost interest in a movie and to increase sales. Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame adapted this philosophy to playfully engage with his Marvel fandom.

The concept of cameo appearances can also be applied to leaders. The idea of brief appearances fit the style of many leaders. Cameo Leadership could be defined as a positive or negative leadership style, characterized by a leader influencing direct reports through a series of brief exposures. The style is condoned or condemned by subordinates, based on their value to employee development.

The Cameo Leader™ may fall into two categories, negative and positive. The Negative Cameo Leader is like an absentee landlord. They abdicate their responsibility, and you can’t find them when you need them. The Negative Cameo Leader shows up for a moment without warning. Their interactions lack positive values and developmental opportunities. They arrive on the scene, ready to take center stage, absorbing all the attention and accolades available. They poison the environment in a dictatorial and authoritarian manner. They relish being the boss, as they give orders before practicing their disappearing act.

The Negative Cameo, the NC Leader will give out an assignment without instructions or supervision. When recognition is dispensed upon their department, they will accept the praise and bask in the limelight and refuse to share the glory. Employees are frustrated because they are deprived of encouragement and developmental opportunities needed for their growth. Careers suffer because the Negative Cameo Leader is not familiar with their employees, their work ethic, or their work product. They cannot vouch for their direct reports performances for they do not have an intimate knowledge of their career aspirations.

The Negative Cameo Leader does not take an interest in the work of their employees or in their lives outside of work. Therefore, they do not deserve or receive loyalty from their people. The Negative Cameo Leader can become a micromanager when they pop up on the scene, drop a few demoralizing comments and quickly disappear. What they label as independence is a dereliction of duty.

The Positive Cameo, the PC Leader is admired because they are with their people in the beginning during the planning phase. They share the vision and provide the resources and support to do their jobs. They give them responsibility and hold them accountable for the completion of their assignments. They value and trust their employees’ skills, abilities, and judgment. They are encouraging and believe in their people and provide independence because they trust their ability to do the job and forgive them when they make mistakes. People know where they stand with the Positive Cameo Leader, for they have an open-door policy and dispense feedback generously.

The Positive Cameo Leader will visit periodically to see if their people need anything. The job and the responsibilities belong to the employee. The PC Leader creates a culture of collaboration and ownership. They ensure that people think and act like an owner, for they will be held accountable for results. They are not unnecessarily visible; however, they are accessible through a variety of methods.

The Positive Cameo Leader ensures that those who do the work, receive the credit, and the accolades. They look for ways to set their people up for success through encouragement. Positive Cameo Leadership when practiced, requires the leader to unselfishly accept their role in working for their people. They are willing to act and pay the price as they practice what they preach.

Cameo Leadership can have a negative or positive perception based on how employees respond to this leadership style. If it is negative, it is corrosive and is a barrier to career development. The Rosenthal effect created by Dr. Robert Rosenthal of Harvard University, is the phenomenon in which experimenters treat subjects differently based on their expectations which has a positive or negative influence on subject performance. The Rosenthal effect is evaluated in four categories. They are climate, input, output, and feedback.

Cameo leadership may be present at various stages of an organization, team, or individuals’ development. For example, Positive Cameo Leadership is ideal for an individual or team that is highly skilled and does not require much supervision. A negative cameo is not desirable in most situations.

Cameo Leadership impacts the workplace environment. The leader’s expectations of their people determines the climate. Favorable or unfavorable expectations will create a positive or negative interpersonal climate for each individual. Secondly, leadership input, in the form of information and opportunities, is based on positive and negative expectations. Leaders teach more to those whom they expect more and conversely. Thirdly, output is defined by the level of questions accepted or encouraged from their subordinates. We give them more opportunities to express their questions. This is also based on expectations. Lastly, the Cameo Leader gives feedback that builds or diminishes self-esteem and performance and will praise or criticize for mistakes, in accordance with their level of expectations.

I have a twist on a common adage. Nice guys finish, instead of nice guys finish last. Many times, we attach a negative to the concept of being nice. We view niceness as a form of weakness. If someone is nice, we see them as vulnerable, and subject to being exploited. But the definition of nice does not concede toughness and effectiveness.

Dictionary.com defines nice as, characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy. Miriam-Webster dictionary lists synonyms for nice to include kind, polite, pleasing, agreeable, appropriate, fitting, socially acceptable, virtuous, and respectable. We could also include trustworthiness.

The definitions and synonyms paint a picture of attributes that we should admire in each other and our associates. But something is lost when we decide to filter nice through the lens of our prospective, and degrade, mislabel, and misinterpret information. These misconceptions may cause us to be condescending and devalue the people who work for us and underestimate their performance.

A company surveyed their customers in a customer satisfaction exercise. They wanted to see, through surveys and interviews, how their sales representatives were perceived by their customers. The word nice came up consistently relative to their competitors. Each group of interviewers reached the same conclusion. The clients enjoyed being with the sales of representatives and thought they were, nice.

The company decided that the word nice was a deficiency and needed to be changed in the minds of the prospects. They viewed nice as weak and therefore, ineffective in a maliciously competitive environment. Nice was a part of the corporate brand in the minds of their customers, which needed to be changed. Nice was not good, and everyone knew that nice guys finished last.

An anti-nice message was delivered to the sales team. They were made to feel inadequate versus competitor companies. Tension was created between the Home Office and the sales force, as they launched allegations against each other. This was a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the relationships built by the sales team with their customers.

Since they owned the nice space in the minds of customers; rather than viewing nice as a negative, building on this favorable perception was an option. Rather than work on a make-over to change their sales representatives into the image of the dominant competitor, exploit the niche of being nice. They should use the perception of nice to gain permission to ask the right questions. They should use the attribute of nice to increase customer interactions and create a space to ask for more business.

Relationships are a key part of the sales process. Individuals with high emotional intelligence can translate this skill into greater customer service, greater customer confidence, customer loyalty and greater sales performance. People like to buy from people whom they know, like, trust and respect. Nice individuals may have skills that are admirable attributes to their clients. You generally like to hire nice people, because it is difficult to create nice people, if you do not have them. You may teach people nice habits and practices, but if they are not nice by nature, in the middle of a crisis or difficult situation, they may relapse to their original tendencies. How often have you heard someone compliment someone who was not a nice person?

The Marriott Corporation’s excellent customer service reputation was addressed in an interview with a business publication. They were asked how they were able to train people to be personable and nice, which attributed to their superb customer service. The head of their training department indicated that they did not have a training program to teach this skill, they addressed this skill in the hiring process. In other words, they hired nice people and trained them on the other things, they needed to know.

There is value in hiring and developing nice people, for they are usually seen as trustworthy. Their personality, service acumen and ability to get along with others, makes them potentially strong members of your team, company/organization, or partners in your relationships. There are individuals who are “too nice” and cannot ask tough questions, take risks or be persistent. These individuals may not be the ones appropriate for your business. But likability alone should not be a detriment to a person’s success.

Nice people finish with relationships that can be created and strengthened. They can be there in the end because people want them around. Nice people have a commitment to service and to people, which makes them desirable members to help you in your quest toward greatness and serving clients. They can often go places and gain business where others have not earned permission. If someone comes across as too good to be true, too nice to be right, vet them as you would any other individual. Do not discount them immediately because they are nice. Because the right nice guys/gals have a reputation or the potential to finish strong.