It usually does not come on strong, it creeps in surreptitiously. But it is, nonetheless, very lethal to the continued progress of a company. It is the combination of incompetence and jealousy, which Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a management expert of British descent, describes as injelititis. It is a situation that arises when a superior sees himself as less competent than a subordinate and does not only become jealous but does everything to frustrate him. In some extreme cases, the superior, if he has the power so to do, goes ahead to sack the competent subordinate because of the belief that the subordinate is a threat. In the process, he ends up injuring the interest of the company because a company that has a high rate of turnover of good staff cannot have a good balance sheet; neither can it fully realize its potentialities.
The principal cause of injelititis, according to Parkinson, is decreasing competence. It is a grave matter because it is not instantly recognized for what it is. Competence usually takes a dip when an employee believes he has either got to his peak or is very close to it. At this point, he becomes complacent and contributes far less to the company than he ought to. This is what Dr Laurence J. Peter refers to as the level of incompetence, that is the point beyond which an employee cannot rise in an establishment. This is better known as the Peter Principle.
As a superior, it is easy to be inflicted with injelititis without being aware of it. So, instead of doing things that will result in the progress of the company, he goes about doing the exact opposite.
How to avoid being infected by injelititis
Never stop developing yourself
Experts have said that the rate at which knowledge become obsolete in this age is alarming. The import of this is that to think that one knows enough not to need continual updating is to live in a fool’s paradise. The edge a superior has over his subordinates is access to superior knowledge and information. The moment a superior does not have superior knowledge, he loses his subordinates’ respect. Worse still, he also begins to doubt his own competence. So, whatever it takes, stay informed. The moment you are not informed, you lose form. If you do not change, you may be changed, you may be replaced. So, don’t take self improvement for granted, it is the first guard against injelititis.
The undoing of many officers is that they wait for their organizations to sponsor them for training. While that may not be bad, it is certainly not the best. Invest in your self-development. Look for workshops, seminars and conferences to attend. Buy good books and find time to read them. Spend at least one hour daily to read books that are relevant to your duty and profession.
Don’t feel threatened by good subordinates
You should see the most intelligent and competent of your staff members as your most valuable assets. What most superior officers fail to realize is that their good staff are really working to promote them. When a staff working in a department does a piece of work very well, the credit first goes to the department, not the staff member. After the department has been considered, the credit then goes to the head who has been able to identify the best person for the job and lastly the individual who performs the feat. So, a wise superior officer will not feel threatened by a good subordinate but will do all in his power to encourage him so that he can continue to do well. The more the subordinate does well, the greater the accolades that go to the head.
One fact that superiors often overlook is that when an officer becomes a manager, he is supposed to bring out the best in his subordinates. Competing with subordinates is a malady. That is why Parkinson christens it injelititis, a disease of the mind. Competing with a subordinate is a sign that the superior has lost focus. Consequently, his subordinates will suffer unduly and his company will suffer a great deal.
Become a talent manager
It is wrong for a superior to wait for his subordinates to take a wrong step so he can chuck him out. That is a sign of insecurity. As a superior, you are primarily a coach. So, spend time to groom and develop your subordinates. Even if you think they know more than you that should not stop you from investing in their development. If you invest in their development, you will not feel threatened by their success, they will even learn to respect you more. If you see yourself as their coach, you will not do anything to injure their interest. Now, what manner of coach will work for his protégé’s failure? What manner of trainer will hinder the progress of his ward?
Walk with the wise, get wiser
One thing you should take cognizance of if you are working with subordinates who seem better than you are is that you cannot lose by cooperating with them. The scriptures say he that walks with the wise becomes wise. The holy book also says that iron sharpens iron. The import of this is that having intelligent and competent people in your team will rub off positively on you. If your subordinates are strong in the area of intelligence, you are also strong in the area of experience. If you work together as a team, you become unbeatable. So, there is no reason to feel insecure.
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