Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard the term “Sanctimonious Snowflake” used in a variety of ways 
and from a variety of people ranging from the Attorney General of the United States to a Plant Manager talking about the difficulties of providing constructive feedback to new employees who’ve been in the workforce for just a couple of years. At a time when civility in language and approach to others in our society and business environments is low and sinking fast, I’m thinking that using this term when giving feedback is probably not the best feedback strategy if one is actually serious about achieving a positive business outcome.
If your intent is to make yourself feel better by putting someone else down, or play up on someone’s weakness, then please stop reading this blog and go about your business.
If you are serious about getting the best results through people, then let’s discuss…
What is a Sanctimonious Snowflake?
There are a few definitions floating around so let me share one that I think presents an unbiased overview of the term. Calling someone a Sanctimonious Snowflake has been a sustainable quip of older (50+ years of age) conservatives who believe the next generations have been so coddled by their liberal parents they have become so overly sensitive and fragile they can’t function in the real world. This is the quintessential definition of the “trophy generation” where everyone gets a participation trophy just for trying. By way of example, there are some well-intentioned people in the workforce who suffer from a severe and debilitating condition called the “Sunday Scaries” when the impending anxiety of having to go back to work on Monday morning is so overwhelming every Sunday night that an extra day off or at the very least a work-at-home-day can help to take the edge off. If neither one of those solutions work, then some sufferers are finding solace with an emotional support pet who can provide the consolation needed to become emotionally stable again.
After conducting some research and speaking to leaders I admire, I unfortunately conclude it seems that the term is also taking on elements of a building cultural war between liberals who seek and have a view of fairness and inclusion and conservatives who denounce these efforts as overly sensitive political correctness that has become out of control.
Bringing it Back to Business Leadership
If business leadership is defined as the execution of your business strategy through people, the most effective leaders are the ones who are able to capture diversity and inclusion and a way that optimizes resources and enables companies to deliver on their value proposition to their customers. Evolving performance management techniques such as performance partnerships suggest that coaching and feedforward are the most successful methods of accomplishing goals.
We recently launched a new change leadership business simulation that helps leaders understand how to lead change through people and I focused a significant amount of the learning on providing feedback during a change process. As many companies experience disruptive change, name calling won’t be effective. If you find yourself or colleagues falling into this trap, here are three things you can do to get re-focused on the strategy, goals, and objectives.
Recognize everyone has strengths and limitations regardless of age and experience
Great leaders realize that everyone has great strengths and everyone has limitations. These two things transcend age and experience. The things that you should focus on are skill level and will level when it comes to leading and giving feedback. The most frustrating quadrant for a leader is the High Skill – Low Will quadrant. This is where an employee has the talent but doesn’t want to (or seemingly) doesn’t want to give the effort or extra effort to perform. Having a deep understanding that different people will have different motivators will be a key to leadership success.
Avoid jokes and stereotypes that can diminish your relationships
The segment of the workforce that we call Millennials are becoming increasingly sensitive to being called Millennials and being stuck with the stereotypes that are associated with it. Try avoiding talking in a negative way about things such as:
- The epidemic of social media usage during work hours
- “Entitlement”
- Participation trophies
- Nap rooms
- Cry-ins
- Crying rooms
- “Coddling”
- Not driving
- Going natural
- Shopping at Whole Foods
When giving feedforward, focus on outcomes and the journey to the outcome
Giving feedforward is an evolving science. Frameworks such as the GROW model or Coaching SimBots focus on setting collaborative goals, setting realistic goals, seeking new options in future performance, and defining a specific way forward with details on the “how to” get there and the roles and responsibilities required to get there.
