When the Golden Rule doesn't work, then what?

Many of us grew up with the Golden Rule. We have internalized the idea that we should treat people as we want to be treated. This maxim works really well in most situations and with most people. It doesn't work so well for those people who treat & want to be treated in a way that's different than the way we want to be treated.

How does this apply in the workplace?

As a boss, it doesn't matter what you feel and what you value, nor does it matter that you implicitly expect everyone to live by the Golden Rule. As a boss, it only matters what your employees feel and what your employees value.

You, as the boss, need to adjust your management style so it conforms to what your employees need.

For example, let's take a worker who appears to value Direct and Unwavering. For this employee, we shouldn't use wishy-washy language ("it would be nice if you could try ... ") and don't backtrack on accountability ("don't worry about it").

Whether he knows he's doing this or not, when this person experiences Wishy-Washy and Backtracking, he recognizes that's his window. It's just a factor of the way he operates in the world.