Have you ever heard people make excuses for other people’s bad tone at work? One manager said about his longtime friend at work, “He’s going through stuff at home right now… that’s all… he’ll get over it.” Stress may mask as diligence, yet is usually expressed in poor tone.
Unfortunately, many workplaces never really recover, because tone 
creates harmful hormones such as cortisol and when accompanied with stress, actually shrinks the brain. Yikes - no wonder cortisol sinks possibilities for progress at many workplaces. Cortisol shuts down your brain’s ability to learn or communicate well.
Poor tone can come from leaders, learners and all those in between, and it usually comes from problems such as too little sleep, lack of time management, poor eating habits, or un-dealt with stress. Feeling overwhelmed and in need of tips to punch out panic? The truth is that we each get hit with about 22 stressors each day. Watch people at work today – to see who handles stressors well, and responds with good tone and you'll see people who either reduce the harmful chemical cortisol, or whose brains produce less cortisol toxins in the first place.
Here’s the exciting part few people realize. Tone relates to brain based acumen, is a learned skill, and shapes how we respond to stressors. People who use good tone promote growth for everybody, just as people who wield poor tone can work against human brainpower. Eventually poor tone will destroy a workplace and rob the lion’s share of profitability.
Do you know what good tone skills look like? Interestingly, I have yet to see a person who learns tactics for good tone, any longer defend bad tone. It shows up wrapped in the subtlty of a joke that puts others down, or in the noisy insistence on one's political or religious views, while diminishing opposite beliefs. There are gazillion reasons for using bad tone, and there is one reason for using positive tone – it fuels the brain for success and satisfaction.
Good news is that positive tone practices, can be taught as well as measured, and when people experience the power of good tone - they turn sluggish markets into mind-bending profitability. Good tone is not what most think - it's rarely strongest in people, for instance, who ignore problems and see silence as golden. Nor are tone's practices exemplified in those who refuse to say they disagree when they clearly have another perspective – often a better idea.
In many graduate level college courses and leadership programs I teach, tone, takes us in a great direction. Before we begin I teach skills upfront and then I try to model good tone skills to show its potential as a brilliant tool for the brain. Most people embrace and use what they see as a personal and group advantage with immediate rewards. Tone can make or break a graduate level course, and yet the skills for good tone, can bring brilliance to any circle, so it’s worth a lesson or two to learn. In any learning circle, good tone shows up when people encourage others, or offer suggestions for improvements, rather than criticize things they dislike.
If not poor tone and cortisol – then what? People who use good tone learn to increase serotonin and decrease cortisol in their lives, and you see the evidence in the good tone they use on most occasions when stressors hit. What have you found related to these brain based connections to tone, where you work?
If you were to teach a brain based course on tone – to help people build goodwill – even with people who disagree – what would be your opening statement about tone?
Ellen, You keep hitting home with me. I find poor tone to be an indicator of what's going on with people and how they feel about what they do. We have a morning staff meeting at work. I see it as a time to come together, share information, catch up on what's new and get the day off to a great start. What happens is that the staff generally gives their information about the patients they will see that day in a rushed monotone that is almost whispered. It makes me want to shake someone. I want some enthusiasm and I'm getting dry toast. Now in all fairness, I will say that our staff really is dedicated and takes great care of their patients, but I find it depressing to listen to the tone they use at morning meetings and in one case, about just about anything that isn't out of the ordinary. I try to see it from their perspective, but I guess what I really want to do is give them a better perspective. Any suggestions?
Linda
Posted by: Linda Zdanowicz | November 12, 2006 6:16 PM | Permalink to Comment