Intermittent explosive episodes of rage occur in 7% of the adult population and are characterized by a loss of control and a distressing physical transformation of the individual – destroying objects and physically attacking or threatening the environment. Managers in organizations experiencing these rage episodes face problems in their relationships with employees, who are mostly afraid and anxiously submissive. This adaptation distances employees from the work they are supposed to do.

Let’s take an example of a branch manager having a meeting with the regional director. An assistant helps him prepare an important presentation for the higher-ups. During the meeting, the manager discovers a difference in fonts. The meeting goes smoothly, but the next day, the manager explodes in anger at the assistant. Rage paralyzes the organization at those moments.

A person expressing rage seeks and finds justification for their behavior. The meeting is crucial, and the font mistake confronts the manager with the failure to be perfect. They feel that their self-esteem has been undermined. The next step is to find the culprit – if they perceive the other party as “weaker” – a subordinate in the hierarchy, anger towards the employee becomes “justified.” Rage towards others becomes the only option – what else can be done to prevent this mistake from happening again? Sometimes they argue that they are correct and principled and that aggression is actually good for the organization’s results.

The problem is that the effects of rage cannot be quickly neutralized. The first and most important step is for the manager to have the motivation to seek counseling, where they may discover that the meeting went just fine, despite the font mistakes, and that there were no consequences. Perhaps they also realize what rage does to them and their environment, and that it is not a good way to earn the respect of employees.

Over time, they free themselves from the illusion of their own irresponsibility regarding rage. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to overcoming the shackles of rage. It is essential for the manager to come up with proposals for alternative behavior, try them out in practice, and experience the beneficial impact of their own change on the organization they manage.