Leadership Perspectives: Speaking truth to power

Speaking truth to power is something so fundamental to the role of a trusted advisor and member of a senior leadership team, and keeps the culture strong and and organization healthy.

Years ago I was asked to go into another department and meet with various team members and build out an organizational assessment. The team had very high turnover and the CEO wanted to understand what was causing the exodus of our highest performing colleagues. I met with current staff members. I met with former staff members who were willing to share feedback. I analyzed reports and observed teams in action. I was asked to deliver a report on what I learned with recommendations.

Discovery. I spent time in the office and observed teams at work. I poured through employee surveys, org charts, budgets and all sorts of details to understand the workings of the department. And then I spoke with management, who felt strongly that the competitive market was to blame for the attrition. I began to develop a hypothesis of what the challenges were for the management team and CEO to consider. And I was certain that my theory would rattle their assumptions, possibly even causing friction.

Resistance. One of the former staff members I spoke with shared that the leadership wouldn’t want to hear what’s really causing the mass exodus, and cautioned me to be careful of sharing too much. She tearfully conveyed she had given feedback and was told to stand down. This conversation has stayed with me over the years. Her advice was real, and the wall she faced was demoralizing to her. What if the leadership team wasn’t open to hearing it?

Culture. For companies to be effective and successful, there needs to be an environment that welcomes dissenting opinions. People should challenge what isn’t working, and should know their opinions are valued, even when they are delivering unpopular news. My goal is to support a culture of openness and candor. In this instance, how could I model being open in a way that gives leaders the reality check they may not get otherwise?

Foundation. I start with building trusting relationships as the first step. Invest in getting to know people. Go out of your way to get to know them and support them. If you don’t have these relationships, it puts your credibility into question when you need to challenge the status quo. Is there someone on your organization you have connected with and trust? Start there.

Transparency. When possible, especially in simple, everyday things, be open in how you share your insights and observations, avoid back channeling. One way I have found effective is in team meetings to ask open questions to help drive discussion and collaboration. In the case of the attrition example I opened with, even before sharing my assessment, I called the entire team together with the CEO, and facilitated a conversation aimed at opening up a dialogue and raising questions and theories. Later when I delivered my assessment, it was a natural step from the open conversations taking place, which made it easier for people to hear.

Respect. There are times when a person might need time to understand and digest sensitive feedback. In the case of the attrition challenge, one of the pieces of feedback had to do with the CEO herself and her management style. In that case I sat with her and gave her the direct feedback, and then asked how she wanted to share with the team. She ultimately decided to be open about the feedback and the changes she would make to improve.

Brave or bummed. All this said, there may come a time when you are in fact not sure that your insights and recommendations are going to land. Sometimes it’s a matter of timing. Is it a year end deadline and people aren’t ready to focus on anything, but closing the books? Or perhaps there’s a shift in strategy and people are nervous about realignment? The best way I have navigated this “should I be brave or bummed” conundrum is focusing on how important and time sensitive the insights are. The old adage of choose your battles certainly applies here.

In the end, I shared my recommendations and was able to help drive changes which improved the employee experience and improve morale. Retention of top talent improved and revenue grew. If I held back or masked some of the critical issues, we might not have turned around the department. Most of all, I was tasked with bringing objectivity and candor to the assignment, and I was able to hold true to those principles by being thoughtful and sensitive to how I could share the feedback in a way that the team could embrace and move forward with.

Speaking truth to power is something so fundamental to the role of a trusted advisor and member of a senior leadership team, and keeps the culture strong and and organization healthy.