The ugly truth

Are you seeking the ugly truth?

In their 1997 Harvard Business Review article “The Work of Leadership”, Ronald Heifetz and Donald L Laurie changed opinions about the role of the leader. Instead of being “shepherds” protecting their flock from their harsh surroundings, they described the best leaders as people who were determined to expose the harsh realities of their business and demand a response.

Instead of smoothing over conflicts leaders should insist on forcing disputes to the surface.

This article was recently brought to my attention by a colleague and has led me to some changes of opinion about the skills needed to be a successful leader.

Yes, excellent communication skills are required. Yes, the ability to adapt to different personalities and be able to bring out their best whatever the circumstances is vital. Yes, an ability to see the big picture and to predict what lies ahead and how the business will be ready (or even lead these changes) are still central.

But perhaps leaders also need to be brave. What are your people really saying about you, about the business and about the industry? What is the ugly truth lurking within your business?

At a recent company management conference I observed, the CEO was shocked to find that the majority of delegates in the audience did not feel he was someone they could speak to openly. He had assumed, since very few people reported problems to him, that the staff were relatively happy. In fact there seemed to be a huge amount of resentment about some major decisions made by the board but people did not see him as someone they could approach.

This was despite a number of rousing speeches and internal communications emphasising his commitment to risk taking and open debate. Apparently it was not enough to say what the culture of the company should be…it had to be forcefully and repeatedly demonstrated in order to overcome people’s natural concern over speaking their mind.

One way that leaders can start to become aware of the ugly truth is by watching for patterns. Patterns of behaviour e.g. work avoidance, sick leave, conflicts, periods of slower productivity, even who is eating in the staff canteen and how long they sit there can all be clues to what is really going on in the business.

Then, “adaptive leaders”, as Heifetz and Laurie call them, hold a mirror up to themselves. How do their own behaviours reinforce these patterns? Are they are brutally honest about what they see? How are they making decisions? How are they solving problems? How are they resolving conflicts or generating ideas or managing their workload? What are they prioritizing?

Ultimately the team, or the organisation as a whole, reflect the leader. All too often, leaders argue that they cannot understand why their people are behaving in these obstructive, negative or unproductive ways. They respond by “communicating” – sending out emails or giving speeches to motivate staff.

Adaptive leaders look first to themselves…and very often they find there is some serious work to do there.