A while back, I was coaching a leader who saw himself as a servant leader, and enjoyed building relationships with his team as they drove toward results…
He noticed behavior from the senior leaders (those above him on the org chart) that didn’t align with his approach to leading, and he felt discouraged and disengaged as a result.
In a conversation with him, we realized it was a values conflict. He’d felt like he lost his leadership voice, because what he believed was important in leadership and for people wasn’t being supported or modeled by the senior leaders.
He shared his feedback. But…
HIS leaders didn’t hear HIM, the way HE was hearing HIS TEAM. My client diligently made efforts and gave repeated feedback but wasn’t heard, so eventually…
…he left the company.
Yes, that’s a sad story. Here’s why I tell it:
CULTURE IS OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. We ignore culture and the WAY we lead to the detriment of the bottom line. Especially in today’s environment.
The solution is this: WE NEED TO LISTEN TO PEOPLE.
My client’s company lost a great leader, because they weren’t listening.
He had tried to advocate, and the senior leaders wouldn’t listen. They were so focused on the bottom line that they wouldn’t listen, and they lost a really strong leader, which DID positively affect their bottom line while he was there.
We need more organizations that have the value of LISTENING.
Just because people come to us with concerns that we don’t think are important, or that we feel we’ve heard a 1000 times, we must still be willing to hear people out….stay curious…and listen for the elements of truth and wisdom in what they are saying.
Yes, we as leaders may see things from a perspective that our employees can’t, but THE REVERSE IS ALSO TRUE. They see things from a perspective that we can’t. And what they share with us from their perspective is incredibly valuable.
Some questions to ponder:
(1) Are we as a company encouraging people to use their voice to express concerns?
(2) Are we providing ways and opportunities for them to give feedback?
(3) When people do use their voice and give feedback, what happens next? Are they thanked or scolded or ignored?
(4) When people give feedback, what do we do with that feedback?
(5) How do we demonstrate that the feedback is valuable and will be taken into account?
Organizations and leaders that LISTEN to their people go farther not just in CULTURE but also RESULTS.
If you’d like more practical, customized help for your organization, Contact me and we’ll set up a time to talk!