Page 82 - Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders

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GREAT COMMUNICATION SECRETS OF GREAT LEADERS
that time thwarted open dialogue between the suppliers’ engineers and pro-
gram leadership. All the engineers could do at launch time was watch in
helpless agony as the Challenger’s booster exploded in midair. In contrast,
years earlier, Gene Kranz, the legendary flight control director of the moon
flights, was in the room when Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank rupture en
route to a lunar orbit. The astronauts in the spacecraft, together with the
innovative flight team on the ground, devised a solution that brought the
astronauts home safely. This culture of cooperation is an example of Kranz’s
leadership style; leaders and doers operated in an environment where infor-
mation was shared openly.
GETTING FEEDBACK ONE-TO-ONE
Getting honest feedback from direct reports is no easy task. We humans have
a strong instinct for self-preservation, so we don’t bite the hand that feeds us.
Therefore, when the boss asks us what we think of something coming from the
top of the organization, our first reaction is to be positive. We don’t want to say
anything that will put our careers in jeopardy. Such a reaction may be human,
but it is not healthy. We owe it to our leaders to give them honest feedback, but
our leaders need to set the ground rules—i.e., they need to ensure that what is
said to the leader will be kept in confidence and will not be used against the
employee.
So how do leaders get feedback? First, they need to put people at ease.
Make it clear that candor is the operative process. Demonstrate the benefits
of honesty by accepting feedback in the spirit in which it was delivered.
Next, leaders need to ask for feedback on a regular basis. You want to get
people in the habit of expressing their ideas. No leader should expect to get
instant candor, but when someone speaks out and does not suffer for it,
others will begin to do likewise and may be more forthcoming. Still, the
leader needs to work at getting feedback. Often what is not said may be the
most revealing truth of all.
Of course, we need to separate the deliverer of bad news from the creator
of the bad news. When people make a mistake, there will be consequences.
Reporting the bad news, even when it involves your mistake, is a form of lead-
ership; it’s called taking responsibility for one’s own actions. Merely reporting
that news, however, should not reflect negatively on the messenger, if it’s
delivered in a way that is intended to keep the boss informed so that she or he
has the information needed to take corrective actions. Leaders do not want to
create a culture of tattletales; rather, they want to create a culture in which peo-
ple can speak openly and share information in ways that reflect the credibility
of the information and the organization.