I believe that honest conversations are essential for successful leadership. In working with leaders I have seen the problems that occur when leaders are not forthright in their communications.
According to recent research, organizations that have leaders that engage others in open and honest communication perform in the top half, and in some areas in the top quartile, of their industry. What makes some leaders more open than others to honest conversations?
Last week, while preparing for a presentation for the local Chamber of Commerce, I ran into a Harvard Business Review blog entry by Michael Beer. It was titled Ed Ludwig and Honest Conversations. It reminded me of the importance of honest conversations for successful leadership. Michael attributes Ludwig's success in his company mostly to his propensity for honest conversations.
As one of the people who commented on the post well said, “Transparency is. . . a vehicle to credibility and influence." Then why do many leaders seem to shy away from it? Thinking about this leads me to remember different conversations I have had with leaders. Let me share some of the “reasons” I have heard leaders give for not having honest conversations:
- “The truth is so scary that others could not deal with it.” Most often said in the context of difficult financial times, or a possible dreaded merger. The problem with this reasoning is that people pick up clues that “something” is going on and the non-truths that start circulating tend to do more damage than what sharing the truth would have done. Besides, people are more resilient than we give them credit for.
- “The less people know the less they will worry.” Wrong again. Accurate information helps to assuage unfounded worries and to find ways to deal with reality.
- “I already told them something different. What will they think if I now tell them the truth?” They will probably think better of you than what they will think when eventually they discover the truth by some other means.
- “If I admit that I don’t know, people will lose respect for me.” Wrong again. People will respect a leader more if he can admit to vulnerabilities and not knowing it all. Besides, this opens up the possibility of collaboration to find a more creative solution.
In thinking about leaders I have known and admired for their honest conversations I came up with four characteristics that make it easier for them to have more honest conversations.
- Inner confidence. If a leader has confidence in his capabilities, judgment, and intelligence, he or she will be more open to feedback and learning without feeling threatened. Part of this confidence will be a result of experience with the positive results of honest conversations. Therefore, at the beginning a leader might have to make a decision to trust himself and experiment with honest dialogue.
- Willingness to be vulnerable. When you open up an honest conversation, you not only share your thoughts with honesty, but also invite honest feedback. There is the possibility that you might not like what you hear, because it could expose a flaw or a weakness you did not see. By being willing to engage in an honest dialogue, you open yourself to possibilities for success and growth.
- Commitment to collaboration. If leaders engage others in honest conversations, there is a sense of “we are in this together.” This generates more commitment and “buy in.” It is easier to successfully finish a project if people are united in purpose and feel they are integral part of the project. By helping create the path to success through collaboration, commitment grows.
- A strong sense of ethical conduct. A leader’s values color his or her present and future actions. By choosing to act dishonestly you are setting yourself up for blurring your judgments about honesty in the future. Unfortunately, we have lately seen too many examples of how shading and withholding the truth can become a way of doing business, with disastrous results. If your ethical compass points unerringly to honesty, it will be easier to see honest conversations as the only possible way to be in conversation with others.
In the next post we are going to explore how we can facilitate honest conversations. Meanwhile, I would appreciate your comments and questions.