LEADERS WELCOME CHALLENGING INPUT FROM TEAM MEMBERS

The other day I was speaking with an executive at a national company about his team, their culture, and his hopes for the future. We had not conversed in a while, and I could tell he was in a good mood.

I asked him if anything in particular was promoting that happy demeanor.

“Yes,” he said. “I recently hired two new employees to leadership positions,” and they are working out great, beyond my expectations.”

“That’s wonderful,” I offered. “Having been there many times myself, I know that no matter how good a candidate’s cv looks and no matter how well they perform in interviews on Zoom or in person, we never know how they are really going to work out. We never know how they will fit within our organization or department culture.”

“You’re right,” she said. “In these two cases, I had high hopes, but I did not want to make any assumptions. I wanted to wait and see how the two new leaders would fit within our operation, our aspirations and our team-based culture.”

“What are you most pleased about,” I asked.

“Well, you might be surprised about this,” he said.

“Try me,” I responded.

“I was really glad that one of these two new leaders criticized me,” he said.

“Please explain,” I asked.

“Well, after a recent leadership team meeting,” this new team member asked me if he could speak with me privately, so we walked back to my office and I closed my door.”

“We sat down and I asked, “What did you want to discuss with me?” the executive remarked.

“Well,” he began, and then he hesitated. So I said, “Please tell me. There’s nothing to be hesitant about.”

“Well, I want to offer you some constructive criticism,” he said. “I am new here, but I noticed some things during our team meeting this morning, especially at the end of the meeting.”

“Please tell me,” the executive offered. “I won’t bite your head off. After all, I am the one who hired you because I thought you were a good fir for this job. I am invested in your success at our company.”

“OK,” he recounted he began. “I noticed that during the meeting you seemed not to do a good job of summarizing what people had said, especially in talking about future initiatives. Your clarification seemed to be lacking and at times it was challenging to know what you were really saying.”

“Really,” the exec said he responded. “Anything else?” he asked him.

“Yes, he said. I thought that at the conclusion of the meeting, when you summarized what had transpired among all of us, you were not very clear in your discussion of action items for our leadership team. Again ,it seemed a little disorganized and confusing.”

“OK,” the exec said. “Do you have any suggestion about how I could do better at the next leadership team meeting?”

“Yes,” this new team member said. He proceeded to make a few suggestions, then excused himself and went back to his office down the hall.

“How did this conversation make you feel?” I asked.

“At first, I felt a little off kilter,” the exec. said. “After all, this was a relatively new employee. He had only recently arrived at our company. He was still learning the ropes. He was still meeting customers and vendors. He was still reading appropriate documents to get fully up to speed.”

That’s all true,” I said. And what does his behavior say about you?”

He thought for a second. “I guess it says that I am willing to accept feedback from my team members, even new team members.”

“Exactly,” I responded. “Think about it. You have created a culture at your company where your direct reports, even new teammates, feel comfortable coming directly to you with constructive criticism. He is not criticizing you because he thinks you are a poor leader. He is offering the critique so you can be a more effective leader, especially at how you run meetings.”

“His coming forward to you and offering his feedback, even as a relatively recent hire, is a reflection on you as a leader of this company,” I suggested.

“You have created a corporate culture where people feel comfortable offering you constructive feedback, you have shown your teammates that it is acceptable to show vulnerability when you are the boss, and you have helped set the stage for future meaningful conversations with this same team member. Moreover, other teammates will receive the same message when he shares his story with them.”

So please do not think you have to be perfect in all the leadership aspects of your job. Welcome constructive criticism from your team members. They will appreciate the opportunity. They will grow professionally. You will grow as a leader.

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-Larry