The courage to listen to followers

• Do you really want courageous followers?– May say one thing, but behavior and polices

encourage other behaviors from followers– Acid test: do followers actually come to you

with tough issues about corporate issues or your own behavior and policies?

• What messages are number twos sending?– Responsible not only for the cultural and

moral tone you set personally, but also for the tone set by those with whom you surround yourself.

• Appreciating and accepting support.– Don’t micro-manage. Hire good people, give

them the tools they need to do the job, then trust them to do it.

• Appreciating constructive challenge more– Do you really appreciate staff who challenge

the way in which you are leading?– Create a climate in which you hear and pay

attention to tough feedback.• Examine your own beliefs about authority, what is

and is not appropriate to say to those in authority• Reflect on your comfort with criticism

• If you react defensively when criticized, you are unlikely to hear further about the matter or to hear further from the individual.

• A requisite of good leadership is to override naturally defensive feeling, statements, and behaviors, and display genuine interest in what sources of critical feedback are telling you.

• Demonstrate responsiveness to feedback

• Inviting creative challenge– Proactive vs. reactive– Distinguish between challenge to your

authority and challenge to your ideas

– When leaders present their own ideas for action before giving their team a chance to generate a range of options, they inhibit further dialogue.

– Establish norms of behavior that encourage creative challenge.

• Creative processes are distinct from evaluative processes.

• Sacred cows led to pasture.• Wild ideas not discounted, even sensible ideas

tested against alternate scenarios

• A culture of communication, not complaints.– Complaints should be taken to the person or

persons who need to be addressed for it to be resolved.

– Are there complaints about you that you are not hearing?

– Leaders that listen to complaints are colluding with the dysfunctional culture.

– The leadership task is to build a culture in which conflict is handled through healthy and creative dialogue.

• Creating protected communication channels– Provide your staff with a low-risk way of raising issues

that concern them.

• Discernment: what is the right action?– Purpose driven vs. ego driven– True motives

• Responding to a moral stand– Defining moment– Common (but inappropriate) response is to devalue

the individuals taking the stand.– Another common response (but inappropriate) is to

discount the charges.

• Good responses to a moral stand:– Separate the message from the messenger.– Promise to get back to the individual personally, and

commit to a time frame for doing so.– Consult with advisors, but keep communications

privileged.– Choose the course of action that best serves the

common purpose.– Report back personally to the individuals or

individuals with the concern.

• Grow as both a leader and a follower. See the meditations on pages 221-222