How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
Margaret HeffernanRead
Bosses and leaders everywhere should cherish the people who bring them bad news, disappointing data or hard problems.
Interpretation
Leaders should value those who provide them with difficult truths and challenges.
This quote emphasizes the importance of transparency and honesty in leadership. It suggests that true leaders appreciate the individuals who deliver bad news or highlight problems, as these challenges are crucial for growth and improvement. By cherishing such people, leaders can foster a culture of open communication and trust, ultimately leading to better decision-making and organizational success.
In practice
In a leadership seminar discussing the importance of feedback.
How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
Most executives I know are so action-oriented, or action-addicted, that time for reflection is the first casualty of their success.
Once you have power, you are inevitably surrounded by people who have their own agendas and will tell you whatever advances them.
If the company depends entirely on you - your creativity, ingenuity, inspiration, salesmanship or charisma - nobody will want to buy it. The risk and the dependency are too great.
Those in powerless positions aren't about to complain about bullying bosses, abusive supervisors or corrupt co-workers. There is no safe way to do so and no process that promises redress.
[For constructive conflict,] we have to resist the neurobiological drive which means that we really prefer people mostly like ourselves.
It will be disastrous when a leader or manager shows up with one attitude one day and treats people with a different attitude the next day.
Each person must live their life as a model for others.
We should not be focusing on quick solutions. The really important concern for policymakers everywhere is to prevent disasters - that is, the outlier events that matter the most.
Presidents grow up in the White House. The times shape the man.
Leaders shouldn?t attach moral significance to their ideas: Do that, and you can?t compromise.
Active questions are the alternative to passive questions. There is a huge difference between, 'Do you have clear goals?' and 'Did you do your best to set clear goals for yourself?' The former is trying to determine the employee's state of mind; the latter challenges the employee to describe or defend a course of action.
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