LISTEN TO WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR
Not long ago, as I interviewed an executive, I asked him about his process for getting buy-in from his team when making decisions. I was looking for how he brought people together to listen for their feedback.
The executive didn't even pause in giving his response. “It's actually amazing. Every time we have a discussion, there's complete alignment—100 percent buy-in.”
Intrigued, I asked him to tell me more. He couldn't wait to give me an example. “Last week, during a Zoom meeting with my team, we had a particularly important decision to make. So, I went around to everyone and asked for a ‘thumbs up’ or a ‘thumbs down’ on my idea. Before they voted, I told them what I thought. For me, it was definitely a ‘thumbs up.’”
“And how did that work out?” I asked him.
“It was unanimous! I have to admit, one guy's hand wavered a little bit, but in the end, he was ‘thumbs up’ as well. It was just incredible, to see ten people on my screen and all completely aligned.”
Clearly, that's not listening for feedback—and it's certainly not leadership. It's ego-driven “me-dership.”
When people are afraid to tell leaders the truth, they will only say what they think the leader wants to hear. In the case of this executive, by giving his opinion first, he told his team that he wasn't really interested in their ...
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