When Leaders Choose Silence
It would be an unusual leader who would admit that she isn’t interested in the thoughts and ideas of the people on her team or the broader organization. Fewer still would likely admit to choosing silence or to speaking silently, yet examples are all too common:
- Leaders failing to confront toxic colleagues. This can lead to toleration of harsh language, biases (conscious and subconscious), bullying, withholding information, and resistance to feedback. More significantly, it corrodes the fundamental norms and values that are essential to performance and well-being. Uber is perhaps the best-known recent example, but there is no lack of similar stories. The #MeToo movement has highlighted examples across every industry.
- Leaders supporting low quality or questionable decisions. Failing to challenge decisions, despite inaccuracies or faulty thinking, increases risk and diminishes morale. The history of failed or failing acquisitions and mergers – think Microsoft and Nokia – provides a visible testament to poor decision making.
- Leaders tolerating peer incompetence. Ignoring performance gaps results in others having to do the work and a lowering of quality standards. Despite being nearly 50-years old the bestselling book, The Peter Principle, provides examples of the practices that lead to incompetence infecting organizations.
Leader toxicity, poor decision making, and incompetence often amplify unintended negative consequences across an entire organization. Despite the consequences, a quick scan of the Wall Street Journal or similar source of business news quickly shows that the behaviors persist. A central reason for a lack of authentic leader-voice within an organization is a culture that fosters a climate of silence. Whether created intentionally or inadvertently, this environment emerges when there is a lack of commitment to constructive feedback among leaders within an organization. More specifically, feedback that identifies gaps between what leaders expect of their superiors and peers, and what they experience. Left unaddressed, those experience-expectation gaps become corrosive. Leaders experience an increase in the perceived risk of speaking out and a greater fear of damaging key relationships. Then, by opting to choose silence or speak silently, leaders risk becoming a contagion, diminishing authentic voice across the organization.
Walk the Talk
Leaders are told over and over the importance and benefits of encouraging candid, healthy employee voice. They are told that they should surround themselves with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree without fear of retaliation. When they don’t hold themselves to the same standard, they abdicate an essential leadership responsibility. An absence of authentic voice from leaders can be dangerous for an organization, leading to reduced psychological safety, widespread loss of trust, the deterioration of key relationships, and ultimately disengagement. The impact on performance and well-being carries a heavy price for both employees and organizations. Leaders must weave the expression of candid, healthy voice into the fabric of an organization, and have the courage to defend it through their words and actions.
For deeper insights into crafting an extraordinary team, you can get a signed copy of my book: Team Relationship Management: The Art of Crafting Extraordinary Teams — at www.drjebhurley.com. Team Relationship Management is also available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions.
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