Questions and space
We were talking about context yesterday - and the idea of it being in short supply among employees. I mentioned having learned the importance of "over-communicating" to ensure I get my messages out and received.
It's worth noting that communication is a two-way street. One of the key skills for all levels of leaders is the ability to build (and revise!) accurate mental models of the company environment & culture. Perceiving the opinions, attitudes and ideas of staff accurately doesn't happen unintentionally. Skip-levels, and managing by walking around have become fairly cliché at this point (though "walking around" is more difficult in the era or remote work). Making this time to engage with people, when done right, affords access to context otherwise in short supply for us. Exposure isn't enough; it's critical to draw people out.
Over time, I've worked to develop the art of asking open-ended questions and to practice the art of low-key follow-ups. This kind of engaged question-asking serves a couple purposes:
First of all, as a leader, the people a couple or more layers down a hierarchy do not have a chance to engage or be heard as often as those higher up the food chain. So spending time sends an important signal. It builds trust. Again and again (especially in large complex organizations) I've seen staff make wild assumptions about what their leaders must think, or they assume some company action driven by complicated factors not readily visible must actually be about them or their team. Finding time to talk and listen to staff humanizes everyone involved and may help nip misapprehension and rumors in the bud. More than once, I've had people come to me with a real concern because another, low-stakes earlier time I had listened to them and they trusted me.
Second, as Andy Grove famously put it, "People in the trenches are usually in touch with impending changes early" (Only the Paranoid Survive). Jamie Dimon is another CEO who directly engages with staff at all levels - and listens seriously to their ideas. The higher up you get, the less unfiltered contradictory opinions you'll hear. Making regular time to listen can bring you diverse perspectives-- context-- that might just be a lifesaver for you or the business in this era of accelerating change and rapid inflection points.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
