By Alan Berson
That is the question being urgently asked at, and of, the most secretive Federal agencies and the largest government contracting firms. Either he chose to hold everything in until he pounced on the world stage or more likely he left unheard clues. I can’t help but wonder what type of relationship Snowden had with his supervisors and whether he was even capable of having direct, open, honest conversations with them. On the job for only 3 months, how much time had his supervisor spent getting to know Snowden or was he just put urgently to work? This question is important because it is the job of every leader to reach out to their people to create a clear line of communication ensuring that the employee feels heard. These conversations reduce conflict; avoiding them creates conflict.
It is also critical that the leader is listening properly in order to be able to pick up on the nuances of what they are being told. It is rare that we don’t get early warning signals of discontent yet it is common for us to ignore them because even if we are ‘listening’, we frankly tend to hear what we want to hear. The bottom line: we don’t spend the time building relationships because we are too busy trying to get the job done – which is an easy mistake to make in today’s time pressured environment.
How can we contain these outbursts in the future? One of the chapters in LEADERSHIP CONVERSATIONS: Challenging High-Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders is called “People Aren’t Machines” where we say in part: “effective leaders sense that their organization is a collage of individual aspirations connected by a higher purpose and shared successes.” If we treat people as gears in machines, it is inevitable that they will break. Snowden broke and those leading him either did not see it happening, or if they did, they did not take timely action.
What can you do to ward off a ‘Snowden’ in your organization? Have an effective baseline conversation with each employee in the week they start or do it today if you’ve not yet had a baseline conversation to achieve all of the following:
- Set Expectations – theirs and yours. Discuss the values of the organization; what you expect from the employee and what they can expect from you as their leader; align your belief systems to create the conditions for mutual trust and respect. Talk about the competing demands of financial success, growth and social responsibility and how important it is to collaborate effectively. Don’t just tell them your door is open, make sure there are no impediments to frank conversations and then have them frequently.
- Set Performance Standards – ensure everyone knows what doing a good job entails. Be transparent and open and make sure they know what it means to be successful as contributors getting the job done and to be leaders in their own right in providing vision and building the capabilities of everyone around them. It “takes a village”…
- Build Relationships – make sure everyone knows that an organizational culture based on forming relationships of trust and respect yields the best results. When someone wants to talk – listen and make sure they feel heard. Then ask them how to restate their problems into opportunities to create a positive focus and concentrate on greater success. Do not assume that because a person hears what you have to say that they are also in agreement. Ask not just what they heard, but what they might do next based on what you’ve discussed.
- Priorities – their work plan must be clear and not based on assumptions rather be based on shared agreements of what success looks like. Make sure your people are both ready to get the job done and also focused on ensuring the right job gets done.
If you sense that at the end of this baseline conversation that you have made less of a connection than you need to have, say this to your employee and ask them to meet again the next day once they’ve had a chance to think through the potential disconnect. Reflect on this yourself and show up as a learner in this follow-up conversation; hear what your employee has to say and do not discount their words. While a great trait in an employee is someone who does what they say the will do, make sure it is what you and your organization want done.
Read Berson’s previous column Sequestration and Leadership Conversations on WashingtonExec.
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Alan Berson is an author, keynote speaker, executive coach, Learning Director at Wharton Executive Education and the CEO of Leadership Conversation LLC based in Potomac, MD. His recent book, LEADERSHIP CONVERSATIONS: Challenging High-Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders, was released by Jossey-Bass in March of this year and was named as one of the top 10 management/leadership books by Amazon.com. An extensive review can be found at Knowledge@Wharton.
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