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Building honest leaders
What values define your leadership?
Leadership is much more than just setting targets for people; knowing that, how can you be sure that you’re giving your team what they need?
Truly great leadership is innate – it’s something you either have or you don’t…which means that we don’t all have natural leadership skills, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn to be better leaders.
To achieve the ambition of great leadership in your organisation it’s important that you invest in the development of your current and future leaders, and learn how to access and evolve the traits that bring out the best in yourself and those you lead.
One concern we hear from a lot of the people seeking our Development Programmes, or who are ‘voting with their feet’ and planning to leave their current job, is that some of their organisation’s most senior people struggle to be honest – whether that’s honest about their own weaknesses, or honest in their feedback about others.
A lot of the time this is rooted in anxiety. People worry so much about trying not to offend or to be seen as ‘difficult’ that negative behaviours are brushed off or ignored, lax team members ride the tails of others more efficient than themselves, and weak leaders drift through their meetings without implementing any necessary change or growth.
In truth, biting your tongue benefits nobody?
That doesn’t mean you need to be aggressive or relentlessly negative with your feedback either; you just need to be honest – and need your organisation’s culture to make that honesty safe.
How can you truly be a great leader if your team don’t feel that they can be honest with you, about you, or trust that you are being honest with them in return?
Truth matters.
We know that it isn’t always easy to give honest feedback – or to hear it – but even the most critical of responses doesn’t need to be negative if there is truth, and a plan for improvement, in the midst of the criticism.
Being honest might mean that you need to tread carefully, but this clarity gives everyone involved a position from which they can improve – which is surely the whole point of leadership?
Truth also brings with it respect. If the people in your teams know that you will be honest, even when that honesty brings unwelcome news, they will respect you far more as their leader. They will respect that you don’t sugar coat the realities of the industry you’re in, that your feedback will always support the growth and development of the business, and that you have the best interests of your people in mind with every business decision you make.
Honesty works both ways if course, which means that being a strong leader allows space and opportunity for honest feedback from your people. Honest feedback without repercussions or retribution, meaning they can speak to their leaders about targets, behaviours, work-loads, the team they are in and what you are all working towards. They may have ideas you haven’t considered, or experience you lack.
Honesty is just one of the key values and behaviours you should cement into the culture of your organisation
Development is a lifelong journey
Our leadership development programmes usually begin with an in-depth assessment, giving us (and, more importantly, you) a clear and honest picture of where your leaders already are, and where they can improve.
We build your programmes around this clear picture, tailoring the learning to your specific needs. Finally, we follow up all our training and mentoring with measurable proof that the new learning has been applied to the work you do, in your everyday role.
A big part of the programme is giving you new ways to support honest feedback on your leadership, in a way that protects everyone’s feelings, embedding a positive, productive culture of honesty and transparency across your whole organisation.
Leadership isn’t a game – but it can be enormous fun, particularly when you truly understand yourself and the people you lead. This only works when everyone knows that their honesty is respected, trusted, and protected. If you want the culture in your organisation to feel like a safe space, where development and growth are celebrated, we can help.
Contact the ASK team for more information on our Solutions: email hello@askeurope.com or call 01234 757575