A Culture of Candor
Carly Fiorina
Building leaders & problem-solvers. Keynote Speaking I Consulting I Leadership Development I Author
I deeply believe that one of a leader’s most important roles is to see, speak and act on the truth. So often, a bad situation becomes much, much worse because leaders’ will not “tell it like it is,” and rather than making decisions based on reality, they engage in wishful thinking. And then, when things continue to go badly, rather than taking accountability and course-correcting, those in charge will blame someone or something else.
True leaders know they must be clear-eyed, candid, and accountable. When something goes wrong, they must acknowledge it, take responsibility, and take the appropriate corrective measures. A leader cannot do this all alone, however. No individual leader can know everything, see everything or think of everything. And so, the best leaders recognize that role-modeling candid, accountable behavior is necessary but not su?cient.
High-performing teams and organizations are self-correcting. They have cultures where candor and accountability are expected and rewarded. Most problems can be foreseen if people heed warning signs. Most mistakes can be corrected if they are identified early. In the highest-functioning teams, people are accountable for identifying issues early and speaking up so they can be addressed. “See the truth, speak the truth, act on the truth” is woven into the fabric of operations.
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Perhaps this sounds obvious. Experience tells us it’s not. Pick any well-known fraud, failure, or crisis: the collapse of Enron; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan; gas explosions in California; Bernie Mado?; WeWork; the Oxycontin scandal; Roger Ailes or Matt Lauer. In every single case, warning signs had been there for a long time. People knew something could go, eventually would go, terribly wrong. And yet, the expectation to “see the truth, speak the truth and act on the truth” did not exist. Too often in organizations compliance is rewarded and candor is discouraged. “Stay in your lane,” “don’t rock the boat,” “don’t be a trouble-maker,” and “no one else is talking about this, why are you?” are everyday signals in too many organizations.
To avoid big mistakes, big crises, and big collapses, leaders need to build cultures where people are rewarded for routinely exposing troublesome issues, smaller mistakes, and less-costly problems - then held accountable for fixing them. A leader or a team that rewards candor and expects accountability engages in frequent self-examination; isn’t afraid of di?cult or uncomfortable conversation, and never runs away from accepting ownership.
IITDelhi|PM(Software) @ Redington Limited | Digital Marketing
2 年Great
Self Employed
2 年Where are such Leaders ? I have seen just the opposite and have seen a few . People ‘s careers have been destroyed for speaking out . These leaders don’t even read such messages let alone act . It is like a cigarette packet for a smoker - the picture on the packet and the warning are always ignored . Toeing the line is the expectation . The irony is one gets isolated and everyone knows but no one comes forward lest he/she would meet a similar fate . And , I speak from experience and I have a bit .
Master of Business Administration - MBA at University of South Wales
2 年Really good stuff
Director of Engineering at Magic Software Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd.
2 年Candor is a signal that people are motivated/willing to contribute to organizational goals, beyond their duties. Lack of it is a signal that their growth is stagnated (and hence the team's). It is upto the leadership to decide if they want to keep taking pain killers to avoid admitting that there is an issue there that must be fixed.
I think in practice, this is challenging indeed. And I have had candor backfire on me with staff. This was years ago and I have learned discretion. But I agree that shining the light rather than leading in the dark is a more productive way to go.