The Emperor Has No Clothes

The Emperor Has No Clothes.

In a previous life I was a Senior Vice President for a global enterprise. I have always made it a practice to observe the leadership practices of other leaders so that I might learn from them. I have learned a lot of effective practices that I've incorporated, and a few "don't do that" practices along the way. Both are helpful.

One practice that caught my attention was one of our senior executives’ communication style was to interact predominately with his direct reports, with very little interaction below them.?Two of the departments that reported to him had very autocratic Vice-Presidents. Morale was extremely low in both departments. Everyone knew it but this senior executive. He was the real-life Emperor with No Clothes. A few of us tried to give him a heads-up, to no avail. Eventually there were uprisings in both departments, and the executive had to dismiss both of these department Vice-Presidents.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to one another - John F. Kennedy.

While I always try to learn from my own mistakes, I took the opportunity to learn from this colleague’s mistake.?My remedy was to implement skip-level meetings with direct reports of my direct reports. I was transparent about what I was doing and why.

My strategy was to talk with these key people on a semi-annual basis. My objectives were to build a closer working relationship with them, get a broader view of reality from them, and see how I could better support their development without undermining the authority of their managers; my direct reports. I knew that I had to make this safe for all to be effective.

So, I emailed an invitation to each of them for a one-on-one meeting with me. I explained the purpose of the meeting, and what questions I would like them to ponder for our conversation. For the first round, they came in somewhat nervous, but quickly got over it.

The questions. The questions were not intended to be an interview, but give my colleagues possible topics to discuss with me.

1.??????What is your primary focus these days?

2.??????What are you enthusiastic about?

3.??????What frustrates you and gets in the way of doing your best?

4.??????What idea do you have to improve something that will make an impact?

5.??????Is there anything you need from me?

*These were my questions. Borrow mine or create your own.

These conversations were pretty casual, but also focused. My team members came in prepared. I listened. Sometimes I came away with actionable items. Sometimes they were just great conversations that built trust and deeper relationships. I feel certain that my team members felt respected and heard. I came away feeling informed, enriched, and inspired.

As I learned from a CEO many years ago, “Good leaders have listening skills. Great leaders have listening strategies.” These skip-level conversations became one of my listening strategies that proved very beneficial.

Dr. Mark Hinderliter works with clients to develop people strategies that align with their business strategy.?His experience as a Senior Vice President for a billion-dollar global enterprise along with a PhD in Organization and Management are a unique fusion of real-world experience and academic credentials. His superpowers are Executive Coaching and Leadership Development.

Mark is a United States Army Veteran. He is the creator of the leadership program Diamond Quality Leadership: Leadership Skills for Today’s Workforce.

You can follow Mark on LinkedIn at?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/markhinderliter/