Good leaders are never afraid of communicating truth to their people. Every time we stop shy of the truth we cheat ourselves and, worst of all, we rob our people of opportunity and personal growth.
We all need to be upfront and honest with our people about the situation, the marketplace, the competition, resources and performance. It’s the best way to maximize the organization and them.
Here are some random thoughts on why we must be honest:
· It helps them grow. The best way to help an employee grow is to tell them the truth. Holding back in a attempt to be “kind” won’t help them isolate areas for improvement, recognize blind spots or grow. And, as an aside, please don’t wait for some annual review time to help them. Communicate honestly and communicate as frequently as possible.
· It helps
them solve problems. Most of the time the answers you need to grow your
business, get out of the hole or do something different are right there in your
people’s heads. By telling them the truth about the situation you’ll tap into
their creativity and problem solving abilities. Telling them the truth will
unleash tremendous solutions.
· It gets
them aligned. Whether the news is good or bad having your people aligned
with your vision and the reality creates tremendous team strength and synergy.
· It gets the right team in place. As hard as it is, and I’ve learned this lesson, honest communication about performance and other employee issues helps leaders to get the right team. People who won’t listen, will leave and people with a learning spirit will stay and be valuable team members.
Kouzes and Posner’s landmark book, The Leadership Challenge, relates, “in every survey we conducted, honesty was selected more often than any other leadership characteristic.”
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