As the protests unfold in Iran, my thoughts go to the companies I have worked with over the years who have created a similar environment. Yes, you read it correctly. There are some companies who are like Iran who have penalized those who have spoken out with opinions not aligned with leadership. Now of course, no one has lost their life speaking out in a company here in the US. But they have been penalized and while they have been penalized the company penalizing them has often received payback. What kind of payback?... lack of innovation and loss of great employees
Are you leading or employed by one of these companies? And if so what was the impact on you and the organization?
What I’ve observed is companies who have not made it safe for employees to share their views, opinions, and ideas that oppose the company’s views generally lack creativity and loose many A players over time to competitors. Why? Because A players want their opinions to be heard and considered in planning and decision making and without A players’ team creativity is limited.
How not to be Iran
So if you’re experiencing Iran syndrome, what should you do? Start with open communication and admitting to your team that you want to make some changes to encourage open dialogue AND you need to be sincere and genuine in your delivery. If your employees sense a false desire in change, there will be a huge backfire. Employees need to understand that the rules have really changed Without this their open communication won’t happen.
And of course actions are stronger than words. So what you say needs to be demonstrated by actions supporting the words The next step is to ask questions and listen to employees opinions during meetings. If you should start defending your position, employees will shut down. You will have demonstrated that there no change has occurred. Also, be aware of using the “yes, but” technique which many leaders often use because, you know, they’re always right!. As Marshall Goldsmith identified in his book “What got you here, Won’t get you there” using this technique will create resentment by those receiving the response and will stifle open discussions. And without open discussions an organization will slowly die because original thought is not valued by leadership. Make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak and give their ideas. And don’t let one person dominate the conversation. Introverts need to be invited into the conversation and often provide a perspective that hasn’t been heard.
What if you think the conclusion is heading in the wrong direction? Before jumping in and sharing your opinion, and thus shutting the conversation down, ask yourself how important is the decision? Is it critical to the success of your company or the project? If the answer is yes, then start asking open ended questions to get participants to think of alternative solutions, remember that their solution may not be your solution and that another solution is okay if it provides a similar not exact result.
Continue to open your mind to alternative solutions during the process. And here is the key part of the process, when you hear an idea you like, bite your tongue and let the conversation continue. Let the team continue on to their own consensus. If they come to their own solution, they will own the solution and be more committed to making the solution a success.
In Summary
So if you want to be competitive and retain your high potential employees, create a safe environment for employee to share their own opinions, ask questions, listen, ask more questions until they come to their own solution that they will own and be committed to successfully completing.
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