Who do you listen to?

Who has your ear? Are you hearing what you need to know, or what people think you want to hear?

Speaking truth to power is a familiar adage, attributed by many to a Quaker pamphlet from the 1950s. Fans of HBO’s The Wire will know it well. In fact, the concept of speaking freely reaches back to the ancient Greeks – parrhesia was their term for telling those in authority what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear. In this blog I identify the problem leaders face and offer three tips to make sure you’re getting the full picture.

All leaders, whether in business or government, need to ensure that they understand what is really happening. How comforting, but dangerous, it is to be surrounded by people who share your views, or fear for their job should they question your actions. Brave indeed was the Praetorian guard who whispered ‘thou art mortal’ into the ear of an overreaching Caesar.

When I was a government Minister of State, I could easily have only listened to the civil servants and special advisers in the Department. It took a conscious effort to seek out contrary views, or people with a different take on a problem. When the media and the Opposition are attacking you daily, it’s quite natural to become defensive and tune out. It’s the root of so many political mistakes, but the problem also applies to business.

So how can leaders ensure that they are getting the whole picture – the good and bad news? Here are three tips, based on my own experience but also that of senior executives with whom I have worked.

Effective listening

Learning to be a good listener sounds trite. Yet too few of us do more than hear the words. Effective listening is about trying to understand not just what is said, but how it illuminates what other information we have. Having two or three contrary views in the room, helps a leader test the veracity of each argument, to find where the right path leads.

A good listener also asks themselves about the speaker. What’s their background or expertise that leads them to this stance? What are their motivations? Why am I hearing this now? This is not about being suspicious of others, but about putting their remarks into a real-world context.

Keep an open mind, not just an open door

Of course, for this diversity of views it requires the leader to create a team and an organisational culture which encourages debate and disagreement. This is not easy – the more hierarchical the organisation the more you must work at encouraging people to speak their mind.

Some of my executive coachees have told me they have an open-door policy. Yet this isn’t enough. Your team members, at all levels, need to feel that they can and should be able to say what they think. That confidence comes from the signals a leader sends. They need to feel that you have an open mind, not just an open door.

Grow your hinterland

The third tip stems in part from working with Ken Clarke, a man who has held every major government role, except Prime Minister. Between 2007 and 2010 I was his number two, when we shadowed Labour Business Ministers, including Peter Mandelson. Ken always seemed to be ahead of the curve, and Labour ministers.

I realised it was because he had a huge hinterland of contacts, in and out of politics and business. He spent time with those people, and it gave him a breadth and depth of information, no special adviser or civil servant could match. It enabled him to correctly judge what mattered and what didn’t, or what we should attack on, and what we should support.

Your hinterland, or network, is important – people outside your organisation who bring a different perspective, not just on your market, but what’s happening in the wider economy or in society. People whose perspective is different to yours – by background, age, gender.

One of the benefits of having worked in both the public and private sectors is that I have a very broad network, which spans large and small companies, across many business sectors, along with a wide array of public sector contacts, from civil servants, MPs, current Ministers, as well as diplomatic and trade circles. It requires work to keep in touch, but its invaluable to my holistic view of current economic, political and social trends. It helps I also enjoy seeing people!

These tips – effective listening, signaling you have an open mind to your team and nurturing a broad hinterland beyond the office – will keep you abreast of what is really happening and what your team really think. For any leader ensuring you understand the whole picture is fundamental to your success.

I have coached or mentored several senior business leaders on this issue and would be pleased to see if I can help you. Go to ‘How I coach’ for more about my approach and my contact details.