Quick Take | Tips to Help Executives and Leaders Grow
The Quick Take podcast provides concise and actionable tips to help executives and leaders, like you, tackle the thorny and complex challenges that affect us daily. By leveraging their experience and relationship with other global leaders, our hosts provide suggestions that are based on their deep experience as leaders and coaches but also pressure tested in boardrooms everywhere because they asked their friends….(almost). Hosted by James Capps and Susie Tomenchok. Episodes release weekly on Thursdays.
Quick Take | Tips to Help Executives and Leaders Grow
Uncovering the Unspoken Issues Threatening Your Team
Is your team missing deadlines or experiencing high turnover? Discover the hidden signs and unspoken issues that might be holding your organization back. In this episode, we delve into the critical topic of "elephants in the room" within organizations. We explore why creating a culture of transparency and trust is indispensable for team effectiveness and long-term success.
Leadership and culture go hand-in-hand, and this episode underscores the necessity for leaders to foster an environment of candor. We discuss the power of 360-degree feedback in helping leaders understand their actual impact on teams, stressing that addressing individual issues isn't enough—underlying cultural problems must be resolved. As leaders climb the organizational ladder, their self-awareness can diminish, making openness to feedback crucial.
In this episode, we discuss the following:
1. The role of leaders in addressing team issues and fostering transparency.
2. How organizational culture supports trust, transparency, and effective communication.
3. The critical role of feedback and self-awareness in leadership within organizations.
CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/
Welcome to the Quick Take podcast, the show where you get targeted advice and coaching for executives by executives. I'm Suzy Tominchuk.
Speaker 2:And I'm James Capps. Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to address the complex topic of issues that are challenging executives like you today.
Speaker 1:Hi, welcome to Quick Take. I'm your host, Suie Tomlinson, along with my favorite co-host, James Capps. How are you, James?
Speaker 2:I am super, super happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Oh, me too. And you know, I said last time we don't need to say last names, and I do it every time. So there you go.
Speaker 2:We're not, it's okay, I'm excited to hear how you pronounce it, every time too, so sometimes, oh, how you pronounce it every time too, so sometimes I do it wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, interesting, you do it right every time.
Speaker 2:but you know, now, now, now it got in your head, Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right. Well, let's move on. Uh, those, it is actually a good transition, uh, as we think about what are the elephants in the room. So let me tell you what I mean is.
Speaker 1:I bring it around for you. Here's an example. So I work with a lot of organizations on a retainer and sometimes I work with like the director level group and it's a closed room. I get feedback about what it feels like to be a direct report of some of their VPs, of their, of their, their leaders, and what these directors have told me is one of the VPs never listens, like goes on a staff meeting, and on and on and on and on. So guess what? I meet with the VPs and I asked them about how often do they listen? And this specific VP will just every time says that's, all I do is listen.
Speaker 2:Right, right right.
Speaker 1:That's all I do. All I do is listen. But then I meet with them again. They're like all he does is talk.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, those are really frustrating situations because people and to your point you know they're the worst kept secrets Everybody knows that that particular VP doesn't listen and as a leader, you know you're working at that surface level where working service, you're trying to help that leader. But as an executive and as a manager of that group, your job is to identify where those elephants are, look at the situation and start to break those down. Because a highly effective team I mean truly effective teams are the teams that are working at 100% across the board, running together all in the same direction. They need to have that transparency, they need to have that trust. And those elephants in the room, those unspoken secrets, those topics that are avoided, they're insidious. They will corrode that effectiveness faster than almost anything.
Speaker 1:And I think it's the transparency. I know you're going to give us some tips, but also, if just because you say it once, because I know this guy has heard it once, doesn't mean that it's going to click for them and they have to understand the impact of it, what impact is it having on individuals?
Speaker 2:Well, I think the entire premise of addressing that topic is addressing it in a very constructive way, in a long-term fashion and at a cultural level, because you can't simply tell somebody listen better, right? Yeah, nobody's consciously or even subconsciously thinking I want to be a bad listener. So it is much more complex than that, and that's why people like you and I are brought into companies, because it is not as simple as handing out note cards reminding people to be effective leaders and listen. Well, I mean, if it was that easy, this world would have a lot fewer problems. So the truth is is it's a complex solution to a difficult problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what are your tips?
Speaker 2:Well, I think in your know, in your situation, it's a great indicator that somebody has identified the issue. And I think as leaders it's much more difficult oftentimes to identify where your team is dancing around a particular issue. But your job and my first tip is you have to look for the warning signs. You know, if you have an organization that arguably everybody's really getting along and the leader of that team is saying we're doing really well and they all love me, but they're missing their schedules, they're having high attrition, people are looking for jobs in other parts of the organization, those warning signs are telling you something else is going on. I often like to think that if there's something weird happening and it doesn't seem possible based on the information I have I don't have all the information, yeah. And so you have to first look for the warning signs, because they're there and more often than not those warning signs are not as directly tied to the 800-pound gorilla, but with a little bit of investigation you can get there.
Speaker 1:I think that's really great and I think it reminds me of the fact that we believe feedback comes just from people, but feedback comes from understanding what it's like to live outside of you. And sometimes those warning signs can be you're not invited to the meeting, you're not brought in and trusted about some information. But, like you said, as a leader, those are harder, because why am I not getting this information from the team? And maybe it is because you're not giving them the space to be able to articulate that. So sometimes being our own observer and looking about what's happening around us is really important, especially as a leader, to take that time.
Speaker 2:Yep, yeah, absolutely do, and I think that you know the leads well into my second one, which is, you know, at the end of the day, leaders are all humans and and you are going to feel some discomfort in having this conversation Um, and so, you know, oftentimes, um, you know, I was working with a uh, a CEO who was, um, involved in a merger, um, and he was concerned that talking about that merger would cause panic within the team, um and so, but what he decided to do is he came to the realization, you know, that this merger is out there, it's in the public domains, and so he had no choice but to address it, because when he ignored it, it was actually causing more problems. When he brought the team around, they were actually able to increase the communication in the company and actually get the entire company rallied around the situation, versus everybody being scared of it. And I think that that type of willingness to take a risk from a leader perspective is huge and an indicator of somebody who's really prepared to do what is necessary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what really struck me, when I really understood that our blind spots are just that we can't live outside of us. We can't, so we need to be open to hearing what it's like to live outside of us, because we're that's unavailable to us.
Speaker 2:Totally agree. You know, there's a great article written by Dina Denham-Smith came out a couple months ago and she said that 85% of employees withhold voicing important issues with their superiors Wow, 85%. So if you're listening to me today and listening to this podcast and you breathe, and if our audience, all of those of you who are actually, you know, working with other people, I'm pretty sure that there's something in the room that's not getting talked about yeah statistically speaking, every one of our listeners are working with an organization that has something on the table that they're not addressing.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's, it's, it's not. If that happens, it's about uh, you know it's that. It's not. If that happens, it's about, uh, you know it's that it's happening and being willing to take, take this, take the steps.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that, that there is something for you to uncover about you, so go look for that.
Speaker 2:Or you know any number. It could be somebody in in your staff. Uh, you know it's. People are avoiding that vice president's meetings. They're not attending. You know they're trying to transfer out of that group. Any number of things are indicators and you've got to be willing, as a leader, to to to talk about them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I've just been doing some 360 questions with direct reports of some leaders, and one of the questions is how does your action impact me? Does it motivate you? Does it move you? So those are some questions that leaders can ask to understand the impact that they're having on their people. Instead of asking directly for feedback, just say how am I motivating you?
Speaker 2:Right, and I think that's a great way. That's a great segue into my third one, which is you have to deal with the culture problem right, and so this 360. Those questions. You have to instill a culture of candor and trust in an organization. You have to get people not only to give feedback but to be. You have to also instill the emotional intelligence into your leaders so they know how to ask for feedback in a way that's constructive and then to respond to it in a way that's constructive.
Speaker 2:So, look, if your entire situation is that there is this 800 pound gorilla, you can slay that, that gorilla. What's poor gorillas here? They get a bad rap on this, um, but that's just one indicator. You have a culture issue, right. So you uncover the one problem. You realize that nobody likes to work with this vice president and you move them on to another department, they go to another company, but still the truth is you still have a cultural issue in which that your team chose not to bring that forward. So you have to go the next step. You can't just fix the problem. You're not fixing the problem. That's a symptom of the problem and you've got to go. Look at the culture part.
Speaker 1:Yep, don't forget that self-awareness goes up as you go up in the organization.
Speaker 2:I that self-awareness goes up as you go up in the organization.
Speaker 1:I mean self-awareness goes down as you go up in the organization, because people learn how open you are to feedback.
Speaker 1:So, if you're not showing that you're a good recipient, you understand it, you even show listen, I got this feedback. I'm gonna make sure that I'm not gonna lead this meeting. I'm gonna really listen and ask questions, even signaling to people that you heard it. I'm not going to lead this meeting. I'm going to really listen and ask questions, like even signaling to people that you heard it, so that they can start taking that feedback. In the same way, you're teaching them how to accept and utilize feedback that you're given in it. You're open to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the biggest culture creators, uh, in an organization is, um, is the um, um, uh. What's the word I'm looking for is, uh, parroting. You know, when people um uh emulate the way that you behave, your leaders will will respond to feedback how you respond to feedback. And so if you want to change a culture, you want to drive a culture, you have to behave in such a fashion that it does change the culture. I've worked with many organizations, as I know you have as well, where the leader is of a certain personality and despite many, many intentions, it's nearly impossible to get the culture of the organization to be radically different than the, than the approach of that leader. And so, um, no matter what uh, you know that culture uh is going to be driven by the top, and if you're going to create a culture of openness, you've got to, you've got to walk the walk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so here's another piece of evidence If you're listening and you're breathing and listening to this is if your people are not good at accepting feedback. That might be a reflection of you.
Speaker 2:Of you. That's right. Then you have to ask yourself am I good at that?
Speaker 1:That's a great, great.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's so good. I love that. I'm going to use that with some of my other companies. That the truth is is that, yeah, that's a really simple way to test your willingness to be open, because it's pretty rare that the group is so radically different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was such a brilliant comment. Susie is what I heard you say. Susie, that was such a good comment.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna use that. I'm gonna use that in the forward of my book. Wow, yeah, okay All right, what are your three?
Speaker 1:tips James Bring it home.
Speaker 2:My first one is look for the warning signs. There are indicators that you have an unspoken truth in the room and they are obvious. The warning signs are obvious and if you uncover, take a look at them. You'll usually find that there's a problem. The second thing is be willing to lean in and take the risk and have the conversation. Odds are very good that your willingness and ability to tackle the situation will be well received and, as a leader, it's your responsibility they're looking to you to address that situation, even if they're not vocalizing it. And then, thirdly, realize that that unspoken truth, that 800-pound gorilla, is a symptom of a cultural issue, and you need to continue to work and address the moral mores and the way that the team behaves that precluded them from actually bringing this to your attention. So always work on the culture as a foundation of this, because I think it's really the thing that helps us be a long-term solution versus a tactical fix.
Speaker 1:Yeah, as you said, this is an important podcast for people to listen to, so if you know somebody that's breathing and is in leadership.
Speaker 2:they probably need to hear this too. Every leader needs this, to realize that every leader is struggling with this to some degree, and so it's an important one to talk about.
Speaker 1:Thanks, James.
Speaker 2:So you are, susie, you're feeling. You get up in the morning and you feel fantastic. Maybe you had a great run, you had a great meal the night before, you just signed a big contract and you are just living. You're just feeling great. What song is playing in your head?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's, a good one Okay. Again, I'm not the best at remembering songs, but well, I heard on a previous episode you were good at singing. Oh, that's right. I could I could, oh, 24 Karat. 24 Karat, because it's like it has a bit of dance and it's exciting. That's actually I like that. See, you can tell. I'm a good dancer See, yeah, don't do that.
Speaker 2:You sound like my kids For our listeners out there. You're welcome.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the mind of executives everywhere.
Speaker 2:Connect with us and share what's on your mind. You can find us on linkedin, youtube or whatever nerdy place on the internet. You find your podcasts. Our links to the show are in the show notes. We appreciate you.
