The appalling silence in leadership

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but he appalling silence of the good people.” ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Many of you know that both of my parents are deaf, and I was raised in a commune-like deaf community, where all of the other deaf parents lived near us, and shared the chores of raising their wild children.  Any of the parents in the group of 4 families (6 adults and 14 children!) could, and would call us out for misbehavior, and what one adult knew, all of them knew.  One unique thing about the deaf community is that while they were silent in their communication, they were NEVER silent when pointing out the good or bad.  Coming home from college, any one of the adults might point out that one of us gained weight, or otherwise say things that many in the less-direct (more polite?) hearing world might not.  People’s “sign names” might be based around a flaw, or unique trait (like a scar, or a white streak in their hair, etc.)  They would talk with each other on topics that were embarrassing or taboo in other cultures.  They called it like they saw it.

Leaders, sometimes it’s difficult to point out some of the more uncomfortable things that you notice at work.  You might have an employee who either calls in sick, or comes in late smelling of alcohol every Monday.  You might have someone wearing inappropriate clothing, and be shy about pointing it out and/or sending them home.  You might have an employee who says inappropriate things, or dances around that line.  Don’t let the tragedy be that you weren’t brave enough to call them on their behavior and discipline them.  If you don’t have the guts to speak up, your appalling silence in leadership might just be what is put on your leadership tombstone.

Speaking of history and tombstones…

Rubes cartoons used with permission. www.rubescartoons.com

Don’t be a label maker

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.” ~Arthur C Clarke

 Labels are a powerful and dangerous thing.  You might have an employee that gets labeled, for example, “a complainer”.  You might tend to disregard their complaints because he/she is always complaining, so you just tune them out.  Be careful with this label, and your behavior towards that label.  In this case, this complainer may be the only employee brave enough to speak out against stupid practices.  They might be sitting right in front of you with a better, more efficient way of doing something, and you’re ignoring it because of the label. 

 That’s why I make a (usually unsuccessful) attempt to speak to all of the employees in my chain of command, at least once per year.   While it doesn’t always work out, it’s worth the extra effort to connect with the front line.  They’re often the source of some of the most revolutionary thinking.  Frankly, I’m more afraid of “the quiet ones” (yes, another label), because they’ll do exactly what you tell them to do, even if you’re wrong, while “the complainers” will point out that you might be wrong. 

 Colin Powell said “A yes man is redundant”, and I agree with him.

 Speaking of inappropriate… 

 

Rubes Cartoons used with permission.  www.rubescartoons.com