Candor
Listening For Truth From Power
Last month I saw an article about a courageous flight attendant in the UK who noticed ice on the plane’s wings as it began take-off and alerted the pilots at the last moment, potentially saving the lives of everyone aboard. As the article makes clear, what made this act courageous was that the flight attendant spoke “truth to power,” potentially
What Is Bailing and Bruising Costing Your Organization?
If there’s been a theme to the conversations I’ve had with clients this year, it’s the growing cost they’re experiencing related to this bail-bruise dynamic. For one client, it undermines their inclusion and engagement efforts, effecting their ability to retain and compete for talent. With another, it undermines their innovation efforts. For a third privately-held company, it is complicating an
Preparing for Difficult Conversations
Confronting performance problems, giving tough feedback, being candid about smoldering conflicts, delivering bad news: these are the impending conversations that keep you up at night, or that you wake to in the morning. They occupy your mind while you’re trying to do other work. You wonder, “How am I going to bring it up?” Your mind makes movies about what
Level Up Your Candor
“If you want to see someone in real pain, watch someone who knows who they are and defaults on it on a regular basis.” – Pat Murray, management consultant Candor is the way in which we express who we really are. But as Murray notes we often default on it. When we do, the consequences can create discord within
Can We Be Candid?
Business literature (particularly in the US) is filled with calls for workforce candor. Jack Welch devoted an entire chapter to it in his best seller, Winning. Jim Collins encourages business leaders to “confront the brutal facts” to get from Good to Great. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan talk about the importance of “robust dialogue” in Execution. And for good reason: