Trigger Question #36:
Why do our leaders get so little push-back from we-the-people they lead, whether in business, in church, in sport, in politics, in any hierarchy?
I can’t answer that. Hang on! Yes, I can. At least, I can explain why that happens at work. Because it is so obvious.
We-the-people at work understand the most important rule of organizational life. Keep the boss happy at all costs. Why? Because the boss decides on salary increases, bonuses, promotions, and so on.
The kings of old showed how those in power reacted to bad news. The bearer lost his head. Hints of what we can expect from those in power have conditioned us to pass on good news rather than bad; to tell the boss what we think he wants to hear; to leave the bad news to someone else to tell; to let a colleague be the one to lose her job.
The result? The poor boss at the top must make decisions of great import based on a steady stream of…. good news.
You know what this means, don’t you? If you listen only to what your subordinates, advisors and other yes-people tell you, then you are most likely hearing your own echoes. And your decisions will be mere repetitions of your previous hits.
What do I suggest? Don’t listen to echoes. Find yourself an experienced devil’s advocate. Better still, get a spread of them, pitch forks and all. Because, at work, echoes are never the sincerest form of flattery.
But don’t delay, because there’s a funny thing with echoes. They grow fainter every day. And whose feedback will you thrive on then?
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .