Episode 36 - No, Thank You
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
info_outline
Episode 35 – Allow Me
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
When it comes to building a healthy culture, there is no greater or more impactful example of culture than that of leadership. Research continues to show that many of the world’s most profitable companies attribute a great deal of their success to their organizational culture. At the forefront of these organizations are leaders who actively, regularly, and genuinely display the type of behavior desired for all of its members. Some leaders equate their high visibility to constantly being put under the microscope. They describe the...
info_outline
Episode 34 - I'm Sorry I Asked
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
Employee surveys can be a great source of information. They can provide an intimate perspective of certain facets of the organization which may go unseen or unexperienced by leadership. However, sometimes organizations are not prepared for the insight they receive. They may feel that certain initiatives or decisions should be met with affirmation and positive accolades, only to find out that part of the employee population feels differently. What do we do now? Some organizations view the insight as a humbling experience and use it...
info_outline
Episode 33 - Crawl Before You Walk
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
John Maxwell said “A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others.” All too often, organizations are held hostage by their own people. What does that mean? We’re so glad you asked. Being held hostage by your people is a dynamic that explains leaders who do more to withhold knowledge and experience than to share it with others. When these leaders leave for new opportunities, the organization is left scrambling to recreate that knowledge or...
info_outline
Episode 32 - The Bold and The Atypical
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
We often hear that effective leadership requires bold decisions and behavior. However, servant leadership principles tend to illustrate a very different type of leader from what most people are accustomed to. While we don’t disagree with the premise that leaders need to be bold, we want to look at the term through a different lens in this episode. One definition illustrates the word “bold” as showing the ability to take risks; to be confident and courageous. Here, again, we wouldn’t disagree with that interpretation. However, it’s...
info_outline
Episode 31 - Getting Around to Dealing with Conflict
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
Why are we still so afraid of conflict? Why do we assume the mere presence of conflict is always negative? When it comes to addressing conflict, there is an immediate assumption that the conversation/interaction will go poorly and possibly lead to something much worse. Years ago, we used to rate a successful marriage by how little a couple fought. It wasn’t uncommon to hear a story about a husband and wife who had been married for forty years and how they “never had a fight.” ...
info_outline
Episode 30 - The Air You Can Wear
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
Nothing describes a late summer day in Central Pennsylvania better than the three H’s…hazy, hot and humid. But what do the three H’s have to do with leadership? While you can’t necessarily see the humidity outside simply by looking through your office window, you most certainly feel its presence the second you venture outdoors. When we think of those of who have influenced us over time, most likely it’s not their physical appearance or blatant actions we recall. As Maya Angelou once opined “I've learned that people will forget what you said,...
info_outline
Episode 29 - Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
Today’s workforce is one of the most diverse in history. Workers fall into one of five (yes five) different generations. While diversity and inclusion continue to garner a great deal of attention, organizations and leaders are struggling to address tension and conflict when it comes to many different people working together and interacting with one another. Perception is not always reality. We like to say that our perceptions may be our reality, but are they truly reality? One of the greatest...
info_outline
Episode 28 - Finding the Big Impact in the Little Things
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
When is the last time you paused and gave thanks for the things in your life that you know to be true and good? There is growing research on the multitude of benefits associated with gratitude. From physical benefits such as the ability to lower stress and create better sleep habits, to psychological benefits like increased satisfaction and resilience; implementing a regular practice of gratitude can have a significant impact on our lives. Taking time each day to be grateful can actually play a role in how our brains are wired. A concept...
info_outline
Episode 27 - High Expectations or High Adherence
Leadership Insight with Rising Sun
“We have found that by reaching for what appears to be the impossible, we often actually do the impossible; and even when we don’t quite make it, we inevitably wind up doing much better than we would have done.” -Jack Welch Oftentimes, leaders set high expectations for their organizations and their employees in order to maintain relevance and maximize potential. However, many leaders wind up expressing disappointment and frustration when those expectations aren’t met. Why do so many well-intentioned leaders have employees who consistently fall short of or fail to...
info_outlineHowever, sometimes organizations are not prepared for the insight they receive. They may feel that certain initiatives or decisions should be met with affirmation and positive accolades, only to find out that part of the employee population feels differently.
What do we do now?
Some organizations view the insight as a humbling experience and use it as an opportunity to improve. They may reach out to specific individuals and ask clarifying questions or seek additional information. They may pull project teams back together to discuss the feedback and determine how best to utilize it in future endeavors. While it’s no guarantee that leadership will make changes (nor should they unless they determine it’s appropriate to do so), employees have visual and concrete evidence that their voices were heard.
Other organizations opt to refute or outright ignore the information. They make excuses for the information, challenge the source(s), or downplay the insight as insignificant complaining from a few select or disgruntled employees.
This begs the question, why ask for the information in the first place?
It seems as though some organizations are comfortable with the message that simply executing a survey sends. Hey, we asked. Many organizations don’t do that much.
The message which goes unrecognized, however, is the one that tells employees their insights are wrong or just don’t matter. If the survey is conducted annually, the exercise is reduced to an irrelevant tradition which ends up eliciting less insight each year and more confusion over why the organization continues to ask for it.
Such organizations need to ask themselves, where is this frustration or inactivity coming from? Is the survey simply a means of checking a box? Is there a denial (or directive) in place which says things are fine the way they are? Does leadership not want to admit they got something wrong?
It’s hard to acknowledge our mistakes. It’s even harder when there are high expectations for making as few of them as possible. However, the hardest thing to overcome is a stubborn or inflexible culture. Effective leaders and organizations don’t necessarily like to fail or admit they got it wrong. Yet, the more they acknowledge and learn from what they did wrong, the more they eventually start to get right.
Our advice to leaders is to recognize that there is still work to be done after the survey is sent and the feedback subsequently collected. Be deliberate and intentional about discussing what the feedback is or isn’t telling you. Be curious and seek out answers to fill in the gaps. Give employees the opportunity to have a voice and then show them that their insight is both appreciated and valuable.
If you’re only willing to accept certain answers to your questions, you may want to reconsider asking them.