Speaking truth to power is a two-way street, but one that is largely defined by senior leaders. Dik Veenman, Founder of The Right Conversation, explains how to give your teams to open up the forum of open and honest dialogue.
Transparency and speaking truth to power are generally considered to be desirable attributes of corporate culture. Most leaders would claim to lead organisations where employees are free to speak up and to challenge those in more senior positions. They implicitly recognise that it is the absence of transparency and honesty across the hierarchy and between teams that gets in the way of strong performance. However, we all know that in many organisations it is not always safe to speak up, despite what leaders may say.
In a recent major 18-month study into speaking truth to power, by The Right Conversation and Ashridge Business School, the barriers to transparency were laid bare. The findings unequivocally show that ‘truth telling’ is not driven by processes (the default response of most organisations) but is something that happens in the moment and in the context of specific relationships.
Speaking truth to power is a two-way street. It requires people to speak up and, crucially, senior people to listen up. And herein lies the problem. The very words ‘speaking truth to power’ suggests that the problem (and therefore the solution) lies with those who don’t speak, rather than with those who don’t (or won’t) listen.
It appeals to the courage and moral conviction in more junior staff ‘to do the right thing’ and so puts all the risk on those people who have the most to lose. Powerful people simply don’t understand what it is like to feel powerless – especially in settings where people have been spoken at (rather than listened to).
Hearing the truth starts with senior people daring to be ordinary and to be interested in ordinary things – to ‘take the tube’ and rub shoulders with ordinary people. It also requires them to understand their impact on others and to have an iron grip of self-control when they hear things they may not like. Remember that junior monkeys watch every gesture and grunt of the silverbacks. If they see that the message doesn’t land well, they will think twice about raising it again in future.
Here are five questions to ask yourself about how you enable or hinder those who want to raise their ‘truth’ with you.
In conclusion, hearing the truth starts with you as the senior person. If you are wondering why others aren’t speaking up more, first ask yourself how you may be inadvertently silencing them.
How would you like to start a conversation?