The Best Policy

Honesty is critical in leading people. Give people the full story, and all the information they need to do their best. “Need to know,” or the practice of providing individuals incomplete information for the purpose of maintaining control over a situation, usually is just a synonym for “withholding” and often forces people to perform substandard work. Make your team aware of the situation at hand, and spell out the risks they face. Keep them aware of “the bigger picture.” Moreover, honesty among the team builds confidence. If someone does a good job, say so—never think you will inflate someone’s self-opinion. If someone is performing under par, say so—team members want to please their leaders, and prefer to hear negative commentary while the problems are still minor, rather than disappoint you fully. However, there is a right way to criticize the work of others:

a) Never criticize anyone in front of others—take them aside, but do not make them feel cornered or singled out. Avoid making them appear to be in trouble: approach them individually, and do not ask to speak to someone alone when others are present. The presence of others makes the individual feel trapped.

b) Never contradict a superior while others are present. Remain silent, or appear to agree. When the team has disassembled, approach the superior alone and ask permission to speak freely.

c) Do not criticize or dismiss a team member’s idea outright. Instead, you have three options if you disagree with a suggestion. Offer a clear reason why the suggestion will not work, provide a realistic alternative or augmentation to the suggestion, or state that you disagree with the suggestion, and will follow up with a reason later. This last option allows the most flexibility. Effectively, it says “My gut instinct says that will not work; I don’t know why, but let me think about it.” All of these approaches allows you to disagree while saving face and making the member feel a valid part of the team.

d) Have a reason to disagree. Examine your motivations, and see if there is a real cause for your concern. Sometimes, people disagree with a valid suggestion only because they sense it will either require hard work or may make a junior member of the team look superior to them. This often results in people being stubborn or irrational. If you do not have an immediate reason to disagree, it may be because you have no real reason to disagree.

Ultimately, honesty in leadership is about giving bad news. Whether the bad news is cricitism, delivering an unfortunate status update, or admitting you lack the ability to do the job, one thing is the same: the sooner you apply honesty, the easier the problem is to solve without disaster.