Four Key Leadership Principles for Developing a Climate of Truth

Every day I am inundated in information, articles, and social media shares about leadership and its relationship to organizational performance and culture. One thing we don’t hear as much about is leadership and the importance of nurturing a climate of honesty in the organization. It caused me to think about organizations and leaders I have known who have been the best at cultivating honesty. The challenge is this: in some organizations, the higher you are in the hierarchy, the less you know about the real truth related to processes and performance. (I know of one location where the off-quality product was hidden in the pond on the property to keep the CEO and other leadership from knowing about it.) The best leaders I have known foster an atmosphere of honesty in many ways, including the demonstration of four key behaviors:

1. They truly reward and/or recognize truth-telling in meetings and in one-one-one conversations. If employees know of a process, system, or organizational problem, they are expected to let it be known so that it can be fixed. Varying points of view are expected. Renegades and devil’s advocates are invited and encouraged. People are publicly praised for telling the truth, even if it’s bad news. The key principle is this: if we hide bad news, we cannot uncover the real problem, much less fix it.
2. They set realistic, yet challenging goals for people, processes, and productivity. Effective goals are achievable and challenging. You might be wondering “what does this have to do with creating an environment of honesty?” When you get to the third tip, below, you’ll see what I mean. In the effective leaders I see, setting realistic goals means that they cultivate an strong communication environment, often openly and candidly soliciting input from the people in the process before setting goals because the people in the process know it the best. These leaders also understand that a goal that is realistic for one group may be so overwhelming to another that it becomes a de-motivator. Leadership must be circumspect in uncovering and addressing this challenge, or it undermines itself. Is one department or team filled with “all-stars” while another is not? Why is that? Is it a hiring issue? Perhaps a team was put together for at at-risk process? Beware of stacking the deck too heavily in favor of achievement that might not be realistic for your workforce in general.
3. They align punishment/reward appropriately with goals. If punishment is too harsh when weighed against the goal or expected performance, employees may focus more attention on avoiding the punishment (or covering up the truth) than on fixing the problem. One location in a large manufacturing organization so feared the wrath of their leadership, they hid their “defective” work on the roof, not aware that the CEO was flying in by helicopter. On the other hand, if accountability is too weak for poor performance, you’ll get a lot of poor performance. Striking a balance is key.
4. They reward, recognize, and give positive feedback more than negative (without being disingenuous). These “best leaders” lead by getting to know people. They talk to them about many things. They solicit their input. They give praise when due. When your employees see you coming, do they assume it is good news or bad? What have you done to contribute to that belief? Strong leaders, building a truthful environment, know how to effectively strike the balance between critical and positive feedback, keeping the door open for candor in return.

There are a host of other practices for encouraging the truth in your organization, but these four attributes stand out in leaders of some of the best organizations I have served.