Change Management: A Lack of Candor is Costly

with Joe Healey

As we look forward to the opportunities and challenges of the next five years, one thing’s certain: the ability to implement and manage change is critical. Everyone from the shop floor manager to the fleet manager or from system administrator to director of IT will be part of significant cultural, process and structural change. So it is important to examine the skills that are important for change management. And in this article we will examine the critical leadership and change management trait of candor.

In my work over the past twenty years as a change and leadership consultant and coach, I have witnessed that candor has often been the difference between a great leader and a good leader. And in my role as CEO of FASTER over the last two years I have had the good fortune to meet many top-notch fleet and IT leaders who excel at change management and, yes, indeed candor is usually part of the reason they are so successful. But let’s look deeper. Some of you may say: “Sure Joe they are candid. They have been in their role for 10-years and earned the respect of their peers. When I get to that level, I will be able to be candid too.” What I am expressing here is that there is a common tendency to wait until one gets into a role or place where it is safer to practice candor. But my point is that your organization can’t afford for you to wait until it is safer to be more candid. The tough realities we all face call for it now. And your career will certainly benefit sooner rather than later if you can practice candor at a high level.

Let’s define candor:

Conflict Avoider

Productively Candid

Agressive

Many talented people sometimes purposefully avoid candor in hopes that they can reduce risk. And then there are those that simply lack the skill to be candid and avoid it because they are uncomfortable navigating what can be complex conversations.

Many professionals don’t know how to express themselves on complex matters except to a close group of confidants. So they avoid contributing except when they feel safe in a very small and closed circle. This is very costly to an organization.

It is like having a governor on the fuel line that just reduces the engines output to an unproductive level. Those around them get very little benefit from this person’s wisdom unless they are one of a few people who get behind closed doors where this person takes off the governor and cranks up the engine for some serious output.

This approach to candor, while safer, usually stunts careers and often denies the broader community the value of this person’s wisdom. And the reason they often over govern themselves and play it safe is they never mastered the skill of candor.

Productively candid professionals are those who recognize the need for clarity (truth) on a subject timed with the relevance to others who are affected by it. In other words, candor is a skill that when combined with other key leadership traits produces influence that impacts the thinking of others in the best direction for the organization.

Instead of having a governor that restricts horsepower, they have the right controls to manage the power. And they developed the skill to use the controls on this heavy piece of equipment that needs the range of horsepower to do light and heavy lifting.

Sometimes the task at hand requires a slow but steady stream of fuel (information/knowledge) for precise jobs. And other times, the flow of fuel needs to be great in order to create the horsepower to lift heavy loads.

In other words that ability to govern the flow of information and knowledge is key. Candid people are often slower to be accepted in groups because they tend to challenge the status quo. But in the long run professionally candid folks are valued and embraced by others.

Just like a piece of heavy equipment, the value is not in having the tool sit around being quiet. The value is in using the tool to get the job done. And while putting a governor on it will make it operate quieter, it defeats it from achieving the fuller purposes for which it was purchased.

There are aggressive folks whose emotions get too big a grip on them and allow their emotions to drive what they say rather than allowing wisdom.

You might call these folks disruptively blunt. These folks may practice candor, but the aim of that candor is too rooted in emotion and ego.

There is a more common occurrence that stems from aggressive personalities. There are talented professionals who have a lot of horsepower driven by years of experience and a strong intellect. But they never developed the communication skills to be effectively candid.

These folks are like the operator of heavy equipment who does not have the right touch on the controls. They have the horsepower, but not the mastery of it.

They often unintentionally over-rev the engine and produce too much thrust and dent other people.

There is great hope for these kinds of people. I have had the privilege to work with many talented professionals who just needed to better understand how to drive their powerful engine. Like the operator of heavy equipment, there is a lot to learn to master the subtleties of the controls.

I have found that if these folks are patient enough to learn a bit more about how to communicate, they can bring to bear more of their significant horsepower for the good of the organization or community.

So my goal here is to sensitize you to the idea that candor is a skill that when added to your significant experience and knowledge can aid in you being better at influencing change.

A good measure of effective candor is that when you and the others move beyond the dialogue, they should experience both clarity about what to do and be more motivated and confident about doing it. Make no mistake that sometimes right after a candid dialogue others may be frustrated or discontent to hear the truth. But if you attempt to be responsible for other people’s happiness, you will only frustrate yourself. We are not responsible for other’s happiness or attitude. They are. What professionals should be after in using candor is educating and informing others to bring about a more truthful assessment of the reality we are in so the best decisions can be made. So leaders must be willing to risk not being liked during the occasions when people may not want to hear realties that are uncomfortable to accept.

When Winston Churchill was candid about Hitler, he irritated people because accepting the truth about what Hitler was doing meant the UK had to start preparing to defend itself. And that reality meant a whole lot of things had to change. Unfortunately, they did not listen to Churchill and the UK as a result had to undergo even more painful change than if they had acted sooner. In the end candor leads to pro-activity. And pro-active people and organizations are more economically viable. They also have more fun because change is not as hard when you do it pro-actively.

In studying great leaders, you will see that, like Churchill, candor is learned and developed like any skill. So permit me to recommend some techniques that will aid you in becoming a stronger person of influence through candor. The techniques below can practically help you escalate your mastery of this vital skill and improve your ability to manage change:

Keys to Candor

  1. Set context: Always tie your feedback or tough love to the “why.” An example of this is the phraseology of: “Let me explain why I would like you to do this differently…the way you are currently doing this causes this problem with…”
  2. Talk in future tense: Don’t spend much time telling them what they did wrong. Focus on how they should do it. I am not saying avoid addressing the mistake. The employee benefits from clarity on that. But that is only the beginning of an effective conversation. Not the end.
  3. Drill to the root cause: Often the behavior or actions we want, but aren’t getting from people, is not that they lack the skill or knowledge of “how to.” The real issue is that they don’t value the desired outcome enough. And people have to be reminded and “challenged” to remember the greater reasons we do what we do. As simple as it sounds, “crucial conversations” reinforce adherence to processes or to certain standards of conduct that benefit our customer. It is amazing how many people fail to get the big picture and need to be reminded by a candid and quick reminder.
  4. Ask for agreement: It is simple, but it shows respect and causes an internal commitment when we ask people “Do you agree? “Will you commit to doing it this way?” “Will you commit to this?”
  5. Expect change: Be quick to follow-up on deviations from what was agreed.

Remember: Candor permits you to be a leader. Lack of candor causes you to be a hands-on-boss who has to keep your eye on your people. The paradox about candor is that it has the appearance of looking like it takes a lot of energy and is risky. But in reality, a lack of candor leads to most things requiring more energy and ultimately creates great risk in a time like this when the ability for people to change and grow is critical to dealing with the economics we face.

The reality is that while we want to be productively candid 100% of the time, the truth is we all fall into avoidance or aggressiveness. The key is to be self aware and self correcting so that the vast majority of the time you are productively candid. If you want to read about a great leader who learned to master candor but also, like all of us, made mistakes with candor: I recommend The Last Lion. It is a two volume biography about Winston Churchill by William Manchester. It is an enjoyable read and relevant for times like these.