Learning from Anyone and Everyone - Good Bosses Do
You can learn from anyone- and everyone. As a leader, you see only the top layer of things and upward. You are the part of the iceberg that is visible, but what keeps you afloat is what is underneath.
When I first come as a new leader to an organization, I spend a lot of time in management by walking about (actionable listening activities, such as the Reverse Evaluation will spring from that but not first). I need to understand more of what is holding me up -- or not).
I almost always start with the cleaning crew; I make friends with them, a collegial relationship that becomes long-term and daily. If there are problems they see that I do not, they quickly bring them to my attention without hesitation. Learning from a cleaning crew, janitors, security guards keeps the iceberg from melting, keeps your head peeking over the top afloat.
The head of security at one installation and I developed a very close collegial relationship, and he helped me with things, like a car problem, that he otherwise would not even have known about. We talked several times a day, we joked, we shared family bright spots and concerns, we helped each other, and many times he would pick up on something himself or talked about among the other guards, and say, "Hey, did you know about?" Ah, yeah, no. Not exactly actionable listening, or maybe it was -- those things always got addressed before ever arising in a survey or RE.
These deep-below folks often are "building" people not directly in my organization. It does not matter. They see parts of my organization I never will. They know it in ways I never can.
Likewise, employees of other organizations in the same building see a lot. One elderly accountant from another firm in the building came in the door daily almost the same time I did. I started chatting with her. She was an accountant of some sort, a bean counter so to speak, in another firm. What could she possibly know about mine? A lot! She would hear things in the elevator, the cafeteria, even the ladies' room, and she would not expose confidences but would say something like, "Is something going on? People seem grumpy today." Sometimes I did know; sometimes I didn't. Her insights were always helpful and good starting points for a walking-about conversation: "People seem grumpy today -- at least, so the rumor is coming from the cafeteria. Any insights into that?" And if something were wrong or off, I would get an earful of useful, actionable information.
Over time, I got to know all the colleagues of this accountant, and they would invite me to their various parties. Even after I retired, for several years, the contacted me when they were having a birthday party for my "friend" and then for her retirement party. I would always come. Because these relationships are every bit as golden as personal friendships.
It goes without say, that learning from every employee, regardless of placement in the hierarchy is essential to good team building, rapport, and a positive, supportive, successful organizational culture. RE is an important part of it, but an RE is enhanced by the wide-arc listening and the deep-below listening and is handicapped by stove-piped listening that comes only through the RE instrumentation.
Through wide-arc and deep-below listening, problems and dissatisfactions can be addressed long before they become part of an RE voiced concern -- and may never become a concern if they are addressed (actionable listening) at the earliest point of expression. The kvetches are best taken care of through daily actionable listening and the systemic disappointments and constraints handled through an RE.
Equally important, wide-arc and deep-below listening provides opportunities not only for fixing but also for celebrating. Somebody receive a special honor outside the organization? Reach a long-sought goal? Have reason for special happiness? Celebrate it! RE organizations are well known for their frequent celebrations -- okay, call them parties -- that do not interfere with or replace work but enhance its ultimate quality.
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Post inspired by the forthcoming book, Listening to Lead (Alanazi and Leaver)
For more posts on the topic of listening to lead, click HERE.
For more posts by and about Mowafiq Alanazi, click HERE.
For more posts by and about Betty Lou Leaver, click HERE.
Book Description:
Most leadership problems are not caused by poor strategy, weak vision, or lack of talent. They are caused by something far more basic: leaders who do not truly listen.
In L2L Listening to Lead: Demystifying the Dynamics of Power; What Weak Leaders Fear and Strong Leaders Cultivate, the authors--drawing on decades of leadership experience across governments, higher education, the private sector, and social impact organizations--reveal a powerful principle: organizations thrive when listeners listen in way that create genuine partnership.
Most leaders practice active listening, but active listening alone is not enough. What transforms organizations is interactive listening--a leadership practice that invites followers to become candid contributors and shared owners of problems, solutions, and innovation.
At the heart of this book is a powerful leadership tool called reverse evaluation, a structured method that allows leaders to learn from the people they lead. When used well, it rebuilds trust, energizes discouraged teams, and unlocks creativity that hierarchical leadership often suppresses.
Practical, experience-driven, and grounded in real leadership experience, Listening to Lead shows how organizations become not only more effective--but truly alive.
Keywords:
leadership; listening; organizational culture; employee engagement; stakeholder engagement; leader-follower partnership; servant leadership; reverse evaluation; bottom-up evaluation; empowerment; organizational health; inclusive leadership; interactive listening; active listening; navigating power dynamics; leader types; organizational development; organizational structure; functional alignment in an organization; change dynamics; transformational organizational change
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