Voice

Here’s a simple story on what defines a leader.

During my career, I held a position as IT strategy manager for a major multinational corporation. In this role, I would meet periodically with the CIO to agree which topics would be discussed at upcoming strategy sessions. In these sessions, the CIO would remain quiet as his team debated various approaches. When he sensed the moment was right, he would clarify and summarize, and then suggest a way forward. I grew to admire this quiet but effective style.

In our organization (which employed thousands of IT professionals worldwide), we had a program set up to on-board new talent by giving these young folks varied assignments intended to familiarize them with our complex activity. I mentored a number of these people. One such individual was a deeper thinker than many, and he frequently challenged existing norms. I enjoyed our conversations, because they stimulated my own thinking.

However, on one occasion he was critical of a communications video that the leadership team had made. He didn’t confine his remarks to casual conversation; instead, he put his critique in an email. Included was an especially strong comment on “our CIO staring woodenly into a teleprompter.” In his view, the video had missed the mark completely.

He sent his email to the leadership team, including the CIO. Too late, he had second thoughts and came to see me. He was concerned about the impact this would have on him personally.

I coached him on what was right (his courage and candidness) and what perhaps might have been a better approach (talk to those who made the video, perhaps choose a better way to phrase his criticism). I wanted to make sure of two things: (1) He understood that there was a lesson to learn here; more importantly, (2) He should remain confident that things would work out, and that our leadership team would understand.

When he left my office, I hustled to put out a few notes to those on the email (some leaders are more touchy than others), to inform them that, yes, a coaching conversation had been held and yes, the awkward incident and its lesson would be remembered by the employee and forgiven by the team.

Now, fast forward a few weeks.

I had scheduled a meeting with the CIO to discuss and prioritize strategy topics. There were a number of challenges: demographics, competency development, business-managed IT, agility, new technology, cybersecurity. Knowing his time was extremely precious, I had prepared a punch list of these topics, to review and decide which ones would be included in the next leadership strategy session.

I presented the list to him. But before we began, his first question was, “How’s the young man?” Startled, I responded that things would be all right, that the young man had left my office with renewed confidence, and that there were no repercussions. “Good,” the CIO said: “We don’t want to stifle the voice of anyone who’s decided to criticize what we’re doing.”

I don’t remember the rest of the conversation, around all those important topics. But what I do remember is the lesson in leadership. Here was a man who had huge responsibilities and pressures facing him every day, who had to be concerned with major decisions impacting not only the multinational business he served but also the lives and careers of thousands of IT people worldwide.

But before all of that he put the importance of a single individual, a single voice.

He could have reacted in any number of ways, especially given how he had been described. Instead, the CIO’s sole thought was on ensuring that this one individual – with all his potential before him – would continue to contribute with confidence. In my blog entry on pigeons and their voices, I discuss how it’s so easy to create conditions where we force people’s songs back into their throats, and they become unable or unwilling to speak up again. As managers, we have unfortunately done this (even unwittingly), time and time again. Each time it happens, we all lose.

Leaders cherish every voice. They are concerned for the least of their people. If even one should fall, the leader ensures that this one is picked up, dusted off, mended, and set on its way once again. And that is how we all benefit in the end.

To the CIO who taught me this and many other things, thanks for an enduring leadership lesson.