However difficult it may be, leaders
need access to honest, fair and
thoughtful feedback about the
impact of their behavior on the organization.
This is necessary partly for their own wellbeing
and health and partly for the good of
those around them, and the organization at
large. Such feedback is particularly
important for senior executives in order to
help keep them safe, grounded, and in touch
with the ‘reality’ as they will mostly be told
what they want to hear and want to believe.
Influencing the boss and senior
colleagues, however, is no easy matter as
those at the top are likely to have a strong
sense of self-belief and a track record of
success. They will have become accustomed
to—getting their own way, being feted by
more junior colleagues, being ‘right’ and not
being seen to be ‘wrong’—and they will have
become accomplished in mobilizing the
levers of influence when they need to for
their own advantage. Furthermore, they may
be surrounded by sycophants and so may
resist guidance and influence from those outside their closed circle of confidants if it
contradicts what their ‘in-group’ is telling
them! Nevertheless, as the ever-increasing
litany of leadership failures testify, leaders
do at times get things badly wrong and they
can become destructively egotistical and
narcissistic and fiercely resist any transfer of
power or dilution of their influence.
Receiving challenging/contrary feedback
can, of course, be experienced as a loss of face
in part, because receiving such feedback may
have a negative effect on the person’s feelings
of competence and may be felt to reduce their
status in the eyes of others. Such feelings are
likely to be felt acutely by senior executives
particularly, who may have come to believe—
through their success and track record of
accomplishments—that they are infallible,
‘always right’, invulnerable, possibly
omnipotent or even indestructible!
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