Reduce Fear. Increase Truth.

I went to a conference in March. It was a fun and productive conference. A great mix of speakers, content, connection, and application. 

Conference follow up

90-days later, the conference put on a virtual follow up session. It was really nice to reconnect with some of the speakers and people that I met at this conference. This was a great way to keep the momentum going.

We had a breakout session where I was in a group and we were tasked with the objective to brainstorm ideas of how to reduce fear in an organization and increase the ability for truth to be brought to light. 

Sounds pretty simple… just kidding…

This is a complex and challenging topic to address.

Number one issue we argue about

You know what the number one issue that companies, organizations, communities, couples and people argue about?

Money.

You know where someone typically gets money?

Work.

You know what one of people’s greatest fears in general is?

Not having enough money.

Think there is any correlation between money, work, and fear?

I do!

So, here we were, sitting in a virtual breakout room. Trying to connect and collaborate on possible ways to reduce fear and increase truth telling in organizations. 

I cannot help but remember several executives that I have worked with tell me that they have told their organization that they expect them to be honest with them. That they want information to come quickly, even if it is bad news. 

Do you think they get what they want?

Most of the time… nope!

How come?

Primarily, I have observed, it is because they do not realize what it is like for people to be on the other side of them and they do not provide people the procedure of how to share information with them and follow through.

All that it turns out to be is words. Nothing more.

When our income is tied to us providing bad news (truth), then it is easy to withhold information because it is rooted in some sort of fear.

Fear reducing tactics

With this in mind, our group came up with a few tactics that leaders could use right away… 

1. As the leader of the team, set the tone and depth. You must go first, because you will set the tone and depth to which people in your organization will follow. If you want to reduce fear and increase truth telling, then you need to be a role model of behavior. Share your fears appropriately and tell the truth about what you believe and hope for in the context of the organization.

   
   

2. Outline a service level agreement for the organization about anonymous complaints. When a complaint is submitted, how long can the person offering the complaint hear back from you or someone on your team? Also, it is best practice to provide a plan of addressing the complaint (even if it is incomplete) in your response.

   
   

3. Create team working norms or agreements. These are norms/agreements/expectations that you and your team co-create to establish how you all expect each other to act and treat each other. It could be that you start meetings five minutes after the hour to allow people a quick break between meetings. It could be that you have the quietest personalities speak up first and the more assertive personalities speak up last when brainstorming. It could be that you set an expectation to respond to emails within 24 hours. There are many others. Make it work for your team and values.

I plan to provide these tactics to my clients as they come up. I would love to provide them more. 

This is where you come in…

What are some ways that you have experienced a leader and/or team reduce fear and increase the ability to be honest? Please share what you have learned so that we can all learn together.

You are a force of awesome!

Let’s go!

I am an executive/leadership coach working with high-achieving business owners, leaders, and their teams that are working on getting to their next level of performance. You might sense that what got you here might not get you to the next achievement. Want to connect? Contact me here.