The Cascading Effect of Candid Conversations

For more than twenty-five years, I’ve experienced increasingly amazing opportunities by taking advantage of the often untapped power of honest feedback. As I learned to receive that feedback without losing any of the confidence I was working so hard to build, personal and professional growth followed. Recognizing the role trust plays in having candid conversations that help shape better decisions, I’ve worked to be very intentional about building relationships with mentors, peers, and now even clients I can count on for the “alliance feedback” I’ve alluded to several times already.

Not only have I gotten tremendous value from learning the importance of candid conversations, I’ve actively worked at being able to provide others with some of the same benefits. In the final lesson of our Emerging Leader Development course, as we emphasize the importance of reproducing leaders in our organizations, I share how fulfilling it is today to see the career growth many of the team members supporting me in our behavior-based safety process have experienced since. Knowing that I played just a small role in helping them start that process warms my heart. Developing relationships with them that allowed me to offer alliance feedback (although I didn’t know to call it that at the time) required me earning their trust and having their best interests in mind.

I mentioned before that I’m blessed to have no less than a dozen key people in my life that I can count on for the feedback I need to hear, not just what I want to hear. That said, I also see it as a responsibility to build relationships wherever and whenever I can so I can have those same kinds of candid conversations with others. Cindy and I have a structured approach for this with business owners and executives in our Strategic Leadership Coaching model , but we do just as much rising leaders through one-on-one interactions that aren’t tied to a specific business engagement. In many of these cases, we’ve seen the leaders we serve implement the same approach with their team members, allowing those candid conversations to have a cascading effect throughout their organizations. All too often, leaders at all levels struggle with providing feedback to a team member when they see potential for turmoil or hurt feelings. Basing our relationship with them on trust and focusing on growth helps them achieve the progress they’re after, but it also serves as an example they can duplicate as they provide alliance feedback within the teams they lead. Whether it's us with them or them with their team members, relationships rooted in honesty unlock leadership potential.

Without folks like Terry and Rod in my life to provide me with honest feedback and set such an amazing example for what candid conversations should look like, I wouldn’t be where I am today. And without working to provide the same for the people I’ve interacted with since, the impact I can have would be significantly smaller. Before we change gears and look at how we can maximize the return on investment through building strong relationships, I’ll challenge you with these things:

• How can you be more intentional about seeking alliance feedback from trusted mentors and peers?
• How can you be sure to take immediate action on the feedback you receive?
• How can you build relationships with the team members you lead that allow you to have candid conversations to help them grow?