Acronym

Setting the table for this type of conversation takes courage on part of management, but it takes even more courage on the part of the employee to partake. For them, the perceived risks greatly outweigh the perceived rewards of participating. Why should I bother? What's in it for me? Won't I get in trouble? These are the types of questions that pose hurdles in the path to having this types of conversations play out.

You've got to not only make it clear that the dialogue is completely open (though you'd like it to stay constructive), but you've also got to make it clear that what they say is not going to have negative ramifications on their standing in the workplace. Even the slightest hint of perceived risk will remove all motivation for an employee to participate.

Try the "Vegas Conversation" approach. What happens in this room, stays in this room. And follow through on it. If you don't follow through, you'll lose the trust, and more importantly, lose the valuable perspective you may have gained.

Great insight, enjoyed the post!

Excellent points, Andrew. You underscore the importance of building and maintaining trust and correctly point out that its no so much what you promise but how you behave that matters. While I probably wouldn't hold Jack Welch up as a perfect role model I do like his professed emphasis on candor and the need to have a culture that supports (and demands it). Thanks for offering valuable counsel to CEOs.

Is it really "challenging authority" if the CEO leads the organization into creating a culture of open conversation?

In my experience, most people in associations want to solve problems. They aren't trying to undermine the CEO, take over, or make other people look bad. (While this does happen, and there are those operate this way and we all know who they are, it just leads me to a question: Why do you still have them on your staff??)

In my view, the CEO is the coach and the staff is the team. Everyone has their position to play, and the coach calls the plays. The reasons team practice so much is to work out any kinks in the system and for the players to give feedback to the coach on what works and what doesn't.

Having an open culture where conversations and problem solving occur on a daily basis is a better use of time and energy than making it okay to "challenge authority."

What CEO wants to come to work every day and be challenged? If I were a CEO, I'd rather be impressed by my engaged staff who feels confident enough to discuss the needs of the organization with me.

I can support that TRUST is a key issue and it can be difficult to win and easy to lose. In my work as a CEO, I used a team approach with staff and encouraged candor. That worked best for me and the staff valued their roles.

What I've found as a consultant in coaching CEOs and facilitating team building sessions is that it is very challenging for some leaders to allow the staff to disagree with them or "challenge their authority". As one commentor pointed out, it takes a great deal of courage and confidence on the part of staff to speak up in disagreement with the CEO. A safe environment and trust is necessary. Fear of retribution must be eliminated. Sometimes having an outsider facilitate those first conversations can set the stage to open conversations that can continue and become the norm in the culture without a facilitator.

I wholeheartedly agree with the quotation about no school for CEOs. After having served as a Deputy ED and working in a large association for many years in various staff positions before becoming a CEO myself, I thought I really knew what it meant to be a CEO from what I had observed over the years. Once in the role, I counseled others who were considering the move up that while I thought I really understood and knew what would be expected of me as a CEO and how to deliver it, in reality I didn't. Sitting in that CEO chair is very different than what it appears to those observing the CEO. I loved the role, well most days, yet it was a big eye opener to assume it!

Thanks for the blog post.

Cecilia, maybe “challenging authority” isn’t the beest choice of words. What we’re really talking about is freely and assertively contributing to the ongoing conversation about where our organizations are headed and how we get there in a way that is authentic, informed, and well-intended. How we get there is the question and a challenge for CEOs who need to create the culture you described. I think we need to be honest about the barriers that exist before we can begin to take them down.

I think a lot of individuals that others would describe as challenge authority would consider themselves as sharing fresh ideas or alternative perspectives.

Ever the most open-minded among us develops some steadfast beliefs and routines over time. When someone questions them or starts from a different premise, it is so very easy to slip into advocating for our own take on things instead of inquiring into others.

One of my favorite authors, Meg Wheatley, has long stressed the value of allowing ourselves to be disturbed by others' thinking, to questions why someone else might see a particular situation so very differently than we do. That's when the real learning—and possible innovation—might emerge.