Do you have a court jester?

Royal court jesters are widely believed to have been the only people who were allowed to speak the truth, however unpalatable, to the monarch. While we cannot be sure this was true, it raises the question of who ‘speaks the truth’ to you, and what happens if no one dares?
jester Published 14th December 2020 You may feel you do not need a jester. That you have your finger on the pulse of the organisation or factions within it and are very self-aware. If so, well done, but what if there’s room for doubt?

There are many stories of leaders, cut off from the reality of their organisations, making poor decisions because they are ill-informed. How does this happen? It could be due to incompetence, to staff unwilling to take responsibility or to deliver negative messages, but does your own attitude and persona play a part? Wittingly, or unwittingly?

Senior leaders in an organisation need to be well networked – both internally and externally. Leaders able to walk amongst their staff and talk to them about work and progress against objectives will learn more and be better informed than those that don’t. Leaders willing to ‘walk the floor’ in any part of their organisation will learn even more. See our blog Walking the Floor for more details.

The good news is you don’t have to be an extrovert to get to know your staff, you simply have to be interested in the work they do, in finding out what is working well and where they experience difficulties and frustrations. To ensure people feel they can deliver both good and bad news to you, you need to be approachable, so consider the following:
  • How do you react to bad news in private and in public? Do you seem interested and receptive, or angry or tense? Do you critique the feedback harshly or explore it openly? Do you shoot the messenger or thank them for the information? Do you label the messenger a trouble maker, possibly tarnishing their reputation, or let it be known you respect them for speaking up?

  • What do you do when you receive bad news? Do you explore the reasons for their perception? Remember, the truth can look very different to different people. So, compare and contrast this with other people’s views, keeping an open mind throughout. Many great strategies and plans have fallen foul of reality because no one really understood what was happening on the ground, of whether those strategies and plans were ever, really, achievable.

  • Do you ever ask for feedback about yourself? It may seem counter-intuitive at a senior level, but none of us are ever the finished article and each significant step up the management chain requires us to acquire new behaviours and skills. How will you know if you are succeeding if you don’t ask for feedback from your peers, your Board or non-Exec Directors?

  • When you’ve asked for feedback what do you do with it? If you action it, do you let those who gave the feedback know what you changed in yourself or about your approach, and the results? This will make it easier to get more feedback in the future and will build a culture of trust which will influence others in turn.

  • How self-aware are you? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? You could use a strengths tool to help with this. Many of our clients use our strengths cards or the new app on our CareerBurst platform for this purpose. You could also ask others to complete the strengths tool on you for a more holistic view. Knowing our strengths helps us use them well. It also helps us to dial down on any strengths we find draining and to devise good techniques for managing our weaknesses so they don’t derail our career.
Talking of derailers, you might also work with a coach to review your leadership skills including taking some psychometric questionnaires. I’d recommend Hogan’s Development Survey as this reveals which strengths can become weaknesses when we aren’t managing ourselves well at work. Coaches can make great Jesters as their role is to hold up a mirror to their clients, to help people identify their leadership development needs and to give open, honest, constructive feedback on what they see and hear.

TAKE AWAY
Why does it matter that people speak the truth to you? Without it, you will become ill-informed, will make poor decisions, and ultimately it may derail your career. Whereas, understanding what’s really happening in your organisation, gaining insightful feedback on your impact and effectiveness will all drive a successful and rewarding career. So, seek out your own court jesters and value them.