Trustee Professor of Management Michael A. Roberto, DBA, has examined leadership and managerial decision-making from multiple angles. He’s published case studies on companies as diverse as Planet Fitness, Trader Joe’s, and the Savannah Bananas baseball team, and co-authored a bestselling simulation of an ascent of Mount Everest that’s widely used to teach collaboration and communication around the world.
The most effective leaders, Roberto has found, create a culture where employees are not only allowed to speak openly but actively facilitated to do so — including directly to top management. He reflects below on some of the biggest failures, and wins, of modern leadership:
ON THE PERILS OF AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP: “Colin Powell once said, ‘Bad news is not fine wine. It does not age well.’ When honest dialogue is stifled, problems often remain hidden until a crisis emerges.
Boeing engineer Curtis Ewbank once described a ‘suppressive cultural attitude towards criticism’ at the company, where engineers were reluctant to share safety concerns with senior managers. The consequences proved catastrophic: In a matter of months, two Boeing 737 MAX jets crashed, killing 346 people.
A culture of candor allows people to share ideas, express dissenting views, and talk openly about mistakes and failures. Too many leaders assume they have superior knowledge and information and rely on their old playbook, even when circumstances have changed.”
"A culture of candor allows people to share ideas, express dissenting views, and talk openly about mistakes and failures."
ON CREATING A CULTURE OF CANDOR: “A leader should refrain from speaking first in each meeting. If they set out a proposal and then ask for input, many employees assume the decision has already been made and hold back on feedback. Leaders also must be willing to talk about their own mistakes and failures to make it normal and expected for people at all levels to admit errors, learn from them, and share those lessons with others.
Finally, be careful how you respond to bad news. If you shoot the messenger once, people will remember that for a long time to come.”
ON HEALTHY DEBATE: “Leaders should assign team members to play the role of ‘devils' advocate’ in meetings. Use 'pre-mortems' and 'pre-parades' to spark divergent thinking and uncover hidden risks. Imagine that a decision will result in a major failure, then identify the likely causes. Then, imagine a highly successful outcome. These twin techniques have been shown to spark lively dialogue and debate.”
ON THE VALUE OF CURIOSITY: “Frontline employees often sense new trends and threats before senior leaders do. The best leaders create informal opportunities to engage with these employees so that they can receive unfiltered information. Too often, leaders become isolated and find themselves surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear.
"The best leaders create informal opportunities to engage with these employees so that they can receive unfiltered information."
Most leaders do not intentionally hire yes-men or yes-women. Instead, they create a culture in which talented, independent-minded people gradually become less willing to speak up. The most effective leaders remain ever-vigilant, never assuming that employees have told them everything they need to know.”