Sometimes It Isn't a Complaint, It's the Truth

Dear Leaders,
 
Just a quick heads up that sometimes, what you think is a complaint, is actually the truth. It may be tough to hear this, but what we are saying, really deserves your consideration.  Trust us.
 
Yours truly,
 
Your Employee
 
Oftentimes, leaders will automatically discount a complaint that comes to them as whining, a disgruntled employee, or someone who doesn’t understand the big picture. But sometimes, they are pointing out stuff that you don’t see, can’t see or won’t see. 
 
Sometimes what they are complaining about is you and what you chose to do or not to do. Possibly, the lack of action is something that is impacting them in some way. At a recent leadership session, the speaker mentioned that when a person brings a complaint to you, two thirds of the time, what they bring up is not the real issue. But they are frustrated, and they grab on to anything to raise a concern.
 
When you discount them as not being engaged, to write it off as the infection that is hitting our society, it is being lazy as a leader. The deflection, denial, or defensiveness from leaders is what is leading to the decline in engagement. According to a Gartner study, 70% of employees are disengaged, in the workplace. That is a crazy percentage!
 
My approach in recent years when receiving feedback from others is to:

1. Assume positive intentions in others
2. Question yourself

 
This approach makes you face up to the fact that the complaint, may be the truth and maybe you are the one with the issue.
 
I was not always that way. My wife pointed out to me just last week that I am different now than who I was when I started in management. (Of course, her examples were not work related!) It was those experiences and failures when I didn’t listen, that helped me grow. You grow much more from your failures than from your successes. 
 
People might actually be engaged but you are not listening or seeing it. They are trying to reach out and describe the situation, looking for an avenue or a vehicle to bring it to light.  What you see as a complaint, is their way of showing that they ARE engaged.
 
When complaints start piling up and a lack of engagement rears its ugly head, you know the next step is to bring in some training. Most of the time, the training is directed at their teams and focus is on improving the individuals while the leaders sit on the sidelines and observe. As if they are outside of the problem when they are at the center of the problem and probably need to be participating in that same training.
 
But, if the engagement issues start with you - because you don’t see, can’t see or won’t see - then all you have done is to increase the lack of engagement because they don’t see you walking the walk.
 
I have witnessed this more times than I can count as people in charge discount the feedback of employees. They attempt to build morale with pizza parties, new posters on the wall or an internal marketing initiative.
 
Again, it comes down to the simple truth that Leaders Lead. If you consider yourself a leader but never question your role in the declining engagement numbers, then, my friend, you are not actually a leader.
 
Please for the sake of your employees and the future of your organizations, commit to being a leader. Remember, leadership is not about you it's about those whose well being you are entrusted with. I ask you to begin by questioning yourself, if you want to be a leader Beyond Today.

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