A CEO I worked for some time ago used to chat me up fairly regularly. I remember he just filled up the room.
By that I mean he did all the talking. Never did any listening. Had all the answers. Had all the gut feelings.
There wasn’t room for anything other than his voice. His thoughts. His direction.
That sums it up. It’s frustrating. It was for me and many of my co-workers. We’re not alone.
Great organizations have leaders who listen. Not every idea that filters up to them will be great.
Some ideas will be amazing. Others should marinate, evolve, get tossed around, go through a brainstorming session.
Some simply won’t be so great.
But the strength of an organization is its voice.
It’s not just one voice. It’s not the CEO’s voice.
It’s not the loudest voice in the room. Or the voice of experience that “has all the answers.”
It’s the organization’s collective voice.
Leaders, do you hear that?