| |
FALL, 2006 
By Timothy G. Habbershon Are You Safe? The best CEOs understand their impact on others A younger family member recently spoke to me about his uncle's leadership of the family company. He struggled to describe a difficult person while trying not to seem disloyal, using such phrases as "a little touchy," "hard to approach," "you have to be careful," and "tough personality." At one point I asked him if he would describe his uncle as a "safe person." He laughed and said: "No one would feel that way about my uncle." When we coach leaders of family businesses, we want them to reflect on their leadership style and how it affects other employees, productivity, and, ultimately, their legacy. We ask: "Are you a safe person?" A safe person is one that people trust. When we trust people, we decide that the benefit of interacting with them outweighs the cost to us. If the cost is too high, we don't engage unless we have to. Imagine the negative impact on a business and family if people do not feel they are safe speaking to you. You'll have a laundry list of management and relationship problems: Employees will withhold information, they will wait for a "good" time to talk to you, they'll be afraid to make decisions, they'll avoid you, they'll feel that they have to fight back to be heard, they'll discount and undermine your leadership, the atmosphere will become tense, and creativity will stall. Employees will eventually leave the company because they don't want to be around you. In family businesses, they often cut off personal relationships as well. Effective leaders understand the impact they have on others. But they don't rely on their own beliefs to make that determination. They get feedback from employees and family members. They ask questions. Sadly, it is often the people who are most in need of asking others to evaluate them who resist doing so. And there are many strong leaders who confuse instilling fear in employees with effectiveness. These leaders are often blind to what others see, don't believe they need to worry about what others think, or don't have the security and skills to explore their own personalities. Don't be one of those leaders. Talk to your employees, but first consider whether you exhibit one or more of the top 10 signs of an unsafe leader. Such a person: -- Bases all decisions on position and power. -- Reacts with anger and aggression. -- Looks for someone to blame. -- Personalizes failure and puts other people down. -- Never asks others for their views or advice. -- Thinks he or she is always right. -- Sees everything as black or white. -- Ignores suggestions and input. -- Is erratic and unpredictable. -- Is driven by self-interest. If you fall into any of those traps, there is good reason to change, and soon. Some leaders hire coaches or use a facilitator to help uncover employees' feelings. If you prefer to go it alone, begin by asking employees to rate you on the 10 warning signs above. You also create "safe" spaces when you change the rules, say, by setting aside time for employees to brainstorm without sharing your own views. But the most important step is simply to acknowledge to employees that you know you aren't safe and that you are working on it. Employees always respect humility. It's a sign of a great leader.  Timothy G. Habbershon is director of the Institute for Family Enterprising at the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, Babson College
BW MALL
SPONSORED LINKS
Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.
Buy a link now! Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2006, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version