Get the Truth

“It takes a great man to be a good listener.” – Calvin Coolidge

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I've written about how hard it can be to get people to tell you their real opinions about things if you are the leader. This is especially true if they think they know what you want. Evolution tells us to make the leader happy so you don't get thrown out of the tribe and get eaten by tigers so getting people to suppress their survival instincts in order to understand their real opinion can be a bit of a trick. Here is a tip I recently came across that I really liked from Adam Grant, he said:

"When people hesitate to give me honest feedback, I ask for a 0-10 score on my idea, draft, or performance.
No one says 10. Then I ask how I can get closer to a 10.
It motivates them to coach me—and motivates me to be coachable. I want to learn how to close the gap."

I love that because it is so simple and yet so powerful.

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Leadership Lesson

People want to make the leader happy. If you are the leader you need to find ways to allow people to feel safe to express differing ideas. Inviting them to improve on your idea is one way to help them feel safer.