Yes, They’re Talking About You…
There are many truisms in business, and one that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is that as a leader rises through the ranks of an organization, the amount they are discussed, analyzed, and talked about increases in a non-linear fashion. I would periodically get asked if this bothered me during my career, and I would typically respond with a flippant: “My ears stopped buzzing long ago.” Meaning that it no longer bothered me. While marginally humorous in the moment, as I look back, my response was less than helpful and certainly didn’t reach the mark of a teaching moment.
What I should have done when confronted with the question: “Doesn’t it bother you when people are talking about you?” is use the moment as an opportunity to talk about the importance of communication in leadership.
Most assuredly, there are leaders who are indeed bothered when people are talking about them. The leader who is bothered is likely one who keeps information close to the vest and uses it as a tool to control teams and agendas. These leaders foster cultures where information is treated like state secrets and is used to reward their followers and punish those who are not in their favor.
There was a time early in my career as a leader, when I was caught in this trap. The mantra around the office was “Andy said.” Not much happened without my express approval and I limited information flow to a need-to-know basis. It bothered the heck out of me when I would learn that folks were talking about me behind my back!
I can’t put my finger on an exact moment where my outlook changed. Instead, my perspective shifted gradually along the journey of adopting a continuous improvement mindset and focusing on building a healthy organizational culture. As we began to blend the tenets of organizational health with those of continuous improvement at Kaplan Professional, the knowledge that people were talking behind my back, analyzing my every move bothered me less and less.
Why? Because I could feel that the shift from the protectionist “Andy said” culture toward one built on a strong foundation of communication and clarity was yielding results. Yes, our people were still talking—that didn’t stop. What did stop was the feeling of unease about what people were saying. We had brought teams and team members into the conversation, our purpose and vision were well communicated, goals were clear, results—both good and bad were made available for all to see. Purposeful obfuscation was minimized.
So today’s lesson is this. Yes, as a leader, people are going to talk about you. Someone is probably talking about you right now. The good news is that you have control about what they’re saying and the irony is that you’ll sleep better and your ears will stop buzzing if you’re transparent, authentic, clear, and structured. Oh, and sprinkling in a bit of humility, a sense of humor, and a dash of vulnerability won’t hurt either.
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Please pick up a copy and let me know what you think! Here’s the link to purchase The Balanced Business. Thank you for your continued support.
