I’ve often thought about instituting a sycophant tax on consulting services designed to tell leaders what they want to hear. It’s amazing how many organizations ask for advice but don’t really want to hear it. Not that amazing in a daily life: there are many times when it might be prudent to keep your thoughts to yourself. But when you’re paying consultants lots of money and a multi-million dollar project hangs in the balance, maybe take a moment to listen to their feedback and consider their advice.
In my years of organizational change and communication consulting, I’ve heard lots of excuses for not doing what’s right. And the rationales for not communicating or not investing in helping people understand and adapt to the desired change are often driven by a combination of arrogance, paternalism and fear.
A few myths that merit debunking:
- Employees will do what we tell them to do because they don’t have a choice.
- If we ask employees’ opinions about the planned changes, we’ll have to explain why we’re ignoring them.
- Messages will trickle down from the top.
- If we can sell our direct reports on the change, they can sell the others.
- We have to get the plan nailed down before we start talking about it.
Sure we can tell you that your people will listen to you because – well, because you’re the boss and they don’t have a choice. But wake up: even in a down economy they have choices. They can cut back on taxis and lattes and get a job teaching or freelancing. They can take their kids out of private schools and open up a bakery or a pet-sitting business. They can go to one of your competitors.
But even if they stay – even if yours is the only game in town, you levy your own tax by muzzling diversity and dissent in the workplace. You shut off creativity, sending a tacit message that there’s no point being awake and engaged at work. You drive the truth underground.
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