The Powerful Nature of Candor

More and more I find that candor is becoming increasingly rare in the business environment. Perhaps it is the economic downturn that has made candor a risky behavior? While I might be underestimating its rarity, the fact remains that candor is a huge part of successful leadership. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, calls candor the “biggest dirty little secret in business.”

While some people might perceive a lack of candor as job security, this lack of frankness can cause huge problems. Lack of candor inhibits the influx of new and creative ideas and slows down decision making. Without candor, truly talented people struggle to flourish.

In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a team, Patrick Lencioni emphasizes the need for healthy conflict as a foundational element that influences team’s commitment, accountability and results. When Lencioni speaks of healthy conflict, he is speaking about candor. When speaking about candor, I am talking about honest, straight forward communication, not malicious, hurtful intent.

Speaking with candor requires a desire to stimulate in-depth discussion and the courage to put forth and receive new ideas. What I frequently see is individuals and teams that withhold their honest comments or criticism and fail to engage in a real debate on issues.

People keep their mouths shut for a variety of reasons; to avoid conflict, protect others’ feelings, soften the blow of bad news or to keep information to them selves thinking that this will give them power or an advantage. In many cases, people fail to speak their minds because it is much easier not to. What a disservice! Teams that engage in this lack of candor succeed in only one area, becoming their own worst enemy.

Candor contributes to team success in three main ways.

First, candor creates energy that gets other people involved in the conversation. It is through this conversation that new ideas surface and get knocked around, probed and dissected. In this type of environment everyone contributes and everyone learns.

Second, candor leads to action and generates speed. When a team generates new ideas, they own them. This feeling of ownership compels teams forward, in to action and towards the completion of tasks.

Third, candor reduces costs and improves the bottom line. Candor reduces the need for redundant meetings, reports and e-mail chains that suck the productivity from everyone.

In upcoming blogs, I will discuss how creating candor can be accomplished.

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