Speaking truth to power can hurt your career ….
As part of my community work, I have the opportunity to interact with youths and last night’s conversation was interesting.
Youths today embrace the concept of radical candour. If they feel something is not right, they believe that it is not only their right to speak up, but also their duty to do so. The youths I spoke with however lamented the fact that speaking truth to power can hurt their careers and this made them reluctant to.
Speaking truth to power. 3 things you need to ask yourself | by CW Fong | Medium
I shared that, as a leader, I fully welcomed hearing the hard truth as I accept that I have my blind spots. Thus, only by hearing the truth will I be able to improve and lead more effectively. I added that as a leader, I have never penalised the performance appraisal of those who spoke the truth to me.
However, I cannot say the same for promotions.
The reality is that holding a leadership position goes beyond just doing your job well; it involves emotional intelligence and the ability to communicate appropriately. If, a person cannot identify the appropriate place, time and manner in which to convey the hard truth to me, then it alludes to the lack of leadership readiness. In this instance, promoting such an individual would be unwise and it is incumbent on me not to promote that person to a position they will not be able to excel in.
I ended by urging them to speak truth to power. But reminded them of the need to know when, where and how to speak it.
