Simon Sinek’s suggestion that leaders should speak last is sensible in many contexts, and when it comes to helping their people, I would suggest that such a back seat role is vital.
Learning is an intensely personal exploration of individual potential, but when a leader spoon feeds their people with a diet of what they think they should all be learning, the personal aspect is lost, and individuals will only benefit to varying degrees.
If you are truly invested in your team’s learning, you have to listen to the individual voices.
That entails giving everyone a chance to speak.
When you have a group of people who don’t really know what they need to do themselves it is far from easy to refrain from imposing your views on things, but often the true needs of the team can only be teased out by patient listening and questioning.
We work for a client who employ a fascinating feedback loop in this way.
One of their Directors runs a quarterly development session with their team. They present the medium term objectives as they see them and they let their people lead sessions around what might hinder them from succeeding. The ensuing list of development areas is always too large for their training budget, but with some careful planning and individual interventions, they feel that this staff led approach is far more effective than the HR-led send everyone on a sales course mindset.
When leaders speak last, they nurture their people by understanding them and helping them take ownership of their learning.
Company boards often wonder about the return on investment of training. It is my view that so much training spend is wasted where it simply isn’t required. Companies feel like they have to tick the sales training box (for example) when in actual fact half of the people on the course would have benefited more from something entirely different.
When we visit our clients to assess their needs, we make a point of understanding the needs both from a management and an employee perspective. Without this bottom up approach, we wouldn’t truly understand their needs either. No matter how well a manager thinks that
they understand their team, nothing beats a quick survey or show of hands around where individuals feel that they can improve.
As a company that sources training for a diverse set of clients, speaking last is what we do best. Within every development conversation there is always something left unsaid, and in withholding the arrogant judgement of “I know what will work for you,” we give current and potential clients a chance to realize what might be best for them.
We are less of a consultancy and more of a friendly ear.
