Don Durand
I witnessed something very effective the other day. I saw an executive host a town hall meeting with about 100 people in attendance and many more on a conference line. This executive (let’s call him Robert) began by saying, “I have no carefully crafted script, no announcement or ra-ra speech to deliver. Instead, I am here to listen to you. I know that there have been some questions about the recent events. I am here to create a common understanding of these events, and I only want to speak to what is relevant and of concern to you. Please, what are your questions?”
Silence – as in the kind of silence that grips a distracted student who has been suddenly put on the spot by their teacher.
After about one minute of dead quiet, the first question surfaced and kicked off one of the most honest and powerful dialogues that I have ever seen. Based on the head nods, it seemed that this was a question on everyone’s mind and, interestingly, was not a question that Robert had expected. The question was not, “Will there be layoffs?” Rather, the question was, “Why did you sell the company that we have worked so hard to create?”
As I reflected on why this town hall was so effective, I realized that this situation had called for something other than a speech. Rather, it had called for listening and relevance.
Being relevant is not sharing what you have to say, nor is it speaking to what you think is important to others. Instead, being relevant begins by asking what matters to others, and then focusing on that in a way that addresses shared interests. In this case, Robert did not tell his employees about the benefits the merger had offered the company. He also avoided speaking to an assumed concern about “layoffs.” As we learned, neither of these topics were relevant to the group. Had he assumed that they were important and spoken about them in a perfectly crafted message, it would have been a waste of both his breath and his employees’ time.
However, in this town hall Robert did something different; he listened to the underlying cares of his employees.
Imagine that your organization is like an iceberg. To make a difference, leaders look not only for the visible and obvious issues, the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ but also look for what might be lurking below the surface.
In the past, I saw Robert listen in order to transact information, only scratching the tip of the iceberg. However, during this event, he seemed to grasp exactly where questions were coming from. He took a moment to absorb the question, “Why did you sell the company that we have worked so hard to create?” He then responded with, “Are you all feeling betrayed?” Brilliant. He touched the core issue that was driving some of the issues that prompted this town hall.
Here is what I learned: instead of delivering messages at town halls, use this time to ask and invite questions. It might just make your next one more relevant and impactful.