Highly placed executives often suffer from the “enough is never enough” syndrome. No matter how far up the ladder they climb or how much compensation they receive, they’re rarely satisfied and are still striving for more.

We treat them like superstars expecting them to perform perfectly and be all knowing. Today’s headlines are ample proof that they don’t always perform well and sometimes fake the numbers to cover it up.

Sadly, they can’t admit not knowing for fear of losing face. So when somebody at the new product launch asks, “What happens if this fails?” The CEO lashes out at the plaintiff for worrying about himself instead of the company. Implying that he shouldn’t ask embarrassing questions.

Instead of ducking the challenge the CEO should respond to the deeper concern that’s on everyone’s mind: “How does this change what I’m doing now, and what am I supposed to do next?”

A forthright response would be, “I don’t know yet. That’s why I’m here, that’s why you’re here. What information do you need from me? What ideas do you have that you’d like to share? You’re the one(s) dealing with this everyday. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to discuss this with you before approving the final design. I want your feedback as we develop new ideas and make necessary changes to our product line.”

The Truth About What’s Ahead

Full disclosure also exposes everyone to the truth about the difficulties they’re about to face. More importantly it triggers the search for new tools and new ways to make change happen. Lastly, it generates a whole new set of critical questions like Are we missing something? What current resources are available? Whose help are we going to need? How are we going to get them involved? 

Thereafter when a new product is in the planning stage, employees will consider what they’re doing now and immediately offer suggestions for how to improve the product as it develops.

As their focus shifts from the past to the future, they’ll start posing strategic questions such as Is what I’m supposed to do now different, and, if so, how am I going to get it done? What will happen if I don’t do it right? If I don’t know how, who’s going to teach me?

If truthful answers are not forthcoming, those who work on the product won’t risk aligning themselves with a potential failure. There also needs to be some collective discourse around the subject of change itself. Not just what’s different, but how is this going to affect our ability to work together.

Once there’s acceptance and understanding of what’s expected then all those at the top have to do is keep the workforce informed as problems arise and praise them when they make the necessary adjustments.