“Build relationships. Earn the right to be heard. Speak the truth in love.”
- Mission statements of a not-for-profit
I used to have a similar conversation with every new hire when I was running businesses. I was the last interview, testing for cultural fit. My conviction around the cultural fit should be obvious, but the things I shared in addition to that I scoured from over three decades of working alongside great leaders in dozens of companies.
1. You will not be fired for a mistake that costs us money, but you could be for doing things inconsistent with our culture that cost us reputation and weaken our culture.
I was actually told these words by a former boss as I entered an organization where I spent a decade and a half. The institution was a century and a half old and worked hard to preserve the integrity of the culture. This was severely tested when I made a colossal mistake in the first big trade that I transacted in my role as a portfolio manager. The trade was sound. It increased value immediately and made us great money over time, but the way I did the trade could have triggered a market-to-market event that could have been catastrophic.
I was doing the right thing for the right reasons, but the way I did it imperiled the organization and cost us $40k to unwind and recast. I immediately (after a few minutes of sweating it out) told my boss. He said, “It happens. Figure out a solution and let me know if you need my help.” I did and it was never mentioned again. It was never mentioned again! I didn’t damage culture, I was consistent with our culture even though it cost us money.
2. Earn the right to be heard, and be heard.
This statement came out of our long association with a not-for-profit and I’ve said it to every hire or younger employee at a client that I have been in some proximity. It is actually two statements and the first is really, really difficult. We have a very entitled society (notice how I didn’t poke a finger at particular generations?). We have all been taught that our “opinions” are facts and that everyone needs to hear them.
Inside successful organizations, they cultivate input, conversation, and the sense that everyone has something to contribute. But viable credibility, the interest in someone caring about your opinion, is earned over time. I would challenge new team members to lean into the way we have always done things. Become best in class at the way you are trained to complete that job. And when you have earned the right to be heard by your commitment to the way we do things and your excellence at how they are done, get ready for the second and most difficult of the two statements: being heard.
In our experience, younger leaders either contribute in ways they haven’t earned the right to or never offer anything at all. Earning the right to be heard takes humility; being willing to be heard takes confidence. So, earn the right to be heard, and then be heard. I would tell them that if the person they report to isn’t open to letting them be heard, come see me because either you haven’t really earned the right or you aren’t being managed well.
3. If you have been invited, act like you belong.
I had the strange experience of always being the youngest person in the room through most of my corporate career. The responsibility of my job (not my title) had me invited into the places my title or tenure hadn’t earned. The first time I attended the investment committee that led our $20B institution, I was a little nervous. They were all C-class and the most powerful people in the company. I was a mid-level guy whose function role just happened to have me managing 1/4 of that balance sheet.
My boss, the Chief Investment Officer, conveniently couldn’t attend the first meeting that I was invited and I happened to be bringing a substantial investment proposal. He said, “You were invited because you belong there. Act like you belong.”
That didn’t mean acting with the liberty the rest of the long-standing C-class operated with. It meant pulling my chair up close to the table, not hiding, being more prepared than anyone else in the room, and being very ready to offer my opinion when asked. If you are a young leader I have interacted with, you’ve already heard these things from me (probably multiple times). If you haven’t, I would strongly encourage you to consider them!
Consider
Are you operating in a way consistent with your company culture?
Are you earning the right to be heard through your attitude, work ethic, and excellence?
Are you showing up to the places you’ve been invited like you belong?