Why Giving Your Team a Voice Matters
I was talking to a peer of mine recently in a discussion where, with no confusion, we did not agree on strategy, philosophy, approach, or resolution, and no amount of “perspective” or middle-ground compromise was going to close the gap. We flat out thought the other was wrong.
To be fair, this person did have a desire to end the call on good terms; however, that desire was based on the expectation that I come to see things their way and agree. I told them I was fine to end the call leaving things as they were. No bad blood, per se. There simply wasn’t a resolution worth my time and I was okay calling a spade a spade.
I couldn’t help myself, though, in the end telling them that their team also fundamentally disagreed with their approach and felt there was no avenue for discussion, so they had resigned not to bring anything up. They report to this person in fear. It would have been pointless to give names anyway, but I encouraged them to go back and have a discussion with the team. Ask questions. Include them in the conversation. See what they think. Give them a voice.
I kid you not, their reply was, “Give them a voice… man, food for thought.” Genuine wonder behind the words.
Aware that this might be the closest to a concession I would get, I ended the call.
Giving your team the ability to influence decisions or provide perspective isn’t a consolation prize that should be reserved for the worst-case-scenario. In my opinion, unless your team’s baseline is ultra-defiant, it’s your best and easiest way to create buy-in to the outcome.
Just because someone offers an opinion doesn’t mean you have to adopt it as policy. Not every decision has to be democratic and you don’t have to automatically surrender any authority. Even if your team comes to a [wrong] consensus, it doesn’t mean they override your power. You can still rebut with strong reasoning as to why, well-meant but misguided, their solution isn’t the best answer. Being able to answer that question is likely why you’re their boss in the first place.
When your team is able to speak up, they believe their voice, opinion, and experience matters. Being part of the conversation offers an inherent sense of worth. I’d like to know what you think. It’s a one way ticket to helping them feel heard and valued, and guess what? If they’re wildly off-base, you’ve created an organic learning opportunity that wouldn’t have existed if you hadn’t brought it up.
For people hungry for power, being the decision-maker is something to keep a tight grip on. There’s no need to introduce any variables that might cause them to have to compromise. Plus, they obviously know best. I’ve been guilty of this myself as a younger manager.
In any case, frontline employees usually see problems first. Try as you might, when your responsibilities increase, you cannot have your eye on all things at all times (though as a low-trust manager, you’re probably hesitant to delegate in the first place, amirite?). Your team also experiences customer frustrations, inefficient processes, unnecessary rules, morale issues, and emerging risks at least as frequently if not more than you do. Ignoring those perspectives often means you’re leading with incomplete information, and this is especially true if your team’s number-one goal is to make sure you don’t find out what happened for fear of your response.
People also naturally want to support what they help build. Ownership grows from participation. If you’re willing to make them invisible in the process, of course they will feel invisible in the outcome. It’s no wonder, then, why you may be having regular conversations about accountability and investment into their roles. They feel like they don’t matter.
Making people feel safe being heard is what builds trust. Trust isn’t the result of always agreeing. Fragility is the product of no-friction. If there’s no space for disagreement or pushback, it’s your world and they’re just living in it. If the fear of conflict is what stops you from opening the door to conversation, consider that employees almost always take tough feedback surprisingly well once they understand why something happened, how a decision was made, and knowing their input was genuinely considered.
Particularly true in sales environments, leaders are also always looking for new ways to outdo themselves. You’re always up against your own numbers. How many times are you personally responsible for the-best-idea-that-ever-lived? Innovation operates best in environments where ideas can bounce off one another, but new ideas rarely come from environments where everyone is just trying to avoid saying the wrong thing. Creativity requires psychological safety.
When people feel unseen, unheard, and undervalued, they inevitably become a flight risk. We’re all after knowing that what we spend our time on matters. If your team feels invisible, that mentally equates to “replaceable”. If it doesn’t matter who fills the seat one way or another, why does it matter if they stay?
If you’re feeling a little guilty, the good news is there’s an immediate fix: go have a two-way conversation.
What is it about relationships that keeps up from feeling like this advice is something other than easy peasy lemon squeezy? Really, there’s a million things. For one, listening, asking questions, and explaining decisions all take time you may feel you don’t have (although ironically, cleaning up preventable mistakes takes a lot more). It may be a fear of losing authority, decision fatigue, ego, or previous negative experiences. No matter what it is, you must be careful not to see listening as agreeing. Your team hearing you talk isn’t alignment.
So, what are some practical conversation starters?
- Ask more [better] questions.
- Are there any concerns we’re not discussing?
- Is there anything I’m missing before we move forward?
- Does anyone see things differently?
- If this fails, what will probably cause it?
- Fun fact, leadership in the Roman Empire used to hire arguers to discuss gaps in war strategy before rolling out new tactics. They would invite criticism from their own side to battle-test new decisions and avoid finding plot-holes by way of the enemy. Personally, I fully support this approach and don’t know why we don’t do it more. It’s genius.
- Reward honesty.
- Don’t only celebrate agreement. Thank people for identifying risks, respectfully disagreeing, and sharing difficult truths.
- Close your feedback loop.
- If someone shares an idea, tell them what ended up happening, what changed, what didn’t, and why. Nothing kills participation faster than upward feedback falling into a black hole.
- Separate the idea from the person.
- Critique ideas. Protect people.
- Admit when you’re wrong.
- Nothing gives others permission to speak more than hearing a leader say, “I’m sorry, I missed that one.”
Many leaders spend years trying to become better communicators, but few spend equal time trying to be better listeners. Leadership isn’t measured just by how clearly you speak, but also how safe others feel in speaking to you. When people believe their voice matters, they contribute commitment, and commitment can’t be demanded. Only earned.