Feedback Without Fear...

I’m a manager who leads a team of people. Sometimes members of the team hold back information they know I need. Why does this happen? What should I do?

The best way to lead such that information needed to make decisions continues to flow to you is to express trust. When providing feedback, are you focused on correcting mistakes or exploring alternatives? Are your intentions (or root concerns) related to what is good for the organization? Related to what you think works best? Tied to preventing something from happening? What tone and feedback delivery encourages people to keep talking to you? An approach to problem solving that highlights “I don’t want to experience this again!”…can cause members of the team to hesitate to share information out of fear. “I understand that you had good intentions”… sends a different message. It takes a lot to lead without fear. It requires belief that lessons were learned from past situations and that the people working for you understand those lessons. Act through encouragement and confidence. Build trust with the team.