How to Find Out What Your Subordinates Really Think About You

Innovation leaders often find themselves pondering a nagging yet very important question: How do their employees feel about their leadership?

Okay, what’s the best way to obtain an accurate impression?

This is a tricky question.

Let’s say Susan is an employee, and you give her a survey that asks, “Rate your boss’s effectiveness as a communicator from 1 to10.” What you’re asking her to do is provide information about something she can’t possibly know. Her opinion will be skewed because she can’t speak about a set of highly subjective skills that you may or may not possess. How could she know what you should have communicated and didn’t, or whether you communicate effectively with anybody else?

The only person Susan can speak for is herself.

This is where the LeaderLogic concept of proactive engagement is so important.

Instead of asking Susan to rate your skills, of which she cannot possibly have full knowledge, you should ask her, “Do you feel well informed about your project goals?”

Or, “Do feel as though you can offer suggestions to your superior?”

Or, “Are you excited to come to work every day?”

Let’s say Susan gave a low score to the question of whether she felt well informed about her project goals.

And then let’s say that fifty percent of your employees reported the same thing: they didn’t feel well informed about their project goals.

If that happened, I’d say you had a problem that could keep your team from staying ahead of the pack. If half your employees were unsure of their project goals, then how could they know if they were meeting expectations? How would they feel a sense of urgency?

What’s the answer to the problem? There are two possibilities.

1. Half of your employees don’t listen or are too lazy to find out. Really? If you truly believe that, then you’d better start hiring better people. But it’s much more likely the source of their ignorance is the second possibility:
2. You’ve failed to proactively connect with your people and to inspire them. Susan doesn’t know the goal of her project because you haven’t made sure she knows the goal and understands and appreciates the value of her work. Perhaps the problem is poor training, or the fact that no one pays attention to your company-wide email blasts, or you changed your mind about the goal and didn’t bother to tell the people involved in the project. But the answer lies with you, the innovation leader. You and only you can ensure that every one of your people have all the tools, information, resources, and inspiration to stay ahead of both the competition and of their own previous performance.