I am sure many of you are familiar with the term “The squeaky wheel gets the most oil”? As a metaphor in business it is usually used to describe those staff that are constantly seeking out the attention of the team leader, manager or anyone in a position of power. Over time the Leader may inadvertently create a set of habits for themselves and the staff member if they allow the trend to continue. I have witnessed this on many occasions where habitually these people provide a manager with constant information about work situations, colleagues or others in the business. (There are exceptions of course that relate to informing management of progress, these briefings should be kept as formal as possible.) The issue with this style of interaction or communication is that the Leader is not only giving these people more attention, the Leader is also relying on information from one source. It is important to realise that with one source of information also comes an individual’s filters, beliefs and distortions of the facts. That is not to say that a person purposely distorts the facts, basically information and facts are based on an individual’s filters and experiences. These differ from person to person; unconsciously we present the information as we perceive it. In essence we filter out information that in our mind may not be useful. A good Leader will question the information provided and seek out a second source of information to validate the facts. Unfortunately, not all people do this and can take this information as fact, without investigating the situation further. Effective questioning is a good way to determine the truth and get to the core of the issue. If this information relates to other team members, areas within the business or staff in general, a good Leader immediately suspends any judgement until they have all the facts.
Judgement as a word means “the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.” “Considered” is the optimal word here, how can a decision be considered if the Leader doesn’t have all the facts? It is important especially when dealing with conflict that facts are validated from other sources that may have an alternative view that could counter and or clarify the initial information provided.
What also occurs through natural bias is that the first series of facts provided can often take precedence over a later set of facts when presented. Why does this happen? This can occur when someone is aligned unconsciously to the person who initially presented them with information. Because of that alignment an individual may then unconsciously seek out facts to support that individual’s viewpoint. This is what I refer to as confirmation bias. Where an individual will unconsciously seek out information that supports their views and in turn discount information that doesn’t.
Basically, a good leader suspends their beliefs, they gather information from different team members, these will have their own views and beliefs based on their own individual filters and biases. Then somewhere in the middle of all of this information will be the Truth. A good Leader gets to the Truth. The secret is getting to the core truth without prejudging or drawing an initial conclusion based on the first piece of information presented.
A good leader suspends judgement until they have all the information to hand. They are bold, brave and Lead by bringing those with the information to the table. In situations of conflict or debate this approach creates individual responsibility and accountability for outcomes. It also allows the Leader to question each party to get the core facts and then adjudicate a mutually agreed outcome. It is also important that the Leader creates consistency across their team in relation to individual interaction. Setting meeting times and formal catch ups with clear agendas ensures this occurs. Over time, using this approach will ensure that those that have been coming to the manager with a constant stream of information can be directed toward the formal catch ups (unless of course the matter is urgent).
So, as a leader are you letting the squeaky wheel get the most oil?