Giving feedback to the boss? Our brains promote caution, it’s risky!
The CEO Disease is a colourful term for a leadership feedback vacuum. This is where good solid feedback doesn’t make it through to the leader, thereby creating a vacuum where the leader thinks they know what’s going on (and how they are performing), but the reality is quite different.
You don’t need to be a CEO to contract the CEO Disease either – if you’re in a leadership role, you’re susceptible!
How come?
The human brain has a special sensitivity towards leaders – evolution has designed it that way. Giving feedback to a leader presents a very specific risk; if they don’t like what they hear, you the messenger may become a target and that – in evolutionary terms – may decrease your food and shelter rights.
Our brains are programmed to preserve and build favour with a leader to increase our survival prospects – this creates a tendency to be more cautious around giving honest feedback to a leader and, even worse, simply telling a leader what they want to hear.
Variables
Whilst generally, this sensitivity is there for most of us, the level of sensitivity can differ and change over time. Mostly, this is down to the relationship with the leader. If someone ‘rules by fear’, they’re unlikely to really know what people think, as many will be too scared to give honest feedback.
On the flip side, where trust and openness is high, feedback – good or constructive – is valued and delivered without fear of reprisal.
Insights & Actions
As a leader this is what you can do to ensure you’ve not got the CEO Disease:
- Ask for feedback on your own performance
- Thank people for their feedback and acknowledge the value of it
- Remain open and not defensive when receiving feedback – it doesn’t mean you have to agree with the feedback, it means you’re just keeping the conversation safe
- Model a feedback culture that links feedback to continuous improvement
I hope you’ve found this article useful. As always, stay in touch and let me know if you have a question.
Take risks,
David Savage
Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash