Last week, I watched the movie Hidden Figures, which included a clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pronouncing these words:*
“We think we are rendering a great service to our nation. For this is not a struggle for ourselves alone; it is a struggle to save the soul of America.”
I loved the movie, and I was moved by the courage of the women who soberly measured their vulnerabilities but still stood up against oppression. We are all inspired by the way that they, along with Dr. King, spoke truth to power.
But what happens when we are not the vulnerable but rather the ones who are in charge?
How do leaders learn to hear Truth when they are in Power?
Acknowledge the Source of your Power
One of the most profound truths of our American Revolution was the premise that the authority of the government derives from the consent of the governed—that the people themselves were the source of their leaders’ power.
CEOs and leaders of any organization get their power from the same source—the regular people. If their employees all decided not to show up one day, the CEO title would be meaningless.
It is quite necessary to teach leaders to be humble, but that humility is also a practical reality. Leadership humility is not just a personal virtue, it is rooted in fact. Without the consent of the people, a leader can accomplish nothing at all. The functional basis of Dr. King’s nonviolent resistance was to demonstrate what happens when the people withdraw their consent.
Power is a gift that human beings give to a leader in exchange for expected services. It is a trust, and leaders are accountable to the spoken and unspoken terms of that trust. The terms of that trust include an expectation that the leader will listen when others speak.
Other People Care, Too
A dangerous lie tempts leaders: “nobody else cares about the business like I do.” While it may be true that some employees are truly apathetic, leaders should recognize the arrogance of thinking that they are the only one who really cares.
Employees care about their own welfare and job security. They care about their coworkers, with whom they will spend more waking hours than they will with their own children. And they care about the continuity and reputation of the organization. Employees want to be proud of the place they work.
You’ve heard the expression, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Dr. King showed that he and other black Americans cared about the nation as a whole. They cared about its soul and its welfare. When leaders recognize that other people care about the organization, the lie is challenged and they can become more willing to listen.
Other People See
Unlike many of my peers in our hyper-individualistic generation, I do believe that there is such a thing as truth in the universe. But truth is bigger than we are, and it’s pretty well impossible for one person to see it all. Leaders need to hear truth from others, because they cannot see the whole truth by themselves.
Yes, leaders can often see things that the average employee cannot see. The leader has access to information that other people do not have. But the reverse is also true, that regular employees may see things that the leader cannot.
In Dr. King’s time, national and state leaders saw one angle of the truth about America’s international reputation. But Dr. King saw another truth of greater lasting importance—the truth of how we should treat one another as fellow citizens of the earth. The leaders of the time needed to hear that truth.
Intention to Hear Truth
I am grateful for the courageous souls who have spoken truth to powerful people at great personal cost. You may or may not have such courageous people in your organization. So you, as a leader, must actively cultivate an intention to hear truth. That intention is fueled by three acknowledgments:
- Acknowledge the source of your power
- Acknowledge that other people care
- Acknowledge that other people see
Perhaps you have already cultivated these traits. If so, test yourself by asking:
“When was the last time that I changed a public decision because an employee brought another truth to my attention?”
* According to Volume 7 of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., this quote came from a taped conversation where Dr. King was defending the continuation of the Freedom Rides through Mississippi in the face of criticism that it was hurting America’s international image.
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