Established businesses can learn one key thing from the start-up world that would benefit them immensely. That one thing is the role of the Critical Friend.
Most start-up Founders understand the need to bring on board Advisors. The role of an Advisor is to be a Critical Friend to the Founder team, and I have found that the same need exists in established businesses yet is not routinely sought.
As a Consultant I have sometimes found it hard to define exactly what I do. Maybe I am asked to help create a Strategic Plan, or to resolve a dispute amongst leaders, or buy/sell a company, or help create a new Organizational structure, or act as an Agent of Change or coach managers to become leaders. Whatever the ask is, I always begin by trying to define the real problem we are trying to solve and there is a common theme that emerges.
That theme is that Leaders are too busy with the day-to-day work of keeping the business working efficiently and they have no one to speak with who can give impartial advice based on experience with no ulterior motive. That’s the definition of the Critical Friend.
It’s often not a Strategic Plan that’s required, leaders know the strategy they want to follow, its alignment of the team and engagement of the employees to turn a plan into reality. It’s often not leadership disputes that involve one person being right and another wrong, it is that there is no safe place for leaders to admit mistakes, or for people to express their true feelings without fear of reprisal. It’s often not change that’s difficult to enact it’s the fear of change that causes stagnation.
There is no right or wrong answer but by talking through scenarios and having a value-based system upon which to make decisions requires conversations that are often ambiguous and can sometimes be deeply personal and reflective in nature.
In the case of start-ups there is an acceptance that, mostly inexperienced, founders should bring in experience to provide a sort of parental guidance role especially in moments of doubt or difficulty. However, we all have those moments of doubt, we are all a product of our own experiences and so I believe its also important for leaders who are outwardly 100% confident to have a Critical Friend they can use to discuss those fears and doubts and receive good counsel.
The saying goes that its lonely at the top and its true. Its also true that all great teams are built upon a foundation of trust. However, in a time of great change like today, when the speed of business is accelerating as technology disrupts the construction industry and four generations occupy the workplace and the economy becomes increasingly carbon constrained and social justice demands change, how does experience prepare leaders to address these issues? It doesn’t.
So, my advice is to seek out a Critical Friend. Find someone you can call and meet to just bounce around ideas. Find someone who has a different perspective but no agenda.
Those who read Leadership books seeking the wisdom of others know that the difference between theory and practice is vast. Its always the little things that matter, its not what you say but how you say it. There isn’t a right way and a wrong way, its always a shade of gray.
The speed of business will continue to tend towards the speed of light but find a Critical Friend to provide balance, support and friendship and I can promise you that its one decision you will never regret.
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