Undiscussables are strong drivers of fear in the workplace—a factor which undermines the performance potential of organizations. In this study (Ryan, Oestreich) involving 260 people from 22 organizations, the top category of undiscussables by far was “management performance, competence and interpersonal style” followed by co-worker performance.
This suggests that leaders can have a powerful impact on fear and quality of work environment by stepping forward to seek feedback about themselves. In fact, research has suggested employee engagement is significantly improved with two-way rather than one-way feedback in supervisory relationships. (See the blog post The most important variable for employee engagement.)
Helpful references:
On receiving feedback: Thanks for the Feedback by Stone and Heen, 2014.
On a key aspect of giving feedback that may be difficult to hear: Considering confrontation and challenge.
This suggests that leaders can have a powerful impact on fear and quality of work environment by stepping forward to seek feedback about themselves. In fact, research has suggested employee engagement is significantly improved with two-way rather than one-way feedback in supervisory relationships. (See the blog post The most important variable for employee engagement.)
Helpful references:
On receiving feedback: Thanks for the Feedback by Stone and Heen, 2014.
On a key aspect of giving feedback that may be difficult to hear: Considering confrontation and challenge.