Given all of the noise, bias, and gossip that exists in an organization, how does a leader know what is true and what is less true? Is that team member talented? Is the team behind the new process? Is the strategy working or floundering?
The best leaders use a simple but enduring maxim to guide them toward reality. The truth about people, issues, opinions and events is always repeated by a variety of sources. When people across the organization all say the same thing, a leader listens closely and learns the truth. By tuning into what is being repeated, we can cut through the clutter and learn where reality meets noise.
Truth, like the ideas of reputation and brand, is always shared between people who don’t know eachother or have vested interests at stake. Bias may be shared by a connected few, but reality is always repeated widely by unaffiliated others. Tune into the repeated. As a leader, it’s time to know what is really going on.
