Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hello, and welcome to the Managing Uncertainty Podcast. This is Brian Strauser, principal and chief executive here at Bry Path in episode of 188. I want to talk briefly about candor and about being candid and being direct as a leader. Many years ago, uh, when I first started Bry Path, I worked from a co-location, uh, facility. So it was a, uh, it was actually the former trading floor of the Minneapolis Green Exchange in a building named for that trading floor, the Green Exchange Building in downtown Minneapolis, co-working space. In that I paid a subscription fee in order to be there for, you know, to have access to the space, and I could sit at any of the desks or tables that were available and kind of jack in and do my thing. And, uh, one day they had this, uh, this whiteboard up and on the whiteboard they allowed you to write something again, stick a posted note, uh, on the, on the board.
Speaker 0 00:01:04 And I think they'd asked, you know, what advice would you give someone going into the next year? And so I think I said, what, what advice would you give yourself for 2015 or something like that? And there were a lot of different things up there that were interesting, and I was kind of reading it with a cup of coffee, and I realized that, uh, there was a really powerful note that was there that stuck with me. And I took, I took a photo of it and the note said, sooner or later, you have to be direct. And I'm reminded of this time and time again throughout my career that what people are really looking for you, looking from you as an expert, is for your candor. They're looking for you to say what is on your mind to express your opinion in a direct and simple and straightforward way.
Speaker 0 00:01:58 Many years ago when I was interviewing for a position at my then employer, a promotion, I remember being asked about, you know, managing someone's performance. Um, and, you know, can you give us an example of when you had to, to deal with a poor performer that was of a part of your team? And I, you know, told a story of someone and, uh, you know, I probably went on a little longer than I needed to, and the person I was interviewing with looked at me and goes, you know, really, I just wanted to know that you dealt with the issue. I wanted to know that you had the courage to deal with the problem, that you were able to guide them. And then when you realized that there wasn't any correcting of their performance, that you just dealt with the issue. Um, not that I needed the entire narrative, and so again, I, it was another reminder that, that sooner or later you have to be direct and you have to get to the point here at Breit Path, one of our core values is that we
Speaker 1 00:02:58 Believe in empathetic directness, that it's important to balance both empathy and the ability to be candid. But in doing so, we want to be direct. When I was interviewing to lead the business continuity and crisis management function at my last employer before I started Breit Pass, this is well over 15 years ago, uh, my final interview was with, uh, the general counsel. And, um, he asked a question, um, that I remember vividly. I've talked about it before, I believe even on this podcast. The question was, you know, given what you know, Brian, about our global expansion and our plans to expand further, how would you say we are positioned to address the risk that we're going to be faced with as we make these expansions? And I remember many thoughts coming into my mind, but the most important thought that I needed to get across was the most direct thought.
Speaker 1 00:03:53 And that thought was, we're not ready for this, and here are some ways in which we're not ready. I don't think it was the answer that he was really expecting to hear from me, but it's the answer that he was looking for. What he was looking for was me, for me to be candid about it. And as I learned, a lot of people just weren't being candid with him about this particular issue. So my best advice to you is what I saw on that post-it Note that sooner or later, you have to be direct, and that is the best way to gain credibility and maintain credibility as a leader. It is your entree to the next level in your organization, and it's one of the most important skills that you need to learn as an executive in your organization as the leader of your resilience function. That's it for this edition of The Managing Uncertainty Podcast. I'll be back next week with another new episode. Be well.
