Summer Newsletter 2017 - Flipbook - Page 5
Are you the elephant in the room?
In pursuit of open and honest conversations
- Steve Trenchard of Mental Health Strategies
Introduction
Our team have worked with hundreds of organisations, teams and individuals, who are in turn working within systems
which can be complicated and tricky to navigate. We show how effective feedback, self-awareness and honest and
open conversations really do lead to better, trusting relationships and credible leadership at a team, organisation and
system level. In this short piece, we discuss the challenges which arise when people aren’t honest (or don’t recognise
the issue), where straight talking doesn’t happen and when the elephant in the room is always present but never
mentioned.
Who owns the elephant?
During the diagnostic phases of our work we often ask
questions about leadership styles, culture, and context
such as: “How are things done around here?” or, “What
is the quality of relationships?” and, “Do system leaders
have positive, productive interactions with one
another?” The aim of this is to get a sense of the
cohesiveness of an organisation or a system in order to
understand the dynamics, history and to begin to think
about where improvements could be made in relation to
the emergent blocks and dysfunction.
The metaphor ‘elephant in the room’ usually refers to
an issue which everyone knows about, or knows a little
about, but is seldom surfaced or spoken of because it
causes embarrassment, discomfort or fear. The nature
of the ‘elephant in the room’ can be attributed to
numerous issues, relating to individual, organisational
or system level.
Individual
Organisation
System
In the following list there are some examples of typical
‘elephants’ at each of these levels:
Individual
• Clash of values and beliefs and a failure to accept
difference
• Leadership style such as command and control
• Denial, lack of self-awareness or cognitive
dissonance
• Is unpredictable and creates fear/lack of trust
• Emotionally inaccessible, angry or hostile – an
unapproachable and closed style
Organisation
• Lack of collaborative intent, disagrees or takes a
routine contrary stance
• Discrepancy between what we say and what we
deliver in outcomes – i.e. poor CQC ratings
• Board is disconnected and uses the wrong ‘tone
of voice’ out to staff
• Adverse media attention and a failure to build
pride within teams / services
• The change continuum – staff either have change
apathy or change is too slow and inertia sets in
System
• Financial failures/deficits causing system
pressures, driving decision making
• Power struggles between leaders who are
uncomfortable outside of hierarchy
• Disingenuous agreements - says one thing and
does another
• Past competitive threat, loss of contracts, legacy
of failed collaborations and past poor
relationships
• Failure to acknowledge and share risks and a
failure to define shared accountabilities
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