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Truth Serum

Honest communication requires leaders to invite candid feedback, examine uncomfortable truths, and respond without defensiveness.

5 min read

Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / feedough

The other day I overheard a mother-daughter exchange that really made me pause. The 5-year old was hanging on a grocery cart while she stood in line with her mother, and both were extremely bored. The girl was gripping the cage of the cart, leaning back so that her long hair nearly touched the floor. Her mother told her to stop it and stand still. The girl pulled herself up and mumbled something about being “just like daddy’s wife.” Whatever she said must have struck a nerve because her mother reacted immediately. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” said the little girl.

“I think I heard you, Carolyn,” she said. “That wasn’t ‘nothing.’ Tell me the truth.”