Today is World Elephant Day, and it reminded me of how they are known for their wisdom, empathy, adaptability, and leadership. These are often compared to traits of successful leadership and learning for leaders.
It also reminds me of the saying “the elephant in the room” within the context of organisations. How hard or safe is it to name them or even bring them up for discussionLiz Kislik, Management Consultant and Business Coach, in her TEDx Talk, refers to Elephant Cards and how, during meetings, someone can use this card to bring up a difficult topic, and it is recognised that it is a safe space to do so. This may not work in every organisation, so what can we do to open up conversations about things we may not want to hear?
- The first thing, as always for me, is having the self-awareness to know that we don’t have all the answers, recognise our biases, and how our perceptions shape our reality. What does danger mean to us? Lack of authority, seen to have failed if we change our mind?
- Is the problem in front of us the real problem – on the surface, it may seem that some issues are about goals not being met, personality clashes, but underneath, it may be more about a lack of clarity on what we are trying to achieve, not understanding expectations, lack of resources, or support.
- Time – that elusive, ever-shrinking concept that we never seem to have enough of or presume others have too much of, and not use it effectively. As managers and leaders, we often underestimate the time it takes to carry out tasks for our employees. Also, do we have the time (or want) to address these elephants? If we don’t, are we delaying reaching our strategic goals and objectives?
- The word conflict itself has a negative connotation to it, but conflict can also be healthy for organisations; it can bring about creativity, problem-solving, make sure we hear all viewpoints, clarify positions, and address concerns.
- Latent conflict can exist in an organisation where employees do not want to be the one to say anything or highlight what everyone else is thinking or saying, but then, when brought up to management, no one backs them up. I have been working with someone recently who discovered that a lot of the issues they were having in the workplace were similar to this. The conflict they were experiencing belonged to others coming to them with issues; they were, in effect, the “middleman,” but they were the ones who were off sick from work, as it caused conflict with their manager. In the long term, this is not healthy for them and the organisation.
Back to the elephants, as it is their day, I did discover that it is not mice they are afraid of, but bees!! I didn’t find out how they deal with the sting of a bee, but hopefully, organisations will work out what they need to do to deal with theirs. The benefits outweigh the negatives of not addressing our “elephants in the room,” but what way this is done will be individual to each organisation.
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