Free Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today by Jack Welch, Suzy Welch

team attracts the best team, and winning often leads to more winning.
    That’s a ride that you and your employees will never want to get off.

THE FIGHT AGAINST PHONINESS
     
 
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    Even though my company is in a very competitive industry and we need to move fast and decisively, I’ve noticed that people rarely say what they mean to each other—particularly in meetings. There’s just so much beating around the bush and general phoniness. I’m just a middle manager. What can I do?
     
    — PHOENIX, ARIZONA
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    W hat you describe is one of the most common and destructive problems in business, and in society, for that matter—the lack of candor. No matter where we travel, we hear about organizations that are slowed down and gummed up by the very human tendency to soften hard, urgent messages with false kindness or phony optimism. This tendency is particularly prevalent when it comes to communicating about poor performance. Very often, bosses don’t come right out and tell underperformers how badly they are doing until, in a burst of frustration, they fire them. That’s terribly unfair to the person at the receiving end and often very disruptive to the business itself.
    But lack of candor doesn’t just pervade performance evaluations. It cripples lots of conversations, many about how and when and where to spend scarce company resources. Yes, these kinds of conversations can be sensitive, politically loaded, or complex, or all of the above. But they’ll simply be better if they’re candid.
    So, what can you do? The only option we know of is having the guts to start using candor yourself, even if you have limited power in the organization. When people use double-talk, push back with questions that cut through the nonsense and probe for reality. Ask, “What are you really trying to tell us?” or say, “What I hear you saying is…” and deliver the straight message yourself for confirmation.
    Introducing candor to an organization, of course, is not without risk. In fact, it can be a total shock to the system, and being the first one to use it can get you killed, that is, marginalized or thrown out. But should you decide to get candid anyway, go slow and use humor when possible. In the best-case scenario, your candor will eventually be rewarded with candor in return—and sometimes the change is faster than you would imagine. As soon as many people experience candor, they can’t understand how they ever did business without it.

THE LIMITS OF CANDOR—OR NOT
     
 
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    I’m a recent MBA who was just made a manager. I believe in using candor, but I’m afraid to, since most of my direct reports are twice my age.
     
    — HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
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    Y ou may feel squeamish using candor with people who look like your parents, but rest assured that “old people” hate jargon, ambiguity, and double-talk just as much as you do. In fact, having suffered through it at work for decades, they will most likely applaud your efforts to be straight, especially after the shock wears off.
    Shock—because without doubt, there will be a rough period of adjustment once you start talking directly and honestly about performance and results. Most people—no matter what their age—just aren’t accustomed to it.
    Use it anyway. In the end, candor always works, and it always makes work better. Once you dispense with mixed messages and phony performance reviews, a team never fails to become faster, more creative, and more energetic.
    And frankly, candor is your job. In fact, once you become a manager, it’s your obligation to let everyone who works for you know exactly where they stand. That’s how you build the best team—and win.
    Your question, by the way, is by no means unusual. We’ve heard every possible excuse for avoiding candor—it goes against politeness in Japan, for instance, and egalitarianism in Sweden. But by far, the age issue you raise is the most common reason for discomfort.
    Let go of it. Some