Simple Insights

Leaders must learn to ask what their people may be hesitant to tell them. Authority naturally creates distance, and even good leaders can unintentionally make honesty difficult. Silence from your staff does not necessarily mean agreement. Sometimes it means they are uncertain whether telling you the truth is worth the risk.

This is what “Level 2 Leadership is all about: Permission.” Before you are truly leading someone, you must earn their permission to lead them. That requires more than knowing their title, responsibilities, and performance numbers. You need to know *them*. Have them to dinner. Know their spouse and family. Understand what is happening in their life, including the pressures and financial realities they may be carrying. Learn what matters to them, what concerns them, what encourages them, and what keeps them awake at night. Leadership becomes personal because people are personal.

And somewhere in that process, you must learn to love the people you lead. Not sentimentality. Not merely being nice. Love means genuinely seeking their good and caring about them as people rather than simply valuing what they produce. When people know that you know them, care for them, and want what is good for them, trust grows. That is when Permission becomes real. They begin giving you the honest and candid input you need—not because you demanded it, but because the relationship has made honesty safe. And a wise leader will not merely tolerate that candor, he will seek it out, treasure it, and love his people for giving it to him.

But responsibility runs both ways. Leaders must create an environment where people can speak honestly, and staff members must have the courage and maturity to actually speak. A leader cannot respond to information that is continually withheld. Respectful disagreement, appropriate pushback, and timely communication are part of faithful stewardship from both sides.

Leaders: Ask what people may be hesitant to tell you. Staff: Tell your leaders what they need to know—even when it would be easier to remain silent.