How Open Is the Leader Behind the Open Door Policy?

As a young 29 year-old CEO, I was profit and loss responsible for a +25M per year global online business as well as the leader of a multi-national internet organization with over 60 employees with the goal of doubling in size in two years. In my effort to be successful, I quite naturally relied on the way of leading that had gotten me there.  I worked intense and long hours.  I studied books and researched.  I created prototypes to test exciting new ideas that I found from my research.  I spent most of my waking hours thinking about my company and business.  I did everything I felt I had to do to succeed.  However, I was operating from an inner giant blind spot. This blind spot grew unseen weeds all over the place.

One particular weed was related to my “open door policy”.  The idea of an open door policy sounded great and a no brainer to put in practice.  However, given that my way of leading at the time was pretty much all about applying maximum focus, intensity and work flow productivity, my open door policy turned out to be nothing short of hypocrisy.  In fact, most of the time when a team member dared to enter my office my body would spontaneously tighten up.  I’d reluctantly be looking up from my desk or phone and immediately my inner self-talk would go something like this: “Please don’t come in here…I have more important things to do…can’t you figure it out on your own…I’ll never get the next 20 min of my life back…not YOU again…”. This was all happening mostly unconsciously or at least I didn’t have a strong capacity to examine it in real time nor the ability to step back and reflect on it more thoroughly at a later time. My team quickly adapted to this subtle, or at times not so subtle, style of communicating and not surprisingly began to “leave me alone”.  Mission accomplished!

So what was going on here? Self-deception.  I told myself a story (rationalization) of being open (after all I had an open door policy) when in fact I lacked the capacities needed to really be open.  Therefore, my actions unconsciously were not supportive of my intention.  On the contrary, the only win generated was for the part of me that desperately needed to remain “in control” and stay in “coping mode”.  It is virtually the norm for most business leaders and managers these days.  Being in coping mode gradually erodes a leader’s integrity because the more you act out of alignment with your intentions (in my case wanting to create more openness and collaboration yet lacking both the awareness and capacity to do so) the more “coping mechanisms” will creep in. These patterns in essence make a person less trustworthy despite a person’s good intentions. This mis-alignment sucks up energy and creative potential, generates cynicism, erodes trust, leads to stress/illness/burnout, makes the leader more prone to making mistakes, go blind to key opportunities, and whole companies can go down as a result.

It follows then that illuminating the blind spot is one of the biggest opportunities in business leadership today.   That said, it’s not always a smooth and comfortable ride.   Learning about ourselves never is.  But I’ve yet to see a business leader who doesn’t think the price on the other side is well worth it. In fact, most frequently it turns out to be a significant life changing experience.

So what is one major blind spot you have?

Sorry, I just had to ask this ridiculously unanswerable question to draw out the importance of this next one.

What are you doing to systematically illuminate and work with your blind spots individually, with your team and in your organization?

Below are a few tips to help you become more effective with your “open door policy” by cultivating a greater capacity for openness in you:

1. Shift your mindset to one of thinking about how you can connect with others more as opposed to controlling everything. Practice understanding both your own intentions/needs/wants as well as those of others.
2. Understand that you are always communicating.  Studies show that only a minor part of communication occur through actual words. The rest is “energy” (tone of voice, pace, inner state from which the person is coming from etc) and body language.  What energy are you putting out there?  What are you NOT saying or doing? Remember that silence and non-doing often speak volumes.
3. Practice intentionally setting yourself in “receptive mode” by becoming more aware of your body language when someone seeks to connect with you.  Face the other person squarely but non-confrontationally.  Relax your gaze.  Open your chest (without puffing it out).  Let your arms drop to your sides or lap. Think “receive” as opposed to “defend”.
4. Look out for your own blind spots by regularly stepping back from yourself and your work. Invite others to give you feedback (but make sure that you are truly open to receive it first). Become curious about what you can’t see in a spirit of discovery rather than a “flaw finding” way of seeing.
5. Read the book “Leadership and Self-deception” by the Arbinger Institute

Staffan Rydin is a Leadership Coach, Management Consultant and VP of Development at the Integral Business Leadership Group specializing in coaching and consulting solutions for the evolution of individuals, teams and organizations. Prior to this, as CEO of an expanding and leading internet company at the age of 29, Staffan was humbled by the discovery that being a successful and high-achieving “expert manager” certainly didn’t make you immune to blind spots. On the contrary, this realization led him on multi-year journey of discovery and development where he met, trained and worked with some of the best leader developers in the world. Staffan is now helping other business leaders and professionals become aware of and resolve the blind spots that are limiting themselves, their teams and organizations. The amazing results speak for themselves. Connect with Staffan on LinkedIn, on Twitter or via email.