What will the Organization do to Support me? What are my Benefits? What will this Mean for my Career?
Up to this point, we’ve explored questions leaders need to ask and answer. We haven’t looked at any questions leaders should not answer. Now is the time, and these three questions are perfect examples of questions leaders shouldn’t answer by themselves.
Visualize a briefing after a plane crash. The chief investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is behind the microphone giving an overview of the work the investigators have done so far. A reporter asks a technical question about a report of wind shear experienced by other pilots in the same airspace the day of the crash. The chief investigator listens intently and says, "Let me call John up to answer. John is our wind shear expert and I know he’s been looking into that." The leader steps aside and John takes over. When that question is answered, the leader returns to the lectern and takes the next question. At several points during the briefing, the leader defers to others on his team who have the specialized knowledge to answer the question asked.
As you visualized this event, did you ever have a problem with the leader’s credibility? I doubt that you did or would. Smart leaders know what they know and, even more importantly, they know what they don’t know. When faced with questions outside their expertise, they don’t make things up, they don’t promise things that might make sense on the surface but have serious consequences they can’t envision, and they don’t brush off the question. They bring forward people with specialized expertise, or they know how to connect the questioner with the expert in a hurry.
Most of your situations won’t involve press conferences and reporters clamoring for answers. Questions like the ones that can arise during an employee’s personal crisis occur during one-on-one time where the temptation to answer a question in order to help someone in a time of need will be strong. You must resist the temptation. People in crisis will cling to any answers and promises, and if you’ve given one that your organization either can’t or won’t fulfill, you’re in trouble.
These are questions that need to be answered by your human resources professionals, sometimes by your legal council, or by people within your organization who have the appropriate expertise. If you have an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) program, they can help. The key to answering employees’ questions when they’re in the midst of a personal crisis is to know your limitations, know the kind of support your employees can find elsewhere in your organization, and take the responsibility for finding the professional who can help effectively.