Oct 1, 2026 · 38 min · 9 segments
**Would your employees describe your leadership team the same way you would?** Don't answer too quickly. There is often a gap between the leadership team executives believe they're running and the…
Mary RickettsHost
Here's something that I've learned over more than 30 years working in and around leadership.
The higher you move in an organization, the harder it becomes to see the organization clearly, okay? And if you don't, y- well...
I, I believe it's structural, right? People communicate differently around authority.
And people decide, people d- people decide what you need to know and sometimes what they think you don't need to know.
And eventually, the CEO can be operating with a completely different picture of the organization than the people that are working, uh, one, two, let's say three levels, three levels down.
I've seen it happen, okay? I've seen it happen over and over again, regardless of the industry.
H- here's, here's where it gets a little, a little fun, right? Ask the executive team, "How's your communication?" Here's your...
Here's what the u- the response usually is, "Pretty good, Mary." [chuckles] I go ask the employees, "How's communication?" Here's, here's, here's usually the response, "It depends on which leader you're talking about." Right? That's how the employees respond.
If I ask executives, "Are expectations clear?" what do you think the response is? Come on.
Most of the time you all are gonna tell me, "Yes, Mary." [chuckles] If I go ask the employees, oftentimes that response is, they change depending on who you ask.
If I ask the CEO, okay, "Does your executive team work well together?" Most often that response is, "Absolutely, Mary." If I ask the people that are underneath those executives, oftentimes the response will sound a little bit more like this, "They don't even talk to each other." Okay? That's the gap.
Right? I get concerned when leaders tell me, "Mary, we're doing pretty well." Maybe.
Right? But my next question, [chuckles] and sometimes I know it comes across, uh, probably a little rude and a little snarky, and oftentimes usually my response is, "Based on what? Based on what? Who told you that? How do you know?" [laughs] How do you know? And I really mean- How do you really know? What evidence are you using? What evidence are you using, based on what? Because there's a big difference between, "I haven't heard about any major problems," when I ask that question, and someone that says, "Hey, I have an objective evidence that leadership is functioning effectively across this organization." Where's your proof? 'Cause guess what? Those are not the same statements.
Here's something that I've learned over more than 30 years working in and around leadership.
The higher you move in an organization, the harder it becomes to see the organization clearly, okay? And if you don't, y- well...
I, I believe it's structural, right? People communicate differently around authority.
And people decide, people d- people decide what you need to know and sometimes what they think you don't need to know.
And eventually, the CEO can be operating with a completely different picture of the organization than the people that are working, uh, one, two, let's say three levels, three levels down.
I've seen it happen, okay? I've seen it happen over and over again, regardless of the industry.
H- here's, here's where it gets a little, a little fun, right? Ask the executive team, "How's your communication?" Here's your...
Here's what the u- the response usually is, "Pretty good, Mary." [chuckles] I go ask the employees, "How's communication?" Here's, here's, here's usually the response, "It depends on which leader you're talking about." Right? That's how the employees respond.
If I ask executives, "Are expectations clear?" what do you think the response is? Come on.
Most of the time you all are gonna tell me, "Yes, Mary." [chuckles] If I go ask the employees, oftentimes that response is, they change depending on who you ask.
If I ask the CEO, okay, "Does your executive team work well together?" Most often that response is, "Absolutely, Mary." If I ask the people that are underneath those executives, oftentimes the response will sound a little bit more like this, "They don't even talk to each other." Okay? That's the gap.
Right? I get concerned when leaders tell me, "Mary, we're doing pretty well." Maybe.
Right? But my next question, [chuckles] and sometimes I know it comes across, uh, probably a little rude and a little snarky, and oftentimes usually my response is, "Based on what? Based on what? Who told you that? How do you know?" [laughs] How do you know? And I really mean- How do you really know? What evidence are you using? What evidence are you using, based on what? Because there's a big difference between, "I haven't heard about any major problems," when I ask that question, and someone that says, "Hey, I have an objective evidence that leadership is functioning effectively across this organization." Where's your proof? 'Cause guess what? Those are not the same statements.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.