Skip-Level Meetings: Uncovering Your Organisation’s Reality

As a leader of an organisation, the question “what needs attention” was always top of my mind. I realised that without taking real inputs from people in the organisation, any decisions I make and the direction I provide will be nothing but my own biased view of what people want, not what they need.

Looking down from 10000 ft above the ground, you may see the greenery of the forests, ice-covered mountains, beautiful terrains, and vastness of the oceans. It’s only when you get to the ground, the rough patches start to surface. Once you notice the new reality, you can shift your perspective to align with the real world.

I realised that this is so true at work too. If I let hierarchy magnify the distance that I have from my people especially those who do not report to me, I can never learn about the issues that impact people on a day-to-day basis. Are they looking for more empowerment, recognition, engagement, growth or are they happy with the way things are? How are they learning?

Without diving deep into people’s minds, I can never develop the intelligence and perspective required to stay close to reality. So I decided to go to the source, hear it from their own mouth without any presumptions.