The Power Trap, how to escape a leadership echo chamber

Guest post by Nik Kinley  who is a London-based leadership consultant, assessor and coach with over 35 years of experience working with some of the world’s biggest companies. An award-winning author, he has written eight books, the latest of which is The Power Trap: How Leadership Changes People and What To Do About It.

As long as there have been people, there have been echo chambers. These days, they are synonymous with the information-sharing algorithms of social media. But they are actually a natural consequence of the way our brains have evolved. So don’t require social media, are nothing new, and we all have them. We tend to ignore them because they’re mostly invisible to us when we’re within them, and because no one wants to admit they’re in one. But they do exist, and unfortunately, they’re getting worse, gradually and silently undermining the decision-making of every leader and organisation. And, as a result, we can’t afford to ignore them any more.

The Power Trap, how to escape a leadership echo chamber

Echo chambers exist when we’re predominantly exposed to viewpoints we already agree with. They can be caused by external forces, like censorship or search algorithms. But even when there is a completely free flow of all information (and there never is), we all still create echo chambers for ourselves due to two natural biases in how our brains work. The first is something called filter bias – the simple fact that we all prefer to listen to some people or watch some news sources more than others, which usually means those whose opinions don’t annoy us. And inevitably, that limits the perspectives we get to hear. The second is confirmation bias – the tendency to prefer or prioritse information that confirms what we already know or believe, rather than analysing it purely objectively.

For leaders, the risk of echo chambers is even worse, too, because being the boss changes how people view and approach us. Critically, it reduces the degree to which people in lower-level roles are open with us, decreases the amount of information they tend to share, and lowers their willingness to question or disagree with us. After all, no matter how nice we are or how much we try to encourage openness, no one wants to upset their boss. And so, our teams invariably tailor their words with us. Moreover, even when people are fully open with us, studies show that one of the things being the boss tends to do to us is that it makes us more reliant on our instincts, previous experience, and what we already know, and so less likely to take the advice of others.

Add all these up, and ensuring you have the breadth and depth of information you need to make good decisions is a challenge for any leader. In fact, it’s just an inherent part of what it means to be a leader. It is, however, getting worse, due to three broad cultural and societal shifts.

First, as organisations have delayered and sought ever greater efficiencies over the past 30 years, workloads, pressure and stress have increased. And studies show that when this happens, people tend to share less information and leaders tend to have less time to listen. Second, the increasing job insecurity that exists has reduced people’s willingness to take chances and speak up. And finally, exacerbating this insecurity, has come the rise of social media and the increasing focus it has created on the need to manage your reputation and be careful with what you say. The press is strewn with stories of celebrities, leaders, and businesses who have evoked vehement reactions to things they have said or done. And every time this happens, people are reminded of the need to manage and be careful about the impact they have and how they are viewed. And though is happening outside organisations, it isn’t staying there. It’s permeates people’s perceptions and changing how they feel about being fully open everywhere.

So, what can leaders do?

The most critical thing is to assume you are in an information bubble of some sort and use the people around you to break it. Ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. Make a simple habit of asking, “What do you think?” Where possible, deliberately ask the views of those you know will disagree with you. When discussing issues with your team, ask them to play Devil’s Advocate and push them to identify alternative ideas and options. Or, for larger decisions, considering creating a red team – a group specifically tasked with providing a counter view to a particular idea or initiative. Seek out different views and opinions as if they are essential nourishment. Because for you, as a leader making decisions, they are.

Moreover, an often forgotten build here is to challenge your teams to do the same for themselves. So, help them see their own echo chambers, get them to reflect on how they are operating with their teams, and make it a core requirement of them to break – or at least broaden – the bubbles they operate within.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds because openess and objectivity are in many respects entirely unnatural. It’s only natural for people to be cautious about what they say – especially when they are in the presence of someone who has power over them (you) or people they want to think positively of them (their peers). It’s only natural for people who operate in an enviroment that is all about solving problems, achieving objectives, and getting things done to want to keep discussion to a minimum and get on with doing things. And while we all like to think of ourselves as objective, our brains betray us, because they’re just not wired to be objective.

So, countering the echo chambers that we make for ourselves, that our roles as leaders reinforce, and that cultural shifts now seem to be super-sizing, takes discipline. This is why the leaders who do best here are the ones who are consistently systematic in seeking our information. It also takes patience. Partly because we’re under pressure, and partly just because the process can be irritating. For many years now, I have made a habit of watching a news channel that approaches things from the opposite end of the political spectrum to me. And it take discipline and patience because I find it exceptionally annoying. But I do have a better understanding of how others think as a result.

So, we all live in their own echo chambers and this is truer today than at any other point in history. For leaders, the risks are worse, and the consequences are potentially far costlier. But you can minimise these risks. It just requires a systematic approach, a measure of curiosity, and a heap of patience.

Nik Kinley is a London-based leadership consultant, assessor and coach with over 35 years of experience working with some of the world’s biggest companies. An award-winning author, he has written eight books, the latest of which is The Power Trap: How Leadership Changes People and What To Do About It.

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