An inconvenient truth about leadership is that you may be living in a bubble without realizing it. This isolation is not intentional— it is a byproduct of the demands of the job. With time being the scarcest resource, leaders rely on their inner circle to filter and prioritize business needs that require their attention. The leader's lens of the business is the cumulation of inputs received from advisors.

Leaders use these inputs to make critical decisions that affect the business trajectory. This approach can be problematic—advisors have biases and agendas and may not get the true picture due to their proximity to power. This results in leaders making decisions based on information that may be far from reality.

It takes enormous courage to speak truth to power. In the words of John Lennon, "Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it'll always get you the right ones." In my experience, most people are not willing to risk their relationships with their bosses or upper management at the expense of sharing their real opinions. This is because leaders do not listen or foster cultures where speaking truth to power has consequences. Instead, people share information the boss can handle or what management wants to hear. Unfortunately, they unintentionally keep the leader in the dark from critical information affecting the organization.

When leaders surround themselves with people who don't challenge them or the status quo, there are costs to the organization. It is a common fact that over 70% of change initiatives fail. So, it shouldn't be a surprise when leadership decisions do not translate to accelerated business solutions and growth since their perspectives are not aligned with the reality on the ground.

To fix the leadership bubble problem, leaders must surround themselves with the right people to stay grounded, get the 360-degree information required to make decisions, and take actions that result in lasting change. Below are seven people that are vital to a leader's success:

#1 The Trusted Advisor: Great leaders need trusted advisors who can speak the unspeakable, have expertise and influence, see the bigger picture, and have good judgment. For advisors to be effective, the leader must intentionally nurture the advisor relationship and treat them as co-pilots—seek feedback and recognize them when they speak candidly. Marshall Goldsmith, a global leadership guru, has this insight for leaders: be courageous enough to ask for feedback, humble enough to receive it, and disciplined enough to follow through. Resist the urge to be defensive, dismissive, or rationalize. In Marshall's words, "Say thank you." Take time to reflect on what you just heard. Afterward, share your reflections and come up with an integrated solution to address the issue. Do your trusted advisors share difficult news promptly? Do they hold you accountable? Are you open to new ideas and rethinking old ones?

"Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say." - Andy Stanley

#2 The Coach: Think of the greatest athletes in the world; Simon Biles, Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Joshua, Michael Phelps, Tom Brady, Lebron James, Roger Federer, etc. A coach is a thought partner who works with you to become the best version of yourself. John Wooden is considered the greatest NCAA basketball head coach of all time. Wooden was named NCAA College Basketball Coach of the Year six times. Leadership is a team sport. Think of the untapped potential you can unlock when you partner with a leadership coach. All the great athletes mentioned above have coaches. Do you have a leadership coach? If not, what's your excuse?

#3 The Sage: Experience is indeed a good teacher, and it can be fulfilling to figure things out personally. In reality, you don't have to lose an eye before understanding the importance of wearing safety glasses. Every leader needs a mentor who has been where they want to go. Accelerated growth comes from learning through others. For this to happen, a leader must be humble enough to admit they don't know everything and courageous enough to ask for help. The invaluable wisdom and experience from mentors help leaders go faster and farther.

#4 The Minority Voices: These are people who are further down the organizational hierarchy. You hear their voices in town halls, through employee surveys, and in public forums. The minority voices are the pulse of your organization—they indicate the levels of engagement, morale, and productivity. Since they are the boots on the ground, leaders must listen, reflect, acknowledge, and take action on their inputs to activate the minority voices. They reflect the culture of your organization to customers and stakeholders, which ultimately drives the bottom line.

#5 The Confidant: A confidant is someone you feel safe sharing your secrets with and who does not have a conflict of interest. At times, the executive chair can get overheated. It is easy for leaders to bottle things up when they don't have people around to confide in. This can create a myopic perspective and may result in unhealthy mindsets and toxic behaviors. Instead of isolating, leaders need to find trustworthy people to act as sounding boards—to share intimate thoughts, struggles, and mistakes.

#6 The Goliath: Think of the people who keep you up at night—competitors, disruptors, demanding customers, difficult team members, employees, or bosses. Leaders don't have to look for Goliaths; they have a way of showing up at your doorstep. The question is what you do with them. It is natural to distance ourselves from people who are different from us; after all, like attracts like. Abraham Lincoln had a different approach to working with Goliaths. After being elected president, he appointed his three rivals to his cabinet. According to the National Archives, Lincoln believed that “By putting his rivals in his cabinet, he had access to a wide range of opinions, which he realized would sharpen his own thinking. It also gave him a way of keeping all those conflicting opinions together."

Leaders do their organizations and themselves a disservice when they surround themselves with yes-men. Like Lincoln, it is a hallmark of leadership maturity to surround yourself with diverse voices. Do you have a diverse and inclusive leadership team? Do you have healthy debates in your meetings? Do team members challenge assumptions and expose unfulfilled commitments? Or, do you have an atmosphere of mutual co-existence where people keep the artificial peace at all cost?

#7 The Balcony Friend: These are people on the sidelines who support and cheer you to keep going on. They believe in you even when you do not believe in yourself. They can be your friends, colleagues, family members, or teachers. Whatever you take for granted becomes grounded. You must stay connected and appreciate the role these people play in your life to not lose them.

Next-Gen: This about leaders prioritizing the development and growth of the pipeline. In the wise words of Booker T. Washington, "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." The Dead Sea has its name because it receives but never gives. Leaders must prioritize and contribute to the development of others through coaching, being a sponsor, ally, advocate, or mentor. A leader's legacy is carried on through the lives of people they touched and developed. Who are the next-gen leaders you are investing in today?

Closing:

It doesn't have to be lonely at the top. You can burst the leadership bubble by fostering experiences that encourage and reward the sharing of bad news. When leadership is isolated from the organization, there are costs—think of the failed projects, missed deadlines, and lost opportunities because people chose to play it safe over speaking up. Remember, you are viewing reality through the lens of people around you. Do not accept this as absolute truth. Instead, be intentional in seeking out information from multiple sources to get an accurate picture. This will set you and your organization up for success in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment.

Take a minute to do this quick exercise. Think of your leadership team and the people closest to you. Write down their names and assign the role(s) they play. Are the seven people present in your life?