The Secret to Hearing What Your Team Isn’t Saying

You might find yourself saying, “Something feels a bit off.”

The signals are subtle. Until they’re not.

The Ground Truth is what’s actually happening: what your team is experiencing and what’s said around the water cooler.

And the Ground Truth is always changing. Add in a new team member, have a toxic team member transfer departments, go through a stressful season, and the dynamics shift.

When clients share concerns, there’s often a sense that something is just a bit off.

Leaders tell me,

“Things are good, but not great, and I don’t know exactly how to get my team where we want to go.”

“Some really good people have left, and I can’t pinpoint why.”

One Leader even confided:

“I know some really good people have left, but I can’t pinpoint why. I might be part of the problem, or there might be a bigger piece of the story, but I just don’t know what to do about it.”

That’s why the Assess Phase matters. The more data you have, the more truth you can work with.

Consistently measuring your team gives you:

• Actionable data

• Clear benchmarks quarter after quarter

• A proactive tool for feedback so you can spot trends before they become problems

Some of the highest-performing teams consider this process the most important ingredient to their success.

Even though leaders want feedback, they don’t know how to ask the right questions or create the right environment. Team members avoid sharing anything that might rock the boat, or they don’t know how to express concerns safely.

That’s where Pulse Surveys come in.

Pulse Surveys gather valuable feedback when you ask the right questions, at the right frequency, in the right way. The survey should be short, targeted, and anonymous.

Around 20 questions covering key areas such as satisfaction, value in work, clarity in role, and clarity in goals provide strong insight. Once you have this data, you can benchmark where your team is as you make organizational changes.

Gallup found that when teams regularly get feedback and feel heard, productivity goes up by almost 5%.

A personal story highlights the need for knowing the ground truth.

Early in my leadership journey, I thought I had it all figured out.

In one month, I lost four out of seven team members.

Their reasons sounded generic.

When I finally asked one directly, she said,

“I feel that you like us, but you don’t really care about what we think.”

That conversation shifted everything. You can’t lead well if you’re only guessing at what your team needs.

Pulse Surveys reveal what’s true, but truth is just the beginning.

After gathering data, create quarterly action plans with your team. Share the steps based on their feedback to close the loop and show commitment. Surveys help you see which frameworks need to be deployed first.

One client discovered their one-on-ones and team meetings weren’t as effective as they thought. They committed to improving meeting quality and clarity, and together redeemed their rhythm.

Tracking progress over time is like taking soil samples to monitor the health of your garden. One client discovered through the survey that even though the team was full of great people, they were struggling with being direct and handling difficult conversations.

Another client saw a 12% increase in engagement over six months after implementing changes based on their Pulse Survey results.

Their leadership team stabilized after transitions, and the organization experienced 63% year-over-year growth.

These results were not random. They happened because the leader made space for truth, action, and consistent reassessment.

Lead Boldly,

~ MW

Thank you for reading The Credit Union Playbook