Conflict. Some leaders find it scary to hear the other side. Some refuse to recognize it.
Leadership can not be about surrounding yourself with those who always agree with you. Confirmation bias, although easier, does not allow all voices to be heard, and thus not all solutions to be found. I hear a similar story in much of my travels: I can't say that!! My voice will not be heard!! That won't go over well!! Is this what people say about you?? What is the venue, the process, the way that you allow conflict to happen in your organization? How do people know they can disagree? What happens when they do? Create a welcoming process that avoids confrontation. A whiteboard. An online venue. A listening party. Those with thoughts different from yours, need time and space to be heard....and they need it to be a place that you AREN'T so that the confrontation is taken away. People, as they are developing relationships with you, need space to breathe, and need to know they can be honest before those hard conversations can take place face to face. Build time for conversation with those who don't agree with you. You will learn something. You might even change your mind, but if you don't, at least your next decision will have that differing thought included in your process. Give value to the dissenting opinion and make it a part of the decision making process. A humble leader who shows value to the process and best answer, will build confidence, build rapport, and build trust not only with this individual but all those in your organization. There are too many leaders, and the organizations they lead, who have no welcoming process for disagreement. Listening and welcoming disagreement is not giving away power, but instead gaining access to the things that are valuable to your people. Allowing healthy disagreement will give you great strength in making the best decisions for those people and in turn, your organization. |
Thanks for stopping by. These are musings on how I see leadership in the world and how I continue to try and grow through my lens.
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