What’s Wrong When You’re Always Right?
Have you ever been in a meeting with a leader who is always right?
Any new idea is dismissed or destroyed before it’s barely uttered. The logic of these leaders is irrefutable. Their conclusions obvious. The discussion is over before it even started.
It isn’t long before the group stops generating new ideas altogether.
Could you be one of these leaders?
Have you stopped hearing ideas different from your own? Have opposing points of view disappeared from your meetings? Are your initiatives met with silent, listless compliance?
Check out this article by Ellen Weber, “Hear Voices on the Other Side?” She asserts that, “human brains default back to ruts.” You may be inadvertently cutting yourself off from voices different than your own.
I think you’ll appreciate her insights on how your brain works… for you or against you.
On your side,
- Karl
March 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Great angle you added to this topic and thanks for your kind mention, Karl. As I read your post I thought of the many leaders who do this in meetings because they lack skills to draw the group’s voices together and move a collective vision forward.
Sadly, I’ve also been at meetings where people toss in great ideas and after a great discussion we have no structure within which to move an idea into improved practice. Hopefully we can all keep talking about this topic until skills are adopted and groups move toward winning peaks together! Thanks for the inspiration!
March 19th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Yes, that is absolutely the worst. The leader gets a much better result too by engaging the team of participants… and more commitment to the end result, as opposed to being “told what to do.”
Good challenge to watch how I handle myself today…
March 21st, 2009 at 9:18 am
Ellen,
I especially appreciate the way you teach us to teach our brains. Even in your comment above, we aren’t passive victims of our brain’s hard-wiring or robots taking orders from a computer in our head over which we have no control.
We are learning, maturing, developing beings, and sometimes all we need is some training in a skill we don’t yet have. Like how to draw out quiet or opposing voices in a meeting, or how to give an idea form and move it forward from concept to implementation. Thank you.
March 21st, 2009 at 9:25 am
Bradley,
From past comments of yours, I’m sure you’re a pretty effective leader when it comes to valuing the input of others. I’ll bet your self-challenge served you quite well.
What’s interesting to me is why so many leaders overlook, are not willing to risk, or simply do not yet know how to draw out the value and commitment to which you point that others bring to the table. There’s a lot of value and commitment being checked at the door!