When they disagree...

When you are in a leadership position, the most difficult aspect in almost any job is people management. Many people say they are good at leadership and when I ask them where they base their claim, they say they are good at delegating tasks and giving orders. Once, I thought the same way. 

Then I became a leader. 

Already much earlier I realized that leadership is not about giving orders and tasks. It may have been that a long time ago, but not anymore. Now we know that to get the best results, we need to motivate our people to do the work, not tell them to do it. 

A little more complicated situation arises when a leader is not completely sure of the right course of action. Many leaders never doubt themselves, they think they are so clever that their choice of action is the best one. 

Many never ask anyone else, for example their team, whether they disagree. And if they ask, they most probably still think they know the best; after all, they are the leader. 

I had an amazing PhD supervisor. Once I asked her what and how I should do something. I do not remember what that was  anymore, but I do remember her answer. 

She said ‘you are an expert in this area, you can decide and you will figure it out’. Her view was that I had more knowledge than her in that specific area that was my PhD subject. Which probably was true. She was never afraid to admit she knew less than me on some topic, even if she was a professor and I was a student. 

It is very empowering how that sort of behaviour makes you feel. I had to take responsibility, I was accountable and I was able to make a  decision. Which was not easy. It taught me how hard it is to make decisions when you are not completely sure of which is the best course of action.  

But when you give power to your team members, you risk that they disagree with you. If you surround yourself with intelligent thinkers, they often have absolutely great ideas and you just admire them. Sometimes though, they come up with ideas that you might think are not so good. You might even think they are total rubbish. Sometimes they come up with ideas that you disagree with.

How do you act?

You have three choices. You can say that they are wrong and you are right. But how do you know for sure?

The best course of action is to ask questions. Ask what your team thinks. Ask them what they would do. Ask them why they think it is the correct action. Ask them to give pros and cons. Challenge them to defend their views. 

Never shoot them down. If you are sure they are wrong, it is still more beneficial for both of you that they realize it themselves. That way you do not embarrass them and you do not diminish their power. Asking questions and making them think about the issue most probably leads them to realize the issues in their thinking. Not that they were stupid or wrong, just that they had not thought it through. 

If you have patience to always use this method, you help them to grow analytical thinking skills and help them develop as human beings. They also learn the better method to deal with people when one day they are leaders. People learn from others. Be a person from whom they can learn positive working habits.