I had the opportunity to attend a leadership training this week. A lot of concepts were discussed, but one that got me thinking was about how important it is for a leader to create healthy debate in their organization.
Not that you want to always be disagreeing or even looking to drive consensus, but that you are making sure that all ideas are on the table and available to you to make the best decisions.
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me." – Dudley Malone
This got me thinking about how bringing forward ideas is not just about the leader, it is about all the participants being willing to share their ideas and opinions freely. I think we can all think of ways this can be stifled by a leader, but even the most open and engaging leader cannot force participation. An idea is something a participant offers.
Being a member of a great team is something we all desire, but there is a big responsibility on each of us to make that happen. For teams to be high functioning trust has to exist, and in the end it comes down to each of us to give our trust and our thoughts freely to the team, often before that trust is earned.
My question today is:
Do you share your ideas and opinions on the important issues or do you sit back and wait for the opportunity to say “I knew they would get it wrong”? How does that impact the outcome for your team?
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