When Leaders Welcome Disagreements

One of the most difficult lessons many leaders learn is the necessity to welcome and tolerate disagreement. When you’re in a leadership position, it can be difficult to hear others suggest that your ideas or opinions may be wrong.

Weak leaders take disagreement personally. They feel threatened, offended, and attacked when their team challenges their ideas and opinions. They react by waving off disagreement as unimportant, and at worse, they remove those who disagree with them. This ultimately leads to a team of individuals who feel undervalued and uninspired.

Great leaders not only welcome and tolerate disagreement; they make it a point to surround themselves with individuals who feel comfortable providing criticism and alternate perspectives. They seek individuals to be in their inner circle who will challenge and question their decisions, ideas, and initiatives.

Embrace diversity of thought because having diverse people and views on your team helps leaders make better decisions.

Credits: Brian T. King