Good leaders make it a point to occasionally lose arguments, to be outvoted by the team, and to concede to the wisdom of others whenever they can. They know that getting their way on everything is a surefire way to create a passive team of disengaged followers.
Team members want to influence the decisions that affect them, and good leaders comply by listening intently and allowing the team to win on many of the decisions that matter most to them. Leaders who “get it” defer to the subject-matter expertise of those team members who are true experts on the issues at hand.
Good leaders also look for opportunities that allow team members to have their way when it comes to solutions and tactics to address small problems. They live with differences in opinion that aren’t worth fighting over. In short, they build pride in ownership by purposely having a smaller voice on many issues and decisions.
But good leaders stand their ground when it comes to the vision, mission, and values of the organization or team. Deferring to others when it involves the core values and guiding principles of the team doesn’t create buy-in and goodwill. It undermines the clarity and consistency the team needs to achieve excellence. The vision or mission of the organization may need to be updated or reworked on occasion, but not through a process of submitting to the whims of others.
There are some decisions that only the leader can make. Leaders who mistakenly allow the team to have an undue influence over the vision and values of the organization relinquish their role as the leader. This is not to say that leaders should work to establish the core principles without input, but such decisions are made in consultation with others and not by consensus.
The best leaders concede that they don’t have to have their way on many of the decisions critical for executing strategy. They know when to stand their ground over issues, which battles they must win, and when to allow the team to outflank them.
Sometimes, winning the argument is how to lose the team. But the vision, mission, and values of the team are never up for grabs. Input is welcome, but influence is unlikely to make for any real change. Good leaders defend the ground of values at all costs.
