Encourage debate

You're not infallible. Open your decisions to discussion with your team and get better outcomes and better buy-in.

Do you encourage your team to fight the power too? Are you open to challenge and debate? Would your team feel comfortable openly disagreeing with you?

Just as you’re in a better position than your boss to judge when and how your team can be most effectively used, your team will often be in a better position than you to judge how to accomplish their goals. If you have a junior team it’s easy to get into the habit of telling them what to do. That makes sense when people are inexperienced and still learning their roles. But there’s value in encouraging open discussion and debate even with junior team members. Your knowledge and experience will help drive better decisions, but you’re not infallible. Encourage people to challenge your thinking and you’ll reduce the risk you’ll make a poor choice. Open discussions also help everyone to learn.

Use your one-to-ones to invite disagreement, and to request feedback. Ask your team, “What could I be doing better?” You might have to endure an uncomfortable silence before you get an answer, but persevere until you get one. Then do something constructive with what you learn. Show your team that you’re open to feedback and critique, and that you value it.

When to take this action

This action is from 'Fight the power' and should be used when you're making a decision, when you want buy-in to a decision, when you're not sure what to do