What to Do When You Disagree with Leadership
Complexity, turbulence, ambiguity, and uncertainty are the environment of painful decisions. Upper management may seem short-sighted, self-serving, and out of touch.
At some point you will disagree with leadership in your organization.
Disagreements shape life.
Temper resistance:
Pushing against leadership is like carrying hot coals in your pockets. You get burned, they don’t.
The pursuit of clarity is perceived as resistance when done poorly.
Ask questions with openness. Reflect on the big picture. Explore issues with humility. Enter conversations with a view toward organizational success.
10 questions to ask yourself when you disagree with leaders:
- What is the impact on your attitude when you reflect on your entire history with this organization?
- What do you want for yourself, your team, your organization?
- What are the downsides of their decision?
- What advantages can you list? (Think short and long-term.)
- What concerns you most?
- What is within your control?
- If you express disagreement, what do you hope to accomplish?
- How likely is it that you will be able to influence decisions?
- Can you support upper management’s decision even when you disagree?
- How will you best serve your team and yourself in the short-term?
5 questions to ask when you disagree with leaders:
- What led to this decision?
- What alternatives were considered?
- What risks are you concerned about? Internal and external?
- What is the timeline for reviewing this decision?
- What are the best ways for me to express disagreement? Support?
Build team culture:
You can’t control everything, but you can control the way you build positive energy during turbulence.
When upper management’s decisions drain the life out of people…
- Don’t pretend it’s easy.
- Communicate positive intentions. “We will support each other and thrive in a challenging situation.”
- Avoid us/them thinking.
- Open your mouth to make things better.
- Keep moving forward.
What should managers do when they disagree with leadership?
Still curious:
20 Ways to Disagree with your Boss
Facing the Fires of Disagreement, Improvement, and Destructive Criticism
12 leaders’ tips for respectfully disagreeing with your boss
“What should managers do when they disagree with leadership?”
I completely agree with your approach of first looking inward when you find yourself in disagreement with leadership. Once that process has been completed and you resolve yourself to carrying on (e.g., not resigning over the disagreement) it is time to move on to respectively and agreeably raising your concerns with the boss.
I usually discovered that decisions (or pending decisions) with which I disagreed were made when the boss (1) acted or decided unilaterally without adequate opportunity for input, or (2) lacked or failed to consider useful information that would have created a different thought process and different outcomes. It may have been the boss’ own blind spots or perhaps some important information that had not been pushed up to the proper level expeditiously.
Fortunately, my relationship with my bosses was always based on a mutual understanding of our motives; we knew that we had the best interests of the organization at heart, and questioning a decision wasn’t questioning the integrity of the individual. I always did my best to successfully implement the boss’ decisions whether or not I agreed with them. That was my job, after all.
I always made sure to have my “ducks in a row,” so to speak, and expressed my concerns after preparing my questions and suggestions carefully. Sometimes my concerns prevailed and other times I acquiesced to the boss, but I was never asked to do anything unethical, immoral or illegal, (which would have precipitated my resignation) and everything else is a matter of preference.
Sometimes it turned out that the boss’ initial decision was correct, and other times my concerns were validated, but I always suppressed the natural urge to say, “I told you so.” I always did my best to successfully implement the boss’ decisions whether or not I fully agreed with them. That was my job, after all. Usually, the boss would acknowledge when he had made a less-than-ideal decision, and sometimes directly validate my disagreement.
In no small part, I attribute my success as a command staff member for three successive sheriffs over nearly thirty years to the acquired ability to “disagree agreeably” and raise concerns in a constructive and supportive manner.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Paul. Your comment highlights for me, that sometimes our disagreement is more about HOW decisions are made and executed. (Perhaps frequently.)
Dan serious disagreements can occur at all levels including senior leadership. As CFO I strongly disagreed with a decision the CEO wanted to make that required Board approval. At the Board meeting I calmly explained my reasoning to the Board Directors who knew me well by then. They listened, asked questions of both of us and voted with the CEO which I knew almost always happens. Ironically I had to then execute his decision, which I did. Once a decision is made the team needs to support it, period.
Brad
Brilliant. Thanks, Brad. We sabotage ourselves when we hang on to resistance after we voiced our position and decisions went the other way.