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Resource Library : Leadership : Have you ever locked horns with a leader?

Have you ever locked horns with a leader?

There may come a time in which we fail to see eye to eye with someone in a leadership role. We are expected to follow their lead when we may not agree with the mission or their methods. How do we communicate our disagreement so that it can be heard effectively and presented ethically? Do we have a voice? If nobody’s perfect, our boss may be wrong, right? How do we accept another way of doing things if we’re convinced our way will provide better results? What if we feel our leader is acting unethically? Is it our responsibility to speak up? Pick our battles – if we decide to question authority are we sure we’re in the right? Are we getting the whole story? We may be making assumptions about what they’re trying to tell us and are on the same page after all. 

The truth may be that we both want what we think is best for the mission and see different ways to get there. When is the right time to bring up our objections? When we go to a leader with our concerns we may want to be armed with solutions. This will save time and avoid the illusion of disobedience. We build leadership skills when we comprise our thoughts and deliver them in a tactful and diplomatic manner. We can turn our disagreements into possibilities - pursuing other pathways to the same solution. That may actually make us more of a team player.
 
Imagine... accepting that there may be more than one path to the same solution.
 
Activity:
 
Role Play an actual conversation you may need to have with a leader with someone else (outside of the situation).
- Brief them on the situation and the context of the details.
- What worked? What would you do differently in real time?
- Did you feel yourself getting emotional during your conversation?
- Do you know what your emotional triggers will be? 
- Do you feel prepared?
 
Reflection:
 
  • Have you ever locked horns with a person of authority?
  • How did it go?
  • Did you make it personal?
  • Did that leader have an open door policy so that you could come to them with your concerns?
  • Have you ever been the leader in this situation?
  • When they came to you with the grievance, how did you handle it?
  • Did it affect your relationship with that person?
 
“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of a diplomat.”
- Robert Estabrook