This is Wonderful, This is Terrible: Embracing Diverse Perspectives in Leadership
About five years ago, I realized that I was unintentionally living in an echo chamber when it came to news.
While I thought I was following “neutral” sources of news, I realized that nearly all of them leaned in one direction.
As a result, I worked to diversify my news sources to be more balanced —including news sources that leaned in both directions, as well as turning to independent journalists as primary sources.
Doing this has been very helpful. And, at times (such as this month) it has been fascinating, because the same news story is often covered by two different outlets with two wildly different themes.
Source #1: This is wonderful!
Source #2: This is terrible!
The story is largely the same, but the conclusions drawn are very different.
It makes me think about how this plays out within our organizations as well.
Whether it is a change to the org chart, a new client project that we decide to take on (or pass on), an acquisition, a new executive leader that we bring in, or a change to the location for our annual team offsite, it is quite likely that we may have a diverse set of opinions, ranging from:
This is wonderful!
to
This is terrible!
As leaders, we can do our best to solicit input from trusted individuals throughout the organization; use solid decision frameworks to come to the best conclusions; and make the best possible decision in service of the organization —and, it is likely that even after doing so, not everyone will be pleased with the outcome.
At the end of the day, we can work to accept and understand different perspectives, while acknowledging that we might not all agree.
Navigating diverse opinions within your organization can be challenging. If you need guidance on how to embrace different perspectives while making impactful leadership decisions, we're here to help. Reach out to us, and let's work together to strengthen your team and lead with clarity.
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Balancing diverse perspectives for stronger leadership decisions.
