Why Should Employees be Trained to Disagree with their Bosses, if Need be
Summary: Having absolutely no disagreements is what can make a workplace seem disagreeable to everyone. Disagreement shouldn’t be seen as a sign of disregard; it should be taken for what it actually is – constructive criticism as feedback to become better. As a star leader, you should become grateful for people who are willing to share dissent. Take this as a humble opportunity for better engagement and possibilities.
Today’s corporate culture has landed itself in a situation, where the employees feel disgruntled at not finding it easy to express their feelings to their superiors. Here is a star leader’s guide on 3 things to remember for expressing and accepting disagreements humbly in an environment of mutual respect and care.
The Internet is filled with blog posts and articles, telling one how they should disagree with their bosses; but the question is, why do we have the need for such blogs at all? How has today’s corporate culture landed itself in a situation, where the employees feel this disgruntled on not finding it easy to express their feelings with their superiors? When either there is too much difference in relative statuses or nobody wants to put others off by showing disagreement, groupthink occurs1.
A prime example of this is what happened with the Bay of Pigs invasion by the USA2. When John F Kennedy learnt that the Soviets are placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, well within range of millions of American citizens, he hastily ordered a covert attack to take over Cuba’s government. When the US-supported army landed on the beach, they were instantly overwhelmed by infantry and even air force shortly after3. One of the most embarrassing defeats suffered by America, it nevertheless made JFK reinvent his strategy. Criticism and cross-questioning had to become a part of the discussion, which was otherwise just saying “yes” to whatever JFK thought of. They divided into sub groups, came up with their own ideas in informal settings where anyone could contribute. Then the groups examined each other’s stances and questioned it further. By removing the hold of authority and awkwardness of breaking cohesiveness, they were able to come up with much better plans and blockade the Soviet2.
Here are 3 things to remember for expressing and accepting disagreements humbly.
Avoid Blunders with Better Input
You must listen to what your employees have to say. When employees see themselves as socially rejected, or lower in status than those around them, the same brain areas are activated as the ones that correlate with physical pain. They have fewer resources to uplift their work performance. Being given the opportunity to contribute and have more autonomy, on the other hand, activates the cortex’s reward seeking system, allowing to problem solve and engage creatively.
Happy Employee, Happy Life
Listening is ‘the’ most powerful way to make someone feel valued, and that means listening even when you don’t agree with their point of view. When employees are dependent on their managers to get things done, they prefer either more likeable managers or less authoritarian ones 5. On the other hand, if employees feel that there is lesser hierarchy and more things can be discussed freely, they tend to be more committed to the organization.
Weed out the Ego
Impact on Leadership
3 Immediately Applicable Action Steps
- Break into teams and discuss the situation within the group without any status or title differences.
- Each discussion, like a game, should have a character labelled as the skeptic, one person who keeps questioning and finding faults with everything said, no hard feelings.
- When you are going to suggest a new idea or direction to move in, make a list of answers to possible “how” and “why” questions.
References
- Tarmo, C. G., & Issa, F. H. (2021). An analysis of groupthink and decision making in acollectivism culture: the case of a public organization in Tanzania. International Journal of Public Leadership, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpl-08-2020-0072
- Hansen, M. T. (2013, November 22). How John F. Kennedy Changed Decision Making for Us All. Harvard Business Review.
- https://hbr.org/2013/11/how-john-f-kennedy-changed-decision-making
- Voss, M. (2011, April 14). Bay of Pigs: The “perfect failure” of Cuba invasion. BBC
- News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-13066561
- Rock, D. (2008). SCARF: a brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others NeuroLeadershipjournal Issue One 2008. NeuroLeadership Journal.
- Wei, C., Sun, X., Liu, J., Zhou, C., & Xue, G. (2017). High Power Distance Enhances
- Employees’ Preference for Likable Managers: A Resource Dependency Perspective.
- Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02066
- Uzun, T. (2020). Relationships between Power Distance, Organizational
- Commitment, and Trust in Schools. Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic
- Research, 15(3), 359–371. https://doi.org/10.29329/epasr.2020.270.17
- Nielsen, R., & Marrone, J. A. (2018). Humility: Our Current Understanding of the
- Construct and its Role in Organizations. International Journal of Management Reviews,
- 20(4), 805–824. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12160
- Leary, M. R., Diebels, K. J., Davisson, E. K., Jongman-Sereno, K. P., Isherwood, J. C., Raimi, K. T., Deffler, S. A., & Hoyle, R. H. (2017). Cognitive and Interpersonal Features of Intellectual Humility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(6), 793–813. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217697695
- Cottrill, K., Denise Lopez, P., & C. Hoffman, C. (2014). How authentic leadership and inclusion benefit organizations. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International
- Journal, 33(3), 275–292. https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-05-2012-0041
Authored by Coach Vikram
Vikram is an Executive Presence Coach who supports CXOs and senior leaders to make an impact, influence, and lead with ease. He advises C-level leaders and teams to strengthen business performance through their executive presence and star leadership.
Vikram works closely with Boards and senior leaders to align leadership needs with strategy. His forte is his ability to develop trusted partnerships with senior leaders at some of the most recognized companies in the world. Vikram coaches senior leaders to draw upon their best selves, while growing their business and their leadership capabilities.
Vikram and his team have developed a groundbreaking model of executive presence and an Executive Presence Index (EPI) Assessment, the first frequency based, scientifically validated tool to measure executive presence.
Connect with him if you want practical and immediately applicable strategies to accelerate results, develop your people, and influence others to make a positive difference in your organization.
