If you’ve been in a management/supervisory/leadership role at some point in your career, chances are you’ve been called into a group meeting about some “serious” issue of the moment. Inevitably, somewhere in that conversation, your boss launches out the phrase, “We all need to be on the same page and have a united front on this!”
The management team absolutely needs to be united to be successful–but dictating the position and demanding loyalty from your team as though they are a bunch of bobbleheads sitting around the table is NOT the way to make that happen!!!!
If you are the leader of the team, the only way you will get to a unified, agreed-upon position that people will support to your face AND behind your back is by building consensus. And guess what? It may not be your original idea that ends up being what the team agrees upon! AND THAT’S OKAY!
If you want both the BEST position, solution, response, etc. and a unified team, then the team needs to be part of the process and conversation. Ideally, there needs to be open conversation, with diverse ideas and opinions being welcomed and discussed. The goal is to weed through the options until you find one everyone can agree they can support…or at least not publicly oppose and undermine…which, by the way, is what will certainly happen without investing a bit of time to create the unity you need.
Wait, what if it’s a crisis and I don’t have time for that?!?
If time is limited because the organization is suddenly backed into a corner, then at the very least a leader needs first make a CLEAR rationale as to why they believe a certain position or response is the right one, and then take some time to let people air their objections in a closed meeting and acknowledge them. If people on your leadership team can’t express disagreement with you behind those closed doors, you can expect them to do so once the doors open.
Effective leaders avoid creating a “bobblehead” culture and instead build diverse teams, inviting multiple perspectives to the conversation. And the most effective leaders have the confidence and humility to know that they’ve hired a team of the best, and the best may just have the better ideas!
Check out this 2017 Forbes article by Ani Stepanian on How to Create a Unified Company Vision in Five Steps