Let me paint what I am sure will be a familiar scenario for many and pose a simple question. Let’s say you are sitting in a meeting with a more senior leader, alongside a group of colleague peers of varied talents and experience. The discussion is focused on a subject of some importance – perhaps a strategic change of organisational direction, maybe a critical aspect of an individual department’s operation. At some point the leader states a view of a matter that immediately does not ring true – alarm bells ring in your head, your years of experience scream in opposition to their statement. What was said, you believe, is factually inaccurate, like claiming black is white or up is down.
As you look around the room, nods emanate from your colleagues and it is clear that you alone have an issue with what has been said. The matter is set to pass unless you raise your voice and disagree with the crowd and, crucially, with the senior leader.
So the question is – if your boss claims the earth is flat, are you compelled to agree?
Of course, from my usual perspective of what a leader should do in a given situation, the answer is clear and simple. A good leader must be open to opposing opinions and thoughts, and responsive to receiving news or information that runs contrary to what they believe to be true. Yes, they should also be confident and have the courage of their convictions but they must also possess a level of trust in the people they have selected to work under them. A good leader should consistently respond respectfully and considerately to a subordinate who voices an opposing view, even if it will not ultimately affect their actions.
The trouble comes when you look at the scenario from the perspective of a subordinate in the room. Naturally they hold considerably less insight into an individual leader’s frame of mind and their particular propensity for hearing themselves corrected. They can’t be sure whether an asserted fact is earnestly held or simply tentatively presented to fill a small gap in knowledge. They may never be fully confident that their concern won’t be viewed as dissent, or that their suggestion is seen as undermining a leader’s position.
In weighing up a course of action, such a situation forces you to consider a spectrum that, at one extreme, has you branded a needless troublemaker, a doubt-raising naysayer, or a plain, simple fool, and, at the other, as someone who ignores a critical error to the detriment, perhaps, of the entire business. It can be an exceedingly tough call to make in the heat of the moment. Indeed, it is often so tough that many will opt to line up behind the majority consensus for the sake of an easy life and to avoid sticking their head too far beyond the parapet.
As we think about this scenario from a comfortable distance, it is easier to argue that allowing fear of retribution and embarrassment to trump your own belief and knowledge is plainly not constructive. You can make a logical argument that a business has employed you for your experience and it is important that you apply it. You can suggest that acting in opposition to your own values system is a sure-fire route to disengagement and apathy. You might even be brave enough to argue that an example of actual incompetence should be caught for the overriding good of an organisation.
All of this may be true, but a theoretical approach will seem a distant luxury in the crucial pressured seconds of a big meeting. So I suggest one possible answer: it is certainly true that you must pick your battles – nobody enjoys being corrected all of the time. If you still deem the battle worth fighting, perhaps the simplest way to answer the quandary is to return to my perspective on leaders in this scenario. If you believe that you are faced with a good leader that you trust and believe in (and if you aren’t, there are other questions you should be asking of yourself), then you should absolutely voice a genuine concern. It’s certainly not an easy moment, but a good leader will ultimately be responsive to hearing that the earth may not be flat after all.
Ahmad Badr is the chief executive of Abu Dhabi University Knowledge Group
business@thenational.ae
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