One of the mantras of a great leader is this poster, “Never substitute my opinion for your own.” In fact, a great leader won’t let their direct report substitute their opinion for his/her own. They may not agree with the leader’s opinion, and they may not be able to act on other than the leader’s opinion based on the leader’s decision; but the leader’s attitude is consistently “never substitute my opinion for your own.”
What happens if that’s not the leader’s mantra? The first thing that happens is accountability suffers. If following means they come to you and ask for your opinion, and then they act on your opinion, you end up holding accountability for what happens if it’s successful or if it’s not.
You aren’t building leaders. You’re building people with learned dependency. You may need that to feel good for a while, “What should I do,” they ask, and you tell them, and they go do it. “What should I do now,” they ask, and you tell them, and they go do it. But through experience many leaders will tell you that it will end up being a prison of your own making.
It will feel like you are carrying hundreds of pounds on your back. “Can’t these people do anything without checking with me,” you’ll ask yourself. You will have created the monster by not consistently saying, through both words and attitude, “Never substitute my opinion for your own.”
Categories: Assertiveness, Sociability
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