As soon as the growing leader understands that people don’t tend to argue with their own data, s/he begins to look for more sophisticated ways in which to lead their direct reports. Telling them what to do begins to appear amateurish while learning to guide them with well-crafted questions becomes the holy grail.
Early in that process the leader understands that we as human beings have an almost uncontrollable reflex to correct another person when we sense that person has a misunderstanding of something with which we are knowledgeable (or at least have an opinion).
Consequently, a wise leader will often make a misrepresentation of the facts so that the follower corrects him/her. It might sound like this, “But my guess is that if XYZ happens, that wouldn’t be a big deal in your plan?” – pointing out a hole the leader perceives in the follower’s plan.
“Well,” the follower replies, “looking at it that way it could be a big problem if XYZ happens. I need to rethink my recommended course of action.”
The leader has led the follower to say to the leader what the leader was initially tempted to say to the follower. Once it becomes the followers data, there is no more arguing. See the poster Don’t Paint for further explanation of this subject.
Categories: Instructiveness, Presentation Style
Magic Club Leadership Resources 