True Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer

True Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer

True leaders work to create a climate where information sharing and discussion are welcome, where there are no “taboo” topics, and where team members are welcome to express dissent in a professional manner.

True leaders foster a climate where people with diverse perspectives, interests, and experience can influence decisions, and they do so because they realize that the best decisions are made in an atmosphere of open and honest communication and healthy discussion.

In a climate where team members are conditioned to say, “Yes,” without any discussion, leaders run the risk of making decisions without what may turn out to be invaluable input. True leaders welcome that input, and as a result, end up making better decisions which have the buy-in and support of the team.

To learn more about why true leaders don’t take “Yes” for an answer, check out these two timely classics:

1. Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer
   In this excellent book, Harvard Business School’s Michael Roberto explores five myths of executive decision-making that are so dangerous that they must be overcome if organizations are to have a chance of making the best decisions—decisions that are not later undermined by people who said, “Yes,” only because it was considered the politically correct answer.
2. The Wisdom of Crowds.
   In this insightful book, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki offers an appealingly simple if somewhat counter-intuitive thesis: that large groups of people are smarter than an elite few (no matter how brilliant they may be), and are better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, and even predicting the future.

Allen Stalvey
Coach, Author & Producer of the Success Empowerment Program
VP of Operations, Dallas / Fort Worth Area
allen@empowersuccessnow.com