Don’t Argue!
Read on the Thursday, June 11th radio program.
Dear Dr. Laura, I was listening to a replay on the SiriusXM app and heard your comments about a Forbes article advising CEOs not to argue. It is good advice. I spent 15 years as a CEO and learned three things, which are summarized below. Please feel free to use this in any way you wish (or discard it). That said, after 15 years in the spotlight, I’m enjoying anonymity and would like to keep it that way. Being a CEO was my job, not my identity.
• Point 1 – I never learned anything when people agreed with me. I used to say that regularly at work. On the other hand, I often learned from those who had different ideas, as they sometimes had information I was lacking. So, I welcomed disagreement. The more open I was to hearing different opinions, the more willing people were to share them. Which leads to…
• Point 2 – The bus that hits and kills you is the one you didn’t see coming. When we close our minds and office doors to disagreement, we increase our risk of unseen threats. Stifling disagreement is akin to removing the mirrors and anti-collision systems from your car, or TCAS from your airplane.
• Point 3 – As CEO, you still have to make the decision. And when you do, there will be opinions—something you have to manage. More importantly, there will also be consequences for which you will be held accountable. If a decision turns out badly, you own the consequences—even if the decision was widely popular at the time, or even if the board encouraged or forced it on you. If the decision turns out well, no one will remember that they opposed it. On more than one occasion I told my colleagues:
“If I’m going to get fired, it will be because of a decision I believed in, rather than one that the audience adored and I doubted.”
I believe my decisions were better because I was open to—and encouraged—critical discussion. People knew their ideas would receive a fair hearing, whether accepted or rejected.
Happily, I wasn’t fired. Rather, I retired and am enjoying life with my wife/girlfriend and helping nonprofit organizations that interest me.
Thank you for all you do,
Keith
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