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The Culture+ Blog

Insights to help you create a compelling and connected culture

Leaders speak last

As the leader, add your opinion last or not at all. <– That’s one idea that took me years to figure out. If you are doing your work collaboratively, you will often find yourself in rooms with other people who have opinions. The second you add your opinion, you have tainted the pool and the quality and quantity of ideas coming from others wanes. “Yes, great suggestion boss!” Instead, try setting the scene in the room by providing the context and then farm for ideas. As ideas are shared, make no faces and offer no grunts. Ask clarifying questions about what comes up. Solicit input from all. Often the problem will end up being solved by the people in the room anyway. Might as well let them come up with an answer they support. This is one of the hard parts about leading. Letting go of control and trusting your people to do the right thing.

by Jonathan

Jonathan Wilson is the CEO of Sandcastle, a leadership training and development consultancy. He frequently speaks and writes about building high performance teams. Jonathan regularly presents his latest findings and insights to business and government leaders at local, state, and national association events (both in-person and virtual). His first book, Future Leader: Rebooting Leadership to Win the Millennial and Tech Future is available now.

Tagged: Leadership

Published on: April 2, 2019

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