Form Your Own Opinions
But not in a vacuum
Listen to other people, especially those with experience. But draw your own conclusions.
It’s a balancing act. On one end, getting input from other people makes them feel respected, and they might have some really great ideas. But if you ONLY rely on the thinking of other people, you look indecisive and less like a leader.
Don’t have endless meetings to kick around ideas with everyone. Give your people a heads-up about the agenda, so they can come prepared. Keep the discussion groups small and focused—don’t let the group keep going off on random tangents. Don’t waste the time of many of your team members by having an “all-hands” meeting about a topic in which only a small sub-group needs to weigh in—end the full meeting and have the sub-group stay to discuss.
Listen; evaluate; then make up your own mind.
(Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash)
