The Most Dangerous Leadership Meeting Is the Polite One
HBR's Rebecca Newton argues many leadership teams don't have too much conflict but too little, and that it's the CEO's job to create the conditions for productive conflict.
Prompted by “Your Executive Team Needs More Productive Conflict”, HBR (Rebecca Newton).
Many leadership teams don't have too much conflict. They have too little. Everyone respects each other, stays in their lane, and the hard questions never get asked.
HBR's Rebecca Newton describes a company just after a major acquisition. Leaders from the two businesses were courteous, and any criticism went to the CEO instead of to each other, even though they urgently needed to debate how to integrate.
She says it's the CEO's job to create the conditions for productive conflict, and recommends four practices:
- Agree on the executive team's purpose before setting ground rules.
- Replace update meetings with question meetings, and send updates in advance.
- Build trust in each other's intentions, not just confidence in each other's competence.
- Address tensions one-on-one, and treat feedback as a kindness.
Who is going to tell you that you're wrong?
Whether you're a CEO or an owner-operator, you may recognize this. In a small or medium-sized business the team is close, nobody wants to damage a relationship, and the weekly meeting turns into a round of updates.
If you're the owner-operator it's harder still. You set the direction and work inside it, so nobody around you has standing to tell you you're wrong.
Test it out: at your next leadership meeting, send the updates in writing beforehand and open with one question: “What are we missing, and where do you disagree with me?” Then stay quiet and count how many people speak before you do. If the answer is nobody, you've found the real issue.
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Originally posted on LinkedIn ↗