Why your opinion counts even if you “don’t know enough”
This week I have been reflecting on courageous leadership and one particular approach you can use whether you are three days or three years in role:
If you are someone who tends to hold back round the meeting room table, believing you always need to back up your opinion with logic and facts, could be inhibiting your impact as a leader.
In some situations, facts and figures are needed. A well thought-through argument has its place. But in many situations this isn't as necessary as we might think.
What many team environments need is a different kind of conversation.
The kind of conversation that starts with someone being courageous enough to speak up without all the facts. To name the elephant in the room.
To question a course of action when faced with a barrage of facts that serve to justify it. Even when the only thing you have to go on is your intuition telling you that something doesn't feel right.
This isn't easy.
At school, we are trained from a young age to always be ready to back up our argument. We work in cultures where facts and figures are often valued over all else. We also live in a world where facts and figures are manipulated to justify actions that do not make the world a better place.
Some ways you can experiment with speaking up without all the facts include:
1. Voicing what you are noticing in your own experience. When you do, it can invite others to voice their own concerns and open up the conversation
e.g. "I understand the logic of what is being presented, and I notice I feel uneasy."
2. Asking a question that broadens the discussion to consider wider impacts that you don't yet have full grasp of, but that you know are important
e.g. "I wonder what we are missing here?" or "What is the wider impact of this?"
It can feel difficult to offer these open ended questions or articulate how we are feeling, because we may fear the backlash. We may be subconsciously avoiding conflict or criticism.
But when we draw on our courage and step into the unknown regardless, a richer discussion is more likely to emerge. We can create outcomes together that benefit the greater whole.
Email me at claire@clairemackinnon.com with your reflections, comments and questions, or join the conversation on LinkedIn.
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