Get people to buy into a decision they disagree with

Good leaders welcome input, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be valued. How you as a leader communicate that you’ve heard people, but are deciding against their desires or advice is vital.

Take the case of a tech CEO who “listened” to his HR VP who wanted to define their company values (imagine the countless meetings and employee surveys). One of the values that staff wanted on the list was “collaboration.”

When announcing the company values to the firm, the CEO declared that he didn’t “really believe in teams,” but that the biggest achievement occurs when individuals have the freedom to work independently.

As you can imagine, this left HR, and the staff who had worked so hard on this, confused and disappointed. One senior executive in fact left the organization because he claimed, "The gap between what we were saying and what we were doing was just too great.”

In the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni tells us that what’s important here isn’t that you adopt someone’s advice, but that you ensure they feel heard and understood.

“I hear what you’re saying, but we’re going in a different direction because…”

When you explain your reasoning, helping someone understand that you heard them and value their input, people are more likely to buy into a decision they disagree with.