{"id":49,"date":"2018-11-06T12:30:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T12:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2018\/11\/06\/8-ways-to-avoid-your-opinion-swaying-your-team-too-much-as-the-boss\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T18:13:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T02:13:20","slug":"8-ways-to-avoid-your-opinion-swaying-your-team-too-much-as-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2018\/11\/06\/8-ways-to-avoid-your-opinion-swaying-your-team-too-much-as-the-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"To be a good manager: 8 ways to avoid your opinion swaying your team too much"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A good manager knows their opinion can influence their team sometimes TOO much. Here\u2019s how to compensate for that.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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When you\u2019re a manager, something interesting happens: You mention an idea off-hand, and all of sudden, it becomes a priority. You casually ask a question out of curiosity, and all of sudden, everyone scrambles ASAP to get you an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a leader, your opinion matters. But sometimes, it can matter too<\/em> much. You can unintentionally sway team members by stating your opinion prematurely. Or, you can accidentally quell perspectives that are critical for you to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you keep this from happening? One of the managers in our online community with almost 1,000 leaders, kicked off this conversation recently. Below is a summary of the insightful, practical replies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are 8 ways for you to compensate for your opinion weighing too much, as \u201cThe Boss\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assign others the task of disagreeing with you.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Force the hand, and create a safe space for someone to disagree. For example, in a meeting with ~5 people, a good leader might pick someone and say, \u201cThe four of us seem to be saying the same thing, and I\u2019m making it your job to disagree with us regardless of how you actually feel. So if you\u2019re forced to play the role of the disagreer, what\u2019s your argument?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give someone less experienced a chance to speak first.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This helps prevent folks from just shutting down and saying, \u201cYep sure, what that person said<\/em>.\u201d Even if the person is way off the mark in their opinion, it either signals you should spend more time working with them, or it causes the team pivot on the original idea after hearing others. One member mentioned how he was recently listening to Great at Work<\/a> and a high performing example company followed this practice: Most junior employees shared their thoughts first, most senior shared their thoughts last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have the person with the strongest opinion speak last.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A strongly-held viewpoint can drown out any potential for diversity of thought to emerge. So have the person who has already thought about an issue and formed a strong opinion speak last. This is also helpful because they\u2019re the least likely to be biased by what everyone else says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask others what they think before jumping in with your own thoughts.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One member shared that he\u2019ll often send people a link to a story, article, idea, etc. and ask people, \u201cThoughts?<\/em>\u201d to see what he gets back. This helps provoke thoughts from other people, in an unfiltered way, before you insert your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask everyone to explain their thought-process, not tell you their opinion.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This keeps the people with opinions\u200a\u2014\u200abut perhaps more trivial reasoning behind them\u200a\u2014\u200afrom dominating the conversation (and wasting everyone\u2019s time). In addition, understanding how<\/em> someone is coming to a conclusion is sometimes just as valuable, if not more, than the conclusion itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use phrases like \u201cyou\u2019re the expert.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When talking to people about areas that they\u2019re a specialist in, affirm that they are the person who has the required knowledge and expertise. This helps make it clear that your view isn\u2019t any more correct than theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ask for\u00a0<\/strong>advice<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When you say to someone, \u201cI need your advice,\u201d you can open the door wide to getting useful feedback from your direct reports. The statement both indicates openness to fresh ideas, as well as a clear request for that person\u2019s personal viewpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admit what you\u2019re unsure about or <\/strong>struggling<\/strong><\/a> with.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Try saying something like, \u201cI\u2019m pretty sure I know the direction I want to go, but I want to be sure I haven\u2019t overlooked something important. Will you review this with me, and poke holes in my idea?<\/em>\u201d Or \u201cI\u2019m having a tough time figuring this out\u2026<\/em>\u201d Good managers understand this leads to a very different dynamic. Even if you end up sticking to your original plan, people are more likely to feel respected for being asked to help vet the idea. You\u2019ll get valuable input, regardless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want your team to be making the best decisions, making sure your opinion isn\u2019t driving all the decisions is important. You want people to be honest, to bring up what they think could be better, and to point out what they think is wrong. Try one of these 8 ways to help foster that openness in opinions. Your viewpoint may unintentionally sway others, as a leader\u200a\u2014\u200abut it doesn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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