THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING A UNIFIED FRONT WITH MANAGEMENT
Patrick Lencioni has a wonderful phrase which I wish I had learnt at the very beginning of my leadership career: “Disagree and commit”. What Lencioni means is that it’s fine to disagree with management and attempt to negotiate change, but at a certain point you need to let go of the extent to which you disagree with a management decision and instead publicly commit to that decision.
Many years ago I had the ex-Mayor of Palmerston North come and speak to a leadership program that I was delivering in Palmerston North. In talking about his tenure as the city’s mayor he told us that each time a new council was formed, or a new member joined the council team, he would instruct the members that they were as welcome as they liked to disagree vehemently with proposed policy, but what he would not tolerate was any discussion or post-meeting commentary in the public forum that in any way countered the party line.
He was more than happy for issues to be vigorously thrashed out in chambers, but he absolutely demanded a unified ‘public front’, a reflection of the old adage of “Not airing your dirty laundry”. There will be countless decisions made by management that you will disagree with over your leadership career, but it’s important that you learn to “Disagree and commit”.
I remember many years ago I had a leadership role in a business, and I was at loggerheads with management to such an extent that they dismissed all staff in an effort to get rid of myself and another troublesome staff member. Then they invited all staff to reapply for their jobs (a dubious legal process, but that is a story for another time).
I had been in conflict with management for some time, over the financial governance of the organisation with no resolution. At the time I had a wife and young baby that I was financially responsible for, and I’ll never forget a friend of mine coming over one night and saying to me “Shark, you don’t have to die on every cross on every hill”.
I had never heard the saying before- he meant that it was okay to challenge management on issues that you believe may not be correct, but it is also possible to say your piece and somehow be able to move on and be comfortable working for an organisation where you don’t agree with every single decision of management. This was years before I came across the saying “disagree and commit” but in some ways my friend was saying the exact same thing using different terminology. It’s important to pick your battles, and not everything can be viewed through such a black-and-white lens.
As it so happened, I did reign in my attitude, and managed to keep my job, and it was the beginning of a decidedly much more positive chapter in my work-life. Prior to this turnaround I had been fired from every role I had ever worked in, but due to this ‘attitude adjustment’, and particularly a softening towards management, I’ve never come close to being fired since (and it’s so strange how my experience of management seemed to have dramatically improved since my attitude towards them adjusted…).
It is possible to live in the grey zone of disagreeing with some management decisions whilst still being prepared to wholeheartedly commit to them. As a member of management in early roles of leadership it’s vital that you are capable of being able to commit to decisions and policies that you are not in full agreement with. I love the quote by Maya Angelou (a fitting note to finish this chapter on): “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain!”
