Let me share a sad, failed leadership story: Charlie’s story.
I once worked for Charlie.
Charlie rose through the ranks from roles in the field to a top Executive VP position overseeing full-blown business units. Product development, operations, marketing, and sales. He drove it all, from revenue to the tiniest cost.
Charlie was not even forty. Some wondered how he succeeded that fast. It’s true; he quickly built domain expertise and competence in leading ever-growing cross-functional teams.
But, most interesting was how he did it: Charlie was the consummate open-minded leader.
He was genuinely curious and proactively explored different perspectives. He would not jump to conclusions. Instead, Charlie would embrace new ideas, even if he’d have to ditch his beliefs. Importantly, Charlie nurtured an environment that encouraged and respected diversity.
Sadly for Charlie, his new role put him under much undesirable pressure. The CEO and the Board had their agenda, and it soon would print its mark on Charlie’s behavior and performance.
Charlie became very judgmental. He started limiting his exposure to different opinions. His assumptions turned into guidance, and soon “his way or the highway” would prevail.
Things went south quickly from that point. His relationships with the whole team started to deteriorate. It was all about executing mandates. Growth and learning were a thing of the past. We could no longer experiment, and the slightest failure wasn’t an option.
But, Charlie had failed big time. He couldn’t handle the tension and lost the essential thing successful leaders share: an open mind. It took a couple of quarters, and he was gone – fired.
I wish I could have helped Charlie keep that open mind when he struggled with this situation. I now know the principles he should have adhered to that would put his creative and critical thinking in motion.
You, too, might know or even work for a closed-minded leader.
So here are three rules for them to consider:
#1 – Get your ideas challenged
Accept that different thinking instead and dig in to understand why the other person has a different perspective. Where they’re coming from, and what their beliefs are. Put yourself in their shoes. In other words, get to the bottom of why there is a disagreement in the first place.
#2 Talk less – Listen more intently
Open-minded leaders don’t try to impose their views on others through mandates. They don’t monopolize the whole conversation preventing others from developing their points of view. Open minds stay humble. They talk less and favor questions over bold statements.
#3 – Build “What if” scenarios for the future
While there’s only one past and one present, there are multiple futures. Some are more or less likely, and the job of an open-minded leader is to study the world of possibilities. He can hold conflicting concepts, go back and forth between them, and assess their relative merits to reach proper conclusions. An open mind will leave no stone unturned and will invite others to bring more perspectives to study.
Being – and staying – open-minded is tough!
We all have this tendency to simplify an otherwise complex reality. We constantly rush to make decisions and execute them. So, we take shortcuts, and it often hurts.
But being open-minded doesn’t mean you should overanalyze every situation and absurdly slow down your operations.
Once you’ve learned enough about an industry or business, some decisions will become second nature and won’t require much debate.
Yet, keep your open mind and energy for any new situation that has the potential to impact the course of a business significantly. Learn about it, challenge your initial thinking, and gain more perspective.
You’ll soon uncover unique solutions that put you and your team ahead of the pack.