Is very different than trying to stab someone.
The world is filled with verbal fighting, especially in the media. Every political and sports show is no longer about reporting, it’s about “experts” yelling at one another about opinions on a specific topic to try and prove a point and destroy the opposing position. This translates horribly into the world of business.
It feels like our modern business culture has modeled this behavior and meetings can quickly slide into a pattern of somebody is trying to stab someone else with their words as opposed to sharpen each other and/or come to a consensus. This does not work. When was the last time you have seen a democrat convince a republican (or vice versa) to change their mind by being louder about their strong opinion on an issue? The answer is never. So why would that translate into the business world where we think we can just argue with people who have different opinions to get our way? It doesn’t work.
When you are in a room with your most trusted group of partners, peers, or advisors, the environment must be cultivated to one where iron sharpens iron. An environment where all are heard and we can come to a clear consensus on the path forward, even though we may not fully agree with the solution. This only happens if we are open, honest, curious and there is a leader in the room who listens and eventually decides which highway we are driving.
Day 301 is in the BBTL hall of fame as it outlines the roadmap of how to fight to unite. Pick a topic that has felt stuck on your team and fight to unite, not to prove a point.
PS this is a 2.0 as Chet wrote an Iron sharpens Iron blog in 2011 which you can find here and is a very worthy read.
BUILT TO LEAD 