I complained to a co-worker that, despite the SMT’s clear decisions, we still had managers trying to change the direction. This was severely limiting our progress. I thought he would agree, and we’d talk about ways to get the dissenters in line. He said, “The battlefields are littered by the corpses of soldiers who never changed their minds and were never in error.”
I was reminded of Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign, and the famous image of his retreat. His generals would have been trying to convince him to change course, and he’d have heard reports about the morale in his army as the supply lines were stretched, the winter set in, and soldiers died from hunger and disease.
Napoleon was a very successful leader in the past, with many famous victories that he achieved through making the right choices. Such a leader would find it difficult to admit that they were wrong. He should have listened more to those who disagreed with him. Leadership is often portrayed as being focused, determined and single-minded. Not indecisive people who are easily swayed or susceptible to changing their mind.
The classic leadership dilemma is when to listen to the dissenting voice and when to stay true to your convictions. Just because something isn’t working as expected or that it’s taking longer to achieve the desired results doesn’t mean that it won’t. Leaders always believe they are correct, but they also recognise the dangers that come with overconfidence and they listen to those who have an opinion they respect. But do they?Leaders must be able to recognize themselves in these situations. How do they react to stress, pressure and setbacks? Do leaders who are normally inspirational and supportive become rigid, dogmatic and inflexible? Do they view constructive criticism as personal dishonesty?
When a person has some insight into his or her behaviour and understands what tends to happen when things go wrong, they can avoid being dictatorial, dogmatic or distrustful. They will be more willing to change their minds, accept new ideas, and compromise if they have some insight into their behaviour.Even with the insight, an individual may still need someone to remind them of how they usually respond when under pressure. Who will tell the boss that you are stubborn? Are you irritable and irrational, or both? It is important to have a mentor who is not in the same management structure as you. Someone whose opinion is respected is a good choice. The mentor can be asked, “Am I being unreasonable, dogmatic and too demanding?”
