Leadership is difficult in the best of times, but when the team isn’t pulling together it can be a nightmare. The single most difficult task for a leader is to avoid surrounding themselves with a bunch of nod-heads. Avoiding this pitfall is easier said than done because it creeps up on you and you never notice until it is too late. Leaders don’t start out to build a coterie around them. In fact, most want to avoid that situation. But when you are pressed to get things done, it is but natural to lean on the people who see things from your point of view. This eventually filters out people who don’t agree with you or who need convincing to see things your way.
Getting a team of disparate individuals behind an idea is hard especially when you are trying to run the team in a democratic manner. Democratic leadership means that you give every voice a chance to be heard, and, in theory, this should lead to better decisions. While this sounds great on paper, it comes with the danger that certain people may feel that their thoughts are ignored regularly. Every team member will have ideas and when they are not chosen, it is only human to feel unheard and unappreciated. This stems from misunderstanding the meaning of democratic leadership.
It is a mistake to think that democratic leadership means that you must go with the popular vote. That doesn’t make provision for information asymmetry. A leader, by the very nature of her role, will have more information and context than her team. Moreover, as the sign on President Truman’s desk said, “The buck stops here”. The course of action decided is the responsibility of the leader. She takes the final call.
Disagreements are common, and I believe there are two possible outcomes – disagree but commit, disagree and don’t commit. The former must be encouraged. When you take a decision contrary to what someone on your team feels, it is important to get the ones with opposing views to commit to the course of action even if they don’t agree with it. One way is to sit down and explain the rationale behind the decision to them. The person must feel heard and not steamrolled. The one thing you don’t want is a key member pulling in a different direction or going through the motions.
Ask most leaders and they will tell you that they run a democratic team where everyone has a voice. Ask their teams and they will tell you the opposite.
So while disagreements may arise and people may feel their ideas are being ignored, communication is the key to making democratic leadership work. Taking the time out to explain to the disgruntled person why another path was taken over theirs keeps them from imagining that there is a conspiracy to sideline them. It is okay to disagree, but it is important to commit.
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