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Promote people who say “no” to the boss

An executive need not heed every bit of contrary advice, but every executive should demonstrate the courtesy of listening.

2 min read

Leadership

No

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I like to refer to my wife, a successful health care executive who works with physician leaders, as Dr. No. What she lacks in medical insight she makes up for in business acumen and decisiveness.

She is adept at weighing options and providing clear and cogent advice. More important, she is not afraid to speak truth to power.

Every organization needs people like my wife. To encourage others like her, Bloomberg columnist Al Hunt advises rewarding people who have the gumption to challenge their bosses.

An executive need not heed every bit of contrary advice, but every executive should demonstrate the courtesy of listening.

Executives whom I admire encourage their direct reports to speak up. To mitigate such fear, executives should reward people who do speak up with increased levels of responsibility.

These are the executives who can be groomed for greater roles because they have demonstrated that they have the guts to voice opposition when they believe it is necessary.

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John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership educator and executive coach. In 2017, Trust Across America named him a Top Thought Leader in Trust for the fourth consecutive year. Global Gurus ranked John No. 22 on its list of top 30 global experts, a list he has been on since 2007. In 2014, Inc.com named John to its list of top 50 leadership experts. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including his newest, “MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership.”

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