Page 237 - Fearless Leadership

224 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

directly. Even then, I decide if it’s worth my time and energy to fight before
I engage.”
Have you ever urged colleagues to comply with a decision just so you
could end a fruitless debate or an interminably long meeting? The unspo-
ken message in business-as-usual meetings is this: “Just shut up and go
along with the program so we can get the heck out of here.”
Do you comply and withhold your emotional commitment? Do not be
quick to reply; this is a common behavior. Look carefully at the many ways
in which you agree with a decision intellectually but do not support it emo-
tionally. For example, let’s say your boss wants to alter the pricing strategy
for a product and service line, and you disagree. You are faced with a choice
to either comply (what appears to be an efficient strategy) or disagree and
engage in debate (what appears to be a risky strategy, especially if it annoys
your boss or creates a rift in your relationship). What can you do when you
are faced with this choice? You can behave as an owner, fully express your
concerns, listen to others, and set aside your personal preferences.

People don’t comply because it’s the best choice; they comply
because they feel they have no choice.

Tolerating “Good Enough”: The “I Can Live with It” Attitude
As a fearless leader, you must examine where you and others are withhold-
ing emotional commitment. It is only then that you can apply the tools
needed to achieve alignment.
Teams often align on a decision, but then circumstances change, and
they do not revisit the decision to see whether their alignment has
changed. For instance, a senior team agreed to adopt a new performance
review system and begin implementation in the next six months. But a
couple months later market conditions changed, a state of panic set in,
and executives turned their attention to other matters. They did what was
expedient: they postponed the decision to implement the new perfor-
mance review system. But the problem was that no one communicated
this change; it just happened by default. As a result, the organization went
in different directions and people were frustrated and confused. There is
no question that leaders must be able to change priorities and decisions