Welcome back staff. It’s you favorite exec, BowtiedCEO! I know many of you despise your W2 and are frustrated with any of the idiotic decisions that are made where you have no input. We will go over exactly how to challenge some of those decisions, without reducing your reputation or creating enemies.
Are you someone who likes to challenge leadership decisions?
Tread lightly. It may end your good reputation and set you up as a termination target.
How do you manage healthy conflict while keeping your good reputation?
There is a line you cross when you challenge decisions too much. You go from someone who has a reputation of being thoughtful. To someone who is a pain in the ass, disruptor of productivity.
The Formula to a Positive Challenge
There is a loose way to quantify if challenging a decision will benefit you to a point it will not reduce your reputation. See the formula below:
These are all the variables you must consider before making any challenges against a decision. The main thing you will need is awareness. If your awareness is lacking then you are probably in a bad spot already. How else will you know if you are likeable or remember the last time you challenged a decision?
The basic formula states that you want your Worth (likeability + productivity) to be greater than your Challenge Range (Quantity + Time between challenges).
If you challenge too much over a short period of time, you will somehow need to get people to like you more and be more productive. That being said if your Worth is already very high, then you have a better chance of not only overturning a decision you challenge, but it may not hurt your reputation.
Challenge quantity
The more you challenge, over a short period of time. The more it hurts your reputation. At some point, not even your productivity will be able to help you keep your standing reputation.
How many challenges are adequate on a per year basis?
This is really tough to answer because you need to have awareness of what type of leadership you have. If you have leaders who have shown they do not tolerate open, candid discussion, then 1 challenge per year may be too much. Other leaders, who are more open minded, 3 or 4 may be just right. It really is as simple as that.
The general rule is to really challenge something inhibits BOTH the productivity o business AND your job, otherwise you may end up looking around for another job once the decision becomes operational.
Time Between Challenges
Challenging constantly is a quick way to get you fired or at the top of the layoff list. If you are bombarding leadership everyday with issues you disagree with, especially the small ones, you won’t survive.
Again, this comes down to awareness of how open leaders are to challenges, but a good rule of thumb is to space these out. you want at least 3-6 months before making any challenges, at a minimum. Depending on what industry your in or what your company circumstances are, it may need to be longer.
Likeability
Likeability is critical to any job. In fact, in many cases, it is the most important piece of social capital you have at any job. You can use this to your advantage.
But how do you know if you are liked? Observing colleague interactions and actions towards you. Here are some signs you are well liked at the office:
In meetings many are not privy to
Your opinion is asked for often and held in high regard
Feedback is mostly positive
You get invited to happy hours, golf outings, social events etc
You can socialize with many ranks of people
The more of these of examples sound like you, the higher your likeability is. So how do you improve this? The simple answer is to be pleasant and network. You need to talk to people and when you do, don’t just make it about work. Be sincere. Engage in active listening. If you do this yo will gain allies and information.
Productivity
This one is simple. DO. YOUR. JOB. You don’t have to the top performer in your org, but you damn sure can’t be the worst either. If you are struggling to perform well, then you need to ask for your help and get some focus. This may be one of the easiest things to do in the entire equation I outlined.
Think Before You Speak
Before challenging any decision, use these questions to evaluate if it is a good idea:
will these decisions make my job significantly worse?
is challenging worth losing my job?
what is the goal of my challenge?
is a decision reversal worth hurting my reputation?
When you do challenge a decision make sure it is thoughtful and backed up with sound reasoning. The end goal should be to alleviate a major problem, such as
negative financial impact
efficiency decrease
compliance issue
decline in customer relationships
You should also use less aggressive language, a neutral tone, and do not com across as accusatory. This will only escalate the situation and draw negative attention to you.
Be prepared for push back. Nobody likes to be challenged, but if you can manage to convince the benefit of the suggested change to the leader, then you have a great chance of success.
If possible, have an ally to help support you. Preferably one with a good reputation. There are strength in numbers and if you can gather other people to your cause, it will help tremendously. This could really boost your chances of getting it changed.
Lastly, when in doubt KEEP YOUR DAMN MOUTH SHUT.
I can't stress this enough. Sometimes the best action is silence and compliance. Read the room and have awareness. Don't rock the boat. Live and ascend. I've seen too many people get targeted because of an arbitrary pet peeve. Have some self control.
Hopefully this will help you in career. If you want more help, click here for my other offerings.