MIT Sloan Management Review: Five Ways Leaders Can Turn Pushback Into Progress

Featured article for this week's Brief

Read time: 2 min

Big Idea

While dealing with transitional pushbacks, avoid making mistakes like suppressing uncertainty, ignoring power dynamics, and assuming consensus from the loudest voices. Instead, build understanding, openness, and trust within your organization and teams.

Top Thoughts

• How leaders respond to pushback during times of transition is critical. Transitions should be seen as an opportunity to learn and improve the organization.

• Positively interact with pushback through the following methods:

  • Set guidelines for conversation

    • Focus on understanding different viewpoints

    • Frame disagreements respectfully and encourage others to share their concerns

    • Avoid making divisive, polarizing statements

    • Depersonalize pushback by not attributing concerns to any specific person to avoid self-censorship

    • Be open to changing your mind and opinions based on evidence and gaining new perspectives

  • Clearly communicate pushback opportunities

    • Clearly specify the expectations and potential outcomes of pushback

    • Provide options to tweak or delay implementing plans, rather than simply accepting or rejecting them

  • Choose the right setting

    • Choose a venue to hold discussions that will encourage questions, deliberative conversation, and respectful debate.

    • Form smaller group meetings with clearly outlined discussion parameters or monitored online forums.

  • Educate before you advocate

    • Educate team members on the reasons behind the decision-making processes and how certain conclusions were reached.

  • Outline inflection points

    • Clearly indicate when feedback is wanted and when decisions are final to prevent misunderstandings about how open leaders are to receiving feedback and avoid endless debates.

Quick Quotes

• "Effectively responding to pushback may well rank as one of the most important competencies that leaders can possess, especially critical during times of transition, like returning to the office post-pandemic."

• "Effective leaders think of pushback as an opportunity to boost their team’s learning while moving their organization forward."

• "The objective should be to increase people’s understanding and build support by tempering both advocate enthusiasm and contrarian pessimism."

• "Leaders make three primary mistakes when facing ambivalence, disagreement, or resistance: Suppressing uncertainty, Ignoring power dynamics, and Assuming that the loudest voices represent a consensus."

• "Effective leaders take active steps to mitigate disruptive dialogue because they recognize that inherent power dynamics greatly influence the quality of any discussion."

• "When discussing contentious issues, many people’s first instinct is to offer an instant rebuttal or counterpoint. Resist that temptation by demonstrating a willingness to engage with a differing point of view. Simple tactics like asking questions or rephrasing someone else’s argument — particularly those with which you disagree — can temper the rebuttal and almost magically enhance the conversational tone."

• "Employees often need to be reminded that changing their opinion after considering new evidence or gaining a fresh perspective is not a sign of weakness."

• "Effective leaders assume that allowing people to voice concerns reaps benefits. Short term, the pushback might result in tweaks that will increase long-term acceptance and smooth implementation."

• "Effective leaders share their level of openness to tweaking proposed plans, proclaiming when their sentiments have shifted, and clearly signaling when the time for pushback has ended."

• "Suppressing pushback by repressing uncertainty, invoking power dynamics, and paying too much attention to the most vocal employees may well induce short-term conformity and compliance at the expense of undermining long-term trust."

Actionable Advice

1. Avoid suppressing uncertainty - Acknowledge and discuss uncertainties rather than offering false certainty or ignoring doubts to build trust and credibility.

2. Manage power dynamics - Identify how the positional or acquired status of leaders influences pushback. Authoritarian powers drive pushback underground, leaving potential problems unaddressed. Ensure power dynamics do not suppress open discussion. Silence is not agreement

3. Do not only listen to the loudest voices - Understand that the most vocal opinions are not always those of the majority. Also pay attention to and take into account quieter feedback.

Source(s)

Clampitt, P.G,. & DeKoch, R.J. (2023, Oct 9). Five Ways Leaders Can Turn Pushback Into Progress. [Web Article]. MIT Sloan Management Review. (Link)