Not a Yes Man

 What?

As someone still young and early on in their career, how can you provide feedback and ideas to someone who has a lifetime of experience over you and potentially knows much more than you? What happens when you constantly make suggestions and get shut down by your leaders? Should you continue to look for new ways to innovate and make improvements in your workplace or be content with the status quo that is presented to you by those around you?

So What?

Providing feedback is essential to the growth and well-being of not only an organization but both leaders and followers as well. Ira Chaleff argues that it requires a large amount of courage to challenge our leaders in the pursuit of a common purpose. When we don't provide feedback to our leaders it deteriorates our relationship and continues to hurt the common purpose. If a leader doesn't want to be challenged or be given feedback, they can be perceived as a bad leader. On the other hand, there is a time and place to provide feedback and challenge authority's rulings. Followers also have a moral duty to challenge leaders' unethical behaviors and actions early and often. Avoiding being a yes man or being involved in groupthink hurts your ability to challenge actions and behaviors in the future as you are looked on with more distaste and resentment from others.

                       

Now What?

When challenging others specifically in leadership positions we are also challenging ourselves. Sometimes we need outside judgment to realize we need self-reflection on past behaviors and actions. As someone who works in an industry with a very "my way or the highway" bravado, it is important to consistently challenge the idea that there are other ways to solve problems. There is always a way to improve either yourself as a leader or the actions you are responsible for as a leader.