As a student of leadership, it both frustrates and saddens me how rare compromise is these days in both public and professional circles. We established our society based on the principle of mutual benefit. Our Founding Fathers certainly had a wide range of differing opinions on how to structure our country and government, but after rigorous discussion and debate, they came together around a common set of principles and compromise to launch this new nation. Some of them were visionaries and idealists, but they were also pragmatists and realists. They fully understood that while it may take a small group of people to start something, it requires a majority to see it through to fruition. Win-lose situations never work in the long term.
No one person is ever always right or wrong. Some people may have a better track record than others, but the moment they start believing in their infallibility and consider themselves beyond reproach, they become vulnerable to the vagaries and nuances of life. Moreover, they foster resentment and lose the support of others who often wait or even hope for them to fail to validate their differing position. In my experience, groups with a diverse composition of membership usually make better decisions than any one individual. The landscape of history is full of failed dictatorships, but democracies continue to persist.
Admitting you don’t know enough about something to make a good decision is a sign of wisdom. Being open to alternative points of view and challenging your conceits is the pathway to professional maturity. Listening without judgment is a prerequisite for effective leadership. Arguing for the sake of argument or being unyielding in your positions are signs of emotional immaturity and intellectual bravado. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stick to your values or have non-negotiables, but if everything is like this, you’re just a hindrance to success.
All organizations are held together by their center, not by their polar opposites. There is a time for debate, and there is a time for compromise. There is a time to be cautious, and there is a time to act. You will never make everyone happy all the time. Still, you should inspire confidence in most of your colleagues and subordinates by demonstrating that you strive to make well-thought-out decisions after seeking critical feedback, weighing all the important variables, and finding common ground. Compromise does not mean weakness; it denotes self-confidence and a commitment to something more important than one’s own ego and insecurities.
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- Cooperation is not Compromise (eagleviews.org)
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