Leadership Thought #291 – Don’t Fall in Love with Your Own Opinions
There is nothing wrong with having strong opinions, but always remember this doesn’t mean you are right. There is a difference between a fact-based position and a personal opinion. In one case, you use strong evidence and objective data to state your position. In the other case, you are relying more on subjective experience and personal beliefs to make your point. The peril of experiential opinions lies in their reliance solely on the advocate’s personal filters. They are also based on a singular and usually stunted view of reality. Being louder and more passionate about something will certainly garner attention; however, such behavior doesn’t mean you are right and very often means you are rude, close-minded, and/or a poor listener.
In all types of relationships, you can either fight fairly or fight dirty. When I observe someone being personally critical of another person or talking over them rather than focusing on the topic at hand, I assume they want to fight dirty because they know they are in a weaker position (or are intellectually lazy). Leaders can’t afford to have their decisions overly laced with, or unduly influenced by, their own or others’ strong opinions. Reality has a way of overcoming obstinacy. Your professional reputation primarily depends on how others perceive your thought process, decision-making abilities, and personal conduct. Power may provide you a platform to be self-righteous, but those same actions hinder your ability to build true followership and garner long-term support. Have you ever noticed that the student who thinks they are the smartest often isn’t, and everyone else realizes this quickly?
Unfortunately, America is increasingly governed by strong opinions and ideology rather than empirical evidence and collective self-interest. It has always been much easier to divide people than to unite them. Most of us would rather validate what we already believe than accept a contrary perspective. We are great at preparing to talk but terrible at active listening. Always attacking someone else’s contrary position is potentially a character defect and limits your personal growth. What we fail to realize is that progress is a direct result of challenging the status quo and opening our minds to innovative ideas. As many of my other blogs have pointed out, no single person or group has a monopoly on clever ideas. They just think they do. Once you think you know everything, please let someone else take over.
Of course, it’s important to be decisive, but make sure you are committed to making the right decision, not just doing what is intellectually convenient or playing to your own prejudices and/or vulnerabilities. If you fall in love with your own opinions, you limit your potential for results. You also hinder your ability to build strong personal and professional relationships.
Related articles
- How to Disagree Without Arguing (kwaby.wordpress.com)
- On Logical Deduction: Fact, Inference, or Opinion (goingdeeperlineuponline.wordpress.com)
- Neuropsychology Of Politics – Haidt Two (taxi-dog.com)
- The Dominance Paradigm (drjeffeisen.com)
- Opining on Opinions (johz.wordpress.com)