If your Goal is to Grow as a Leader, there is something you will be Faced with at one point or another.

Opposition.

It will play out in a lot of different ways.

People who Disagree with your Ideas.

Ideas will be Proposed that may be in Direct Opposition to yours.

You may be faced with Silence that Indicates a form of Insubordination - Usually ending with people saying, "I knew that would never work".

In some cases, the Opposition can break down into a Scream Fest or Name-Calling.

What you will find as a Leader though is that when you are Faced with these types of Oppositions, they are Rarely Productive.

Often, these forms of Opposition significantly slow down Results from Occurring or perhaps prevent Results at all.

In Extreme Cases, you may find yourself facing Negative Productivity where things, systems, or processes are destroyed during the Opposition.

If Opposition Leads to this, you will discover that Life as a Leader will be Miserable, and perhaps even Impossible.

However, this does not need to be how you are defined as a Leader.

There is a different Path that you can take when you Face Opposition.

The Single Greatest way to Face Opposition, which will feel like a Gift to you in the Long Term, is to Understand the Opposition.

This does not mean you only "Hear" the Opposition but never actually consider what they are saying.

It also doesn't necessarily mean that you have to Agree or Change your Position after you have Understood the Opposition.

However, you must "Truly" Understand those who Oppose you, and they must "Feel" Understood at the end of it.

Why is this so Important as a Leader?

Well, most people Do Not Feel that they are being Understood.

Often, people feel like they are getting the Cold Shoulder and their Ideas, Problems, and Beliefs are not being considered.

In Truth, they usually feel this way because it is True.

To see this in Action, just look at the Recent Return-To-Office "Mandates" that have all been Complete and Utter Debacles.

Leaders have been making decisions, without Looking At or Understanding any of the Evidence that Opposed their Desire to get People back in the Office.

When Leaders were asked "Why" they were making these Demands, it was clear that these Leaders had Obviously made a Unilateral Decision without Considering Anything or Anyone Else.

The Reasoning they "Did" Give made, Literally, No Sense in Reality.

What were the Results?

Failed "Mandates" that have only made Workplaces More Toxic, led to Top Talent Leaving, and Destroyed Productivity and Innovation.

If we Look at a Great Example of Failed Mandates, Dell showed how they Clearly didn't Understand "Any" of their Employees.

They Made Return-To-Office "Rules" that many Employees Didn't have the Ability to Comply with due to Dell's Own Previous Decisions.

This included attempting to force Employees to Return to Offices that were completely Shut Down.

The Result?

50% of Dell's US Employees Just Ignored the Mandates.

Complete Insubordination.

Dell showed that their Leaders had taken No Time to Understand their Employees in the Decision, and the Employees Responded in Kind.

However, all of this could have been Avoided.

For Instance, what would have happened if Dell had looked at the Real Research around Remote Work, and Understood it Correctly?

They would have seen that if they wanted a Successful Return-To-Office they would have to Train Leaders Differently to overcome the Psychophysiological Problems that Exist in the Physical Workplace Today.

With this, if they had Listened to the Challenges that Employees would Inevitably Face with these Types of Mandates, they could have Avoided a Unilateral Decision that Employees couldn't Comply With.

They could have made certain Exceptions, made offers for Relocation, given Severance Packages to those who wouldn't be able to comply, and found other Reasonable Solutions.

Instead, they ignored Employees Completely and ended up being perceived as Pompous Rich Pricks, Sitting in Ivory Towers who didn't Understand the Reality of the World Outside the Tower.

Now, this extends beyond the Return-To-Office "Mandates" that have Failed of course, but this provides a Perfect Example of what "Will" Happen when Leaders Fail to Understand the Opposition.

We do see it in all other forms of Leadership as Well, just look at Politics today and you'll see Ample Examples of Leaders who Fail to Understand Each Other and their Constituents.

None of this is Productive, and the Results are always Awful.

But when you First Understand the Opposition, and Truly Get It, things can become Completely Different.

Chris Voss, who was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, has talked about how by simply Understanding the other side, you can get what you want.

It even works on Sociopathic Murdering Terrorists according to Voss who have done, and continue to do, unspeakable things.

He explained how his Team talked down this type of Individual from wanting $10 Million for a Hostage to Zero, simply by Understanding them from Their Perspective.

That is the Power of Understanding!

If you just took the Time to Understand Others as a Leader, you would get Significantly More Accomplished, with Less Pain.

More often than not, the Only thing Standing in your Way as a Leader is Understanding those who Disagree with You.

The Greatest Gift When Facing Opposition

Something Rare To Find In Today's World

What will you write today?