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Traction Inc.

15 Jan 3 Reasons You Need to Speak Your Mind on Your BusinessLeadership Team

Posted at 8:00:00 AM by Chris Hallberg

One foundation of the EOS system is the strategic leadership team. Individuals are included on leadership EOS Systemteams because someone – or some group – believes those individuals have something to offer the organization at a strategic level. But if you don’t speak up, you can’t bring your resources and ideas to the table. Yes, value exists in picking your battles. A time and place exists for strategic silence. But at the leadership team table, speaking your mind is often critical.

 

Speak to Drive the Vision

Speak up to show you are committed to the goals and vision of the organization or to drive your own vision for a project or department. Constantly holding your tongue can give the impression that you don’t care or aren’t invested. If you avoid most conversations or debates, when you do speak up, your words might not carry as much weight as they would if you regularly contributed. Find the line between flooding the conversation with meaningless information and contributing consistently as part of the team.

 

As a regular contributor at the team table, you’re in a better position to take a leading role if the team stalls. Sometimes, the person most willing to speak is the person who takes the helm of the ship for that leg of the journey.

 

Silence Is Deemed Approval

Silence doesn’t remove you from conflict or an uncomfortable decision. If you have a seat at the leadership table and you fail to voice your opinion, then it’s usually assumed that you approved whatever decision came out of the discussion. Consistently bowing out of issues through silence can create an impression that you are part of the overall problem or that you contributed to it. Holding your tongue in the group while speaking your mind elsewhere can be even worse: it erodes trust and confidence and can built resentment among the leadership team.

 

Don’t Assume the Obvious is Obvious

Remember, every person at the leadership table is there for a different reason. Everyone brings different perspectives, skills, experiences, and daily interactions to the table, so what is obvious to you isn’t always obvious to the others. Your experience and knowledge has value, but you must be confident in that experience so you can share it with others. Consider this: what you know about a piece of the process or organization might be the key that unlocks a problem or solution. Speaking up is the only way to fit that key into the lock. At the same time, be cognizant that this is true from the other perspective: someone at the leadership table could hold the key that unlocks your problem or solution.

 

Implementing the EOS system can be a challenge, especially for leadership teams that have a history with other methods or no method at all. If you speak up, but your leadership team is still struggling, it might be time to call in some assistance. Schedule a free 90-minute consultation with EOS implementer and Denver business coach Chris Hallberg today.

 

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