Leaders can sometimes get excited by ideas before they think through the implications for resources, timelines, or other prerequisites for success.
When this happens in a meeting, it’s easy for everyone else with a different opinion to either object or sit in awkward silence.
However, this should be the opportunity to practice what Phil Buckley, the founder of Change With Confidence, calls “testing a leader’s thinking.”
According to Phil, leaders are more likely to accept the assessment of their ideas if they do it themselves. So your role will be to walk them through the implementation steps and identify implications.
Here’s how:
– Play out a leader’s idea to reveal its implications. For instance, say, “let’s test this idea out.”
– Walkthrough the steps and identify the positive and negative implications.
– Ask them if the idea is still their preferred choice.