Every senior leader eventually has to carry out a decision they didn’t make and wouldn’t have made.
How you handle it says more about your leadership than the decisions you do agree with.
Why This Moment Matters
Your team learns more about you here than in almost any other situation.
They’re watching how you handle disagreement, not just agreement
Undermining the decision, even subtly, costs you credibility later
Staying silent about your reservations can look like you weren’t consulted
How you carry it out becomes the story your team remembers
What Doesn’t Work
A few patterns show up again and again, and none of them hold up over time.
Publicly distancing yourself from a decision you’re responsible for executing
Executing halfheartedly while privately signaling disagreement
Pretending you agree when your team already knows you don’t
Relitigating the decision after it’s already been made
How to Lead It Well
Disagreeing and committing is a skill, not a compromise.
Say what you disagreed with once, then commit
Explain the reasoning behind the decision, not just the decision itself
Be honest that you raised concerns without undermining the outcome
Give the decision a genuine chance to work before you judge it
What This Builds
Leaders who can disagree and commit earn something rare: trust that they’ll represent decisions honestly, even the ones they didn’t make.
If you’re navigating how to lead through a decision you disagree with, Schedule a conversation.
