Don’t Ask Questions When You’ve Made Up Your Mind

If you’re at the top, decisions, ultimately, are up to you. 

Even if you’re leading a committee, or asking for feedback, if you can reject or approve a decision, at the end it’s up to you. 

You can go about owning the fact that you’re the end of the line and be transparent about it. This involves letting people know when you’ve made up your mind about a decision and that things are unlikely to change.

Or, you can continue to solicit feedback when nothing is going to change your mind, and you can tank your team’s morale at the same time by putting on the song and dance that you’re interested in their opinion when you really are not. 

One builds trust, the other erodes it. Choose.

2 responses to “Don’t Ask Questions When You’ve Made Up Your Mind”

  1. Mickey Mellen Avatar

    This one is tough to hear, but I love it. I find myself in that position from time to time, and my default is to ask more questions from the team until I feel 100% confident. That may work in some cases, but is likely mucking things up in others.

    1. Rick Avatar
      Rick

      Thanks, Mickey, glad it resonated.

      I think there’s a big difference between asking more clarifying questions from the team vs. asking for opinions and then disregarding them.

      As per usual, it’s in the context and how you frame it.

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