It sounds counterintuitive, but conflict really is healthy for CLNC® consultants. Conflict helps you to accomplish what you should be accomplishing on your own anyway – challenging yourself and your opinions to disrupt your own bad thinking. Conflict helps you get to something fresh, exciting and relevant. Sometimes my executives will be so civilized and agreeable with one another that they’re smiling and nodding their heads in agreement to what is actually a very bad idea. I almost expect them to have a tea party with finger sandwiches, it’s so civilized. Putting a frozen margarita machine in the break room and Jello® shots for brainstorming meetings are the two most recent examples. On reflection, maybe there is some merit to those two ideas.
My solution to disrupting this “Pollyanna” form of “decision by consensus” is to hire a hit man, so that they’re not as easily influenced by group think. Every company needs at least one person who sees things from a contrary viewpoint and is willing to shoot holes in popular opinions and established procedures.
A good hit man isn’t always a naysayer, doesn’t disagree just to be argumentative and knows how to equably state a conflicting opinion. A good hit man, or woman, knows when to voice that contrary opinion and stir up discussion. They may not always be right – but what they excel at is prompting and leading you to what’s right.
Being an entrepreneur for 31 years has trained me to buck up and listen up when the conflicting opinions are aimed at my own ideas. The resulting changes are usually worth any temporary discomfort.
As the sole proprietor of your legal nurse consulting business, your hit man may be a friend, family member or a CLNC® colleague who will honestly point out where your ideas have holes or are simply being skewed by your own desires and expectations. Listen and be willing to reassess, rework and, if necessary, abandon an idea that doesn’t measure up. In the end, you have to decide what works for you, but a well-meaning dissenting voice is a valuable asset.
I’m just sayin’
P.S. Comment here and share whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing or whether I should be scheduling a “hit” on you.
