React to an employee who disagrees with you

- All leaders face dissent, it's normal. But how you handle it is very important. Let's think about the situation where one of your employees disagrees with a decision you've made and says so during a meeting in front of the whole team. In this challenge, you're facing competing interests. On the one hand, you want to support honesty and candor from your team. It's vital they know it's okay to speak up and have their voices heard. On the other hand, people need to have confidence in you. You want them to know that you're competent and in charge. It is true that too much open dissent will erode confidence in your abilities. So, what do you do? First of all, do not simply react by shutting the person down. Instead, pause for a moment and think about the person in question. Is this person making a principled comment or are they out of line? If they're somehow out of line, meaning they show an ugly disdain for your position or towards you personally by being overly critical or by using inappropriate language, treat it like all aberrant behavior at work. That means depending on the severity of their behavior, you either stop them or stop them and ask them to leave, then follow up later and address the issue appropriately. It goes without saying that strong negative behavior directed at you can't be tolerated. However, in most cases, the person has good intentions. They're not out of line and your goal is to find a way to validate the person. Agree or disagree, but you do have to respond in a way that makes speaking up and disagreeing completely acceptable behavior. So, ask them to share their thoughts, acknowledge the point they make, and explain why you felt a different direction was necessary. If they really persist, try to get back on track by saying something like, I hear you John, but now is not the time. I'll be sure to follow up with you when we're done today. Just be positive and to the point. You're trying to preserve everyone's understanding that you've made the decision, and it's time to move forward, and do remember to follow up with the person later. In the end, you have to balance showing strength to gain support and get things done with the need to be kind and open, a collaborator, not just a boss. The next time this happens, when the interaction is over, ask an honest colleague how they felt you did. You just might learn something that will help you moving forward.