402. Great Leaders Change Their Mind
The pitfalls of overlooking new information and resisting change.
Avoid Blinders
As a leader, it is your responsibility to make tough decisions.
However, after the decision is made, our biases can hinder us from being open to reevaluating once new information emerges. It is easy to develop blinders that prevent us from being open to anything that could poke holes in existing plans.
The challenge is that it is easier to keep moving forward than paying attention to uncomfortable new facts.
Ignoring conflicting data is a potential disaster waiting to happen. Leaders need to stay receptive to new information and be willing to re-evaluate based on the latest changes.
Great leaders take the time to reevaluate and stay open to changing their minds.
Supporting Insights
“People see what they want to see and easily miss contradictory information when it’s in their interest to remain ignorant.” - Max Bazerman, Blink Spots
“Admitting error and correcting course is a time-saver that empowers you to avoid making more mistakes in the future.” - Shane Parrish, Clear Thinking
“If you feel like you’ve got a close call between quitting and persevering, it’s likely that quitting is the better choice.” - Annie Dukes, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
"The more an idea is tied to your identity, the more you will ignore evidence it is false. To continue to grow and learn, you must be willing to update, expand, and edit your identity." - James Clear
Keep Learning:
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
“Quitting is hard, too hard to do entirely on our own. We as individuals are riddled by the host of biases, like the sunk cost fallacy, endowment effect, status quo bias, and loss aversion, which lead to escalation of commitment. Our identities are entwined in the things that we’re doing. Our instinct is to want to protect that identity, making us stick to things even more.”
The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See
“So how can a leader identify and evaluate the information that is really important? And how can these skills improve the outcomes of key decisions and negotiations?”
328. Great Leaders Are Exceptional Listeners
“Listening is arguably one of the most important and, simultaneously, massively underrated as a leadership skill.”
Why The Business Leader Daily?
“Exceptional leaders think of leadership as a craft. They know they will always be working to improve, and that what worked today may not work tomorrow”
- Tracy Spears & Wally Schmader, The Exceptional Leaders Playbook
Great reminder!