Why being wrong will make you a better leader

Why being wrong will make you a better leaderWhy being wrong will make you a better leaderBeing right is bedrngnislage a badge of honor, but a temporary status. Our brain is wired for self-deception - we become immune to facts.If you hold a standort of power, its even worse. Leaders are mora prone to suffer from Confirmation Bias or Error Blindness. They filter the information that supports their beliefs. Or dont realize their mistakes until its too late.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreBy being okay with being wrong, you keep your mind open. Rather than trying to win every argument, you pay attention to facts, not to what will help you defeat others.Andy Grove, Intels co-founder, summarized this approach as the courage and confidence to act on what you know right now, along with the humility to course correct when new information comes along.Read on to discover the keys reasons why you might think you are always right - and what happens when you lead as if youre right and listen as if youre not.1. You think being right gains yourespectMost leaders confuse infallibility with power - they feel pressured to have all the answers.Our reputation is what we are known for credibility is reputation impacting our ability to be believed. Being brave to admit you dont know everything protects your reputation trying to win every argument can risk your credibility.To drive change requires integrating all types of authority, not just the formal one. Great leaders tap truly listen to subject matter experts, those who are closer to the problem, bring an outsider perspective or have a strong influence within the team.Do you confuse infallibility with authority?You are not supposed to know it all. Wise leaderslead with questions, not perfect answers. They provoke and inspire their teams to discover new solutions. Also, leaders who acknowledge their limitations, are less l ikely to make mistakes that put their teams and organizations in danger.As French philosopher, Voltaire wrote, Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.2. You always want to have the lastcookieInfallibility battles are pointless - everyone loses in the end.A study at UC Berkeley broke students into groups of three, and one person was named the team leader. At some point, the researchers would bring in a plate of four cookies.So, who would take the last cookie?We all know the social norm is not to do so.But, as Robert Sutton, author ofGood Boss, Bad Bossexplains,The research showedconsistently that the person in powerwould take that fourth cookie. They even tended to eat with their mouths open andleave more crumbs. And this is just in the laboratory. Imagine that youre a CEO and everywhere you go youre empowered, and everyone is kissing your ass. You can start to binnensee why its so hard to be good.Infallibility battles are destructive - we want to defend our pos ition at all costs. Having the last word might end an argument, but wont solve the problem. Trusting your team is more important than who eats the last cookie.As William Coyne, a former VP at 3M, said, After you plant a seed in the ground, you dont dont dig it up every week to see how its doing.Power makes people selfish3. You think like a soldier, not like ascoutYour mindset affects your judgment, analysis, and decision-making.Julia Galef, the co-founder of the Center for Applied Rationality, explains why some information orideas feel like our allies - we want them to win. But we think of opposing views as our enemies - we want to shoot them down.Our judgment is strongly influenced, unconsciously, by which side we want to win. The soldier mindset, as Galef calls it, is rooted in the need to defend ourselves - we want to win every argument. This phenomenon is even more evident among people that holdformalauthority.The scout mindset on the other hand, is about understanding, not d efending a position. A scout goes out and identifies the real challenge - he wants to knowwhats really there.Are you trying the make the best decision? Or to win a battle?Leading requires balancing both mindsets - having the courage and confidence to act on what you know is right, along with the openness and humility to course correct when new information is presented.As organizational theoristKarl Weicksaid, Fight as if youre right. Listen as if youre wrong.4. You get more credit (or blame) thandeservedBeing in a position of leadership is anything but neutral - you are always under a spotlight.Regardless of your leadership style, the perception of your achievements will always be distorted. People pay too much attention to their leaders. Theres evidence that, if you are in a position of authority over others, you will get more blame and more credit than you deserve.Bob Sutton call it the magnification effect. As he explainson this talk,leaders are responsible for about 15% of th eir team/organizational performance,but they get about 50% of the blame or credit.Is your self-perception blinding you?We become arrogant when we succeed, and ignorant when we fail. Theres plenty of evidence that, when a company is performing great, leaders become more clueless and self-absorbed. Or that failure drives blaming others rather than self-reflection.Dont let themagnification effectdistract your attention from learning from mistakes.As Ed Catmull, the co-founder of Pixar, said, If you arent experiencing failure, then you are making a far worse mistake You are being driven by the desire to avoid it.5. You are in denial (and so is yourteam)Leaders are more unaware than self-aware - most believe they know themselvesbetter than they actually do.Studiesshow that 80% of people think they are better-than-average leaders. Unaware leaders deceive both themselves and others. For example,deluded leadersmay come across as charismatic and talented, but their overconfidence puts their credibility at risk in the long run.Researchshows that, when there is no effective process to gather decision makers into honest conversations about tough issues, organizations arethree timesmore likely to have people withhold or distort information.A similar study by Milliken Morrison shows that 85% of employees feel unable to raise a concern with their bosses. Truth is forced underground, leaving the organization to rely on rumors, gossip or insincerity.Do you promote a safe environment for people to speak up?The emotional culture of an organization is as powerful as its cognitive counterpart. Pay attention. Silence is not the absence of fear but a consequence of it.Create a safe spacewhere people feel confident to speak up without the fear of being ridiculed or punished.As Wharton professor Sigal Barsade said, Every organization has an emotional culture, even if its one of suppression.6. You are not being challengedThe more successful we become, the more at risk we are to error blindness. Even worse, narcissism rates have been rising steadilyfor decades.A studyon fraud found that narcissism can make CEOs behave unethically - they want to achieve their goals and receive praise at any cost. Highly narcissistic CEOs may help achieve bigger ambitions for their companies. However, too much narcissism may jeopardize the interests of their companies - they dont listen to their teams feedback.The majority of us overestimate how good we are at listening, as astudyby Accenture shows.Are people afraid of challenging you?Encourage your team to provide candid feedback and to address tensions in a space of mutual respect. A Gallup study shows that 7 in 10 employees strongly agree that their opinionsdontcount at work. Listening will help you gain an understanding of why someone thinks differently. Be open to change your mind.As Pixars director Brad Bird said, during constructive feedback, everyone will get humiliated and encouraged together.7. Your Salary Distorts You rRealityA highly-paid CEO may actually hurt an organization,according to research from the University of Cambridge.Higher salaries do not guarantee that a leader will turn in a strong performance. Firms that pay their CEOs in the top ten percent of excess pay earnnegative abnormalreturns over the next three years, the researchers found.A higher pay makes leaders believe theyre always right - thats why they are paid so much. It unconsciously clouds their judgment. They become overconfident on their plans and ideas.Do you believe those who earn less are not as competent as you are?Im not trying to make you feel bad about your salary. But, to become more aware of how your position can distort your perception. We tend to correlate salaries or titles with smarts. Thus, stop paying attention to people that are at our same level.As Simon Sinek said, Great Leaders dont need to act tough. Their confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness.Becoming vulnerable is hard. But when you dont have to pretend you know it all, you wont feel the need to win all the battles - youll focus on unleashing your teams potential.Its better to be wrong than believing you are right when you are not.Great leaders integrate diverse thinking they embrace people who provide different perspectives and ideas. Dont risk your credibility by trying to have all the answers. Humility promotes honesty - people will want to share candid feedback and their best ideas, instead of trying to deceive you.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people