Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Managing disagreement

I hate to say this but I judge people. Well how else would I be able to pick the right team? I judge them based on various behaviors, managing disagreements is a critical one of them. I have always believed ‘we are the experiences we have had’. To that extent we mimic behaviors we have seen from our leaders, our parents, our role models, mentors, coaches, etc. I call it ‘The leader as a diamond’ phenomenon.

As individuals rise through the corporate ladder, they are subjected to the cutting, polishing, measurements that transform the individual into a diamond, a tough strong, sharp leader. Some are too weak and break apart, some have imperfections, some are unfortunately are with the wrong craftsman or the wrong environment and some just don’t have the right stuff, to be a leaders. All disagreements in some form of a placid, laid back life of a rock.

The disagreements shape the future and at the very end it’s the light that the diamond reflects that matters most. Not something it generates but it borrows from around it.