Finally, there is rarely, if ever, 100% consensus.
The Only Real Option
This leaves us with one apparent reality: People will not always approve of you, your leadership, or your decisions.
Back to my staff change that angered the real estate agent. I made that decision after months of coaching the person, discussing it with my executive team, and praying over the matter. It wasn’t a flippant decision. I had all the information, but everyone who was about to hear about my decision only had partial information.
I could sit everyone down, spread out all the dirty laundry, and then hope everyone approved of the decisions, but in doing so, I would disrespect the fired staff member for my selfish gain. That is terrible leadership.
So, instead, I made the decision and communicated to the team and volunteers what was necessary without disrespecting the exiting staff member. Not everyone agreed, including a real estate person I’d never met.
However, I honored the people most vulnerable and affected by my decision. And I paid the price.
The Apostle Paul Understood This Dynamic
To the Christians in Rome, Paul wrote this:
No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people (Romans 2:29, NLT).
This last statement caused me to pause—and made me think of all of us leaders.
If we seek to be liked by those we lead, we’ll inevitably make poor leadership decisions. Leadership requires making choices. It’s impossible to have everyone agree on every choice.
This verse from Paul always gave me peace during these decision-making moments. I knew there would be naysayers, and I knew not everyone would agree. I also knew I couldn’t and shouldn’t share everything I knew about the situation to gain the approval of others.
I learned to allow God’s view of me to be the view that mattered.
How Important Is the Approval of Your Followers?
If you’re human, it’s important.
However, we cannot allow our desire to be liked by others to overwhelm the need to make great leadership decisions.
Ignoring our desire to be liked or pretending we don’t care doesn’t resolve our internal tension.
Following Paul’s advice, however, is how we continue to lead well, even when not everyone agrees with our decisions.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
