I recently spoke with a company president who told me what he hates most about his leadership team: the nodders. The people who nod along in the room and then don’t follow through afterward.
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There’s no pushback. And worse, no ownership.
But there’s one leader, his VP of Product, who’s willing to say when he disagrees.
And then he follows it with, “Let me tell you what will work instead.”
That’s rare.
I call that radical agency.
It’s the ability to challenge an idea and then carry it.
That’s what the president values. Not that this VP is always right. He isn’t. What matters is that he takes responsibility.
So here’s my question for you:
Who are you in that room?
The nodder? Or the person willing to disagree and own what happens next?
Those are the leaders people trust.
Executive Alignment
If your team nods in meetings and drifts afterward, that’s an alignment problem. I work with CEOs and CPOs to make disagreement productive instead of corrosive. If you’re seeing this pattern, let’s talk.