Executive Brief: If Everyone Agrees With the CEO, Pay Attention

This is an executive brief, 'kay.

One leadership issue, a few minutes, and one conversation I believe your executive team needs to have.

'Kay.

And today's is simple.

If everyone on your executive team agrees with the CEO all the time, I need you to pay attention, okay? Because that's not necessarily alignment, that's not necessarily trust, and it definitely, [laughs] it definitely isn't proof that the CEO keeps having brilliant ideas.

Okay, sometimes.

'Kay.

People have simply learned that disagreement isn't worth it, okay? And that's a leadership risk, 'kay? I wanna make something cl- very clear.

Um, I'm not, [laughs] I'm not advocating for an executive team that argues about everything, and I'm not talking about disrespect.

I'm not talking about people challenging the CEO just to prove how smart they are, 'cause I've seen that as well.

And I'm not talking about people just being snarky and argumentative.

I'm talking about healthy executive disagreement because if I hire five or six intelligent, experienced executives, and every time I present an idea, everybody says, "Oh, Mary, that sounds great.

Absolutely.

[laughs] I agree.

Mary, let's do it." Eventually, I have to ask myself, why exactly did I hire all of you, okay? I don't need six people around me to tell me I'm right.

What I need are people who can see what I can't see.

I need people who have different lenses and different perspectives.

That's part of the value of having an executive team in the first place, 'kay.