Well, except for the fact that it’s a buzzword I don’t think so.
Concern about how an action looks to a constituent group is part of thinking through the problem.
Are you a lion or a sheep?
The testosterone fueled leadership approach considers worrying about what others think a sign of weakness. After all they pay you the big bucks to make the tough decisions. You undoubtedly have seen the meme – The lion doesn’t worry about what sheep think. A bit of a rant here – Who needs this advice? Someone lacking confidence? It strikes me that this phrase simply gives permission to think of people as less than you. Not useful.
Deflate-gate
No need to rehash the National Football League big off-season scandal over the New England Patriots deflating footballs outside the rules and the subsequent suspension, court case, etc. Think about this saga from the commissioner as a leader perspective. He took an approach and stuck to it. It’s safe to say they perhaps did not consider optics. And worse reacted to public opinion. In effect by attempting to be strong they actually come off as weak.
Reasonable Person Standard
The Reasonable Person Standard emanates from the law. For our purposes we need to consider how a reasonable person would react to our actions. Of course not everyone is reasonable and we ourselves are biased. However, considering how a reasonable person would react to an action is helpful. Also considering the extreme positions should also be considered.
We get into trouble when we go forward with only our own view as a consideration.
Do the best right thing – duh
Not considering how people will react to actions you take in your approach leads you to blindly work toward a predetermined agenda. Life and work is too complicated for that.
If in your analysis you see that the sales department will hate the approach because it takes them away from prospect face time then you must consider that perspective in your solution. This makes things more complicated of course but following this path leads to a solution that is the better right thing. That isn’t weakness. It’s just smart.
