Leading people who think they know it all

Be open-minded. Listen to your team’s ideas. If they are good, adopt them, if not drop them. Photo from www.thebalancecareers.com

In his book ‘Leadership from A to Z’ James O’Toole writes, “Of all the activities that take place in an organisation, leadership is by far the hardest and most important.”
This can be made worse if the people you are leading think they are better placed and know better than you do.

How to respond
Mr Franko Olong Tusingwire, the chief executive officer, Strides of Hope, says to handle such situations, one should work within their boundaries, maintain high standards of living, be exemplary and adopt shared thinking.
“Such people help me think better. I engage them in the thinking process in the end. We collaborate.”
However, Olong believes that in some cases, a leader might have to use their position to get such people in the line.
Raymond Malinga, the director, Creatures Animation Company, says this behaviour is expected.
“My general approach has been to allow my teammates to experience their own failures while minimising that cost to the growth of the company. I think that as leaders, we should learn to expect this kind of behaviour from members of our teams and rather than get frustrated by it, learn how to factor it into the development of everyone,” has says.

Leading leaders
According to Moses Ssesanga, the head of human resource Nation Media Group Uganda, one of the hallmarks of leadership is a leader accepting to be led. He recommends author Kevin Daum’s tips prescribed for leaders leading leaders which are; listening, persuasion rather than giving orders, having dialogue, transparency and walking the talk.

Humility
Mr Samuel A. Bakutana, a human resource and leadership consultant, says the best response to this possibility is humility.
“Why are you incensed that someone else is better than you? You don’t have to win every battle as a leader. If those you lead think they’re better than you, chances are that they are.
Appreciate their growth, create platforms for them to utilise their ability, and celebrate their progress. Often, this will win them over.
Trying to pull them down, on the other hand, breeds internal disharmony, team fractures, and mission defeat. Be humble and learn from them if you’re to lead them,” he says.
Mr Bakutana urges leaders to acknowledge the goodness and competence in others. If we focus on the fact that people think they’re better than us, we get blinded to the reality that sometimes they actually are,” he says.
He adds that if after your honest evaluation, you find that they are not as knowledgeable as they think they are, then just focus on proving them wrong by executing your duties excellently.

Don’t argue
“They say never argue with an unwise person because spectators may not notice the difference! Refuse the urge to exchange words or speak sense into their heads, or go into lengthy discussions to prove yourself. It is futile and an effort in vain,” Bakutana adds.