It’s harder for people to disagree with you because you are the owner of the business. Not because they lack ideas, but because they assume you won’t want to hear them. Maybe they saw someone speak up once and get shut down. Maybe they themselves were shut someone down once. Maybe you didn’t even realise you did it.
Power changes how your words land, even if your intention is good. If you want people to challenge you, you have to make it easier. Slow down in discussions. Invite different perspectives out loud. Say things like, “I might be missing something. What do you see differently?” The more you model curiosity instead of control, the more people will trust that it’s okay to speak their mind.
It’s also worth remembering that people will take cues from how you treat others, not just how you treat them. If you shut down one person’s dissent, everyone else in the room feels it. If you handle it with openness and clarity, that signal spreads too. The room shifts based on the energy you bring.
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