A Leader is NOT a searcher for consensus

Design by committee leads to poor decisions. This is as true in product interaction design as it is in organizational design.

A Leader is NOT an ignorer of consensus

Ignoring consensus – this is when a leader either not asking, or not taking the opinions of those they serve seriously. This will inevitably lead to a disenfranchised / disinterested team that relies on you to make all of the decisions. It is an absolute fact that no one person has enough context, skill, or knowledge to make all of the right decisions. This is a vital reason we have teams.

A Leader is a molder of consensus

• Active Listening
• A culture of psychological safety
• A manager strategy based on mission-control and not command-and-control
• High trust, empowered teammates
• Outcomes at the center of every initiative
• A culture that values and executes well on “Disagree, but Commit”

It is exponentially easier to gather or ignore consensus. There is no doubt about that.

However, it is exponentially more effective in the long term, for those who desire to lead to cultivate a culture committed to listening, teaching, empathizing, and mentoring… aka molding consensus.

By no means do I intend this note to indicate that the original MLK quote was lacking in any way. This is intended to be an extension to it, in a specific context… not a replacement.