Oct. 4, 2026

Lately, I’ve been reading dozens of research publications and trade articles on leadership competencies for a literature review.

Strikingly, I have not seen “being right” listed as a competency in any of the leadership frameworks I’ve reviewed so far.

I’m aware this is kind of an unfair thing for me to point out. In many organizations, appearing to always be right is what gets rewarded and promoted, and admitting mistakes is treated as weakness.

But what’s rewarded is not always what serves the organization well. Relatedly, even if helped you reach a leadership position, always being right is unlikely to serve you well in your current capacity.

First, effective decision-making relies on an accurate understanding of the world, especially the parts most relevant to your business situation.

If you can’t admit where you’re wrong, then there is no course-correction, and your model of the world drifts from reality.

Second, even if you genuinely are usually right, that fact in itself can create barriers to effective teamwork and broader collaboration.

One of the most effective ways to gain buy-in from both peers and followers is to yield periodically.

There are a million ways to do this:

• Acknowledge your uncertainty
• Point out the merit in others’ ideas
• Thank others for sharing contrary perspectives
• Allow that the value or effectiveness of your perspective may be situational, rather than absolute
• Be willing to pilot an idea that a junior colleague proposes
• Permit your team to deviate from your time-honored procedures
• Decline to respond again after someone disagrees with you

These all should be easiest to do when stakes are low. In those cases, the only real barrier is ego.