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How to Disagree with a Superior: Recommendations
Anneke Zwart, Student (University), Netherlands, Moderator
Disagreeing with someone who is more powerful than you (e.g., your manager) can put you in a difficult situation. You have to carefully think about WHAT to say and more importantly the WAY you express your disagreements.
 Gallo (2016) puts forward 9 tips with regard to disagreeing with your manager:
- BE REALISTIC ABOUT THE RISKS: Because people tend to think in worst-case scenarios, they overestimate the risks involved in openly disagreeing with their superiors. You should also think carefully about the risks of NOT 'speaking up'. After that, you can more realistically weigh the possible positive and negative outcomes.
- TIMING: Once the above risk assessment concludes that speaking up is the better option, then it is important to carefully think about the timing...
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How to Disagree with the Superior
anuradha, Career Consultant, India, Member The above mentioned points are absolutely relevant. However, I would like to add that the points to be discussed with the superior can be accentuated ... |
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Don´t Disagree; Instead Ask a Key Question
Javier Elenes, Business Consultant, Mexico, Member I recommend you do not disagree with a superior.
Rather, enrich his/her thinking process with a KEY QUESTION in relation to the effects of his/he... |
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How to Disagree with a Superior
David Lee, Business Consultant, United Kingdom, Member Anneke and the subsequent responders provide a comprehensive technique for handling the challenge of disagreeing with a superior. All I would add, as ... |
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Healthy Debate May Resolve
srinivas, Lecturer, India, Member A subordinate in disagreement may be having a valid point which is critical to decision making. If the argument is not based on facts then it may be c... |
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Disagreeing with Superior
Bashe, Manager, South Africa, Member Great article. I recently used the 9 points, in particular remaining CALM and being FACTUAL. Always stay RESPECTFUL but state your concerns.... |
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Disagreement with your Supervisor
Afshan Ali, HR Consultant, Pakistan, Member It is useful to ASSESS THE USUAL LEADERSHIP STYLE of your supervisor before starting a disagreement. An |
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Disagreeing with a Superior
Dwarica, Student (University), Trinidad and Tobago, Member Interesting article.
Sometimes we should assess whether or not expressing our disagreement COULD ACTUALLY RESULT IN A CHANGE of the opinion of th... |
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Balthasar Gracian's Quote on Advising a Prince
Adrian Green, Coach, United Kingdom, Member @Nathalie De Broux: Hello Nathalie! I trust all is well with you. Nice to see you on this discussion forum! The speech to which @C.L. Kappagomtula re... |
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Diplomacy is Key
Benjamin Motlhabane, Consultant, South Africa, Member I see a lot of disagreements in my current place of employment. It is not healthy at all. Some people tend do it to show off and unfortunately some ma... |
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Agree to Disagree
Kabesha, Zambia, Member First state the point of view of your superior and reengineer it by presenting new solutions. Confidently and respectfully backup your facts with evid... |
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A State of Equanimity by the Boss is Key
srinivas, Lecturer, India, Member There is a saying that to maintain a good relation one has to follow the following principle "Satyam bruyat, priyam bruyath. Na bruhi satyam apriyat".... |
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Superiority Itself is Debatable
oostvoorn, Coach, Netherlands, Member I’m convinced that no person is superior to another. Of course there are people who are more powerful than you (and might be in a position to harm you... |
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Disagreeing with the Boss/Superior
Dil Prasad Shrestha, PhD, Management Consultant, Nepal, Member I think it depends on the NATURE OF THE JOB and the legitimacy of POWER/AUTHORITY the superior has.
For example, in developing countries, the cas... |
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Disagree versus Experience
Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed, Management Consultant, Pakistan, Member If the supervisor is experienced, (s)he can raise an OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS DISAGREEMENT. He should explain and give confidence to express disagreemen... |
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Polite / Friendly
Sascha A. Carlin, Manager, Germany, Member Hi all… Anneke, what you listed is how anyone should behave when disagreeing with anyone else - at least in a white collar setting - regardless of you... |
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Analyze the Situation and its Impact Objectively
Chander Shenoy, Business Consultant, India, Premium Member Galo's tips are quite comprehensive and very relevant. To disagree with your boss is one thing, expressing it is yet another. So when you disagree, y... |
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How to Disagree with a Superior
William Stadler, Manager, United States, Member This is a valuable lesson and all the feedback here is relevant. It seems we all face the challenge knowing when to speak in opposition. It's probably... |
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Superior is Probably more Experienced
Nagarajan.S, Manager, Singapore, Member Practically your superior should be someone that is more experienced than you. That's probably the reason why he/she is on top of you in the organizat... |
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How to Disagree with a Centralized Superior/Boss
RAJNARAYANAN B, Teacher, India, Member While having all these thoughts we also need to consider the superior style, since some people always tend to be centralized (autocratic). Being a lea... |
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Quote from Steve Jobs on Smart People
Engel, Project Manager, Germany, Member Beside all the wise advises about integrity and timing just a quote from Steve Jobs:
"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell... |
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Disagreeing with your Superior
NYAMEKA MAKITSHI, Manager, South Africa, Member First it is important to understand what the Superior meant by his arguments. Then one can accept what he or she says, but during the discussion raise... |
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First Agree to Disagree with your Superior
Abu Bakarr Dumbuya, Student (MBA), Sierra Leone, Member It is no crime to disagree with your superior, but the basic rule is that first we should agree to disagree. Then expressing the disagreement could be... |
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Create a Document (Handout)
S. Lago, Business Consultant, Canada, Member I agree with the above comments that have been made regarding how to effectively disagree with a superior. The conversations one has depend on what th... |
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Disagreeing with the Superior in Writing
Andre-Ambrosio ABRAMCZUK, Teacher, Brazil, Member Once I heard about a boss who allowed his subordinates to disagree with him if they presented their reasons in writing. One day, one of the subordinat... |
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Disagree with the Organisation in Mind
Musiyandaka Donna, Student (University), Zimbabwe, Member When disagreeing, it is also important to think of the effects of what you want to say on the organisation's goals and productiveness. Orient the poin... |
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No Best Way to Disagree with any Superior
Gavril, Management Consultant, Albania, Member I worked with both open minded superiors as well as the opposite type. Lessons learned are important to understand the specific circumstances of any c... |
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To Dissent is Part of Loyalty
Delfor Ibarra, Consultant, Argentina, Member However, it is the way of transmitting dissent that makes it fertile or conflicting. While it is the superior himself who should filter the value of t... |
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Disagreeing with a Trump-like Superior
Borje Vickberg, Sweden, Member Interesting ideas and reflexions. However as was mentioned by others, there are limitations depending on the character of your superior.
Think ab... |
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Gracias Francis!
Delfor Ibarra, Consultant, Argentina, Member @ Francis: It is possible that my point of view in Spanish does not reach to express my total agreement with your vi... |
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How to Disagree with a Superior
Leslie Leckie, Student (University), Jamaica, Member It is indeed important for staff members to realize that they can actually disagree with superiors. However, it is also important to know one's superi... |
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