A VP of operations who changes her position publicly in a regional meeting after a property manager presents a better argument.
The leader who cannot be moved by a better argument is not decisive.
Decisiveness is the willingness to act with incomplete information and to change course when better information arrives. The leader who confuses decisiveness with immovability has built a decision-making environment where new data stops traveling upward because it has already been shown not to matter.
In multifamily operations, where market conditions, team dynamics, and resident behaviors change continuously, the leader who holds a position past the point where it is supported by current evidence is not protecting their strategy. They are protecting their ego at the asset’s expense.
The willingness to change position publicly, with grace and without deflection, when a team member makes a compelling case is one of the most powerful leadership behaviors available in a room, because it demonstrates that the best idea wins regardless of who holds the title.
She changed her position in the regional meeting after the property manager made a better argument. The room was quiet for a moment. Then it became the most honest strategic conversation that team had ever had, because everyone in the room suddenly understood that truth was welcome there. Be movable. It is not a weakness. It is intelligence.
The leader who cannot be convinced by a better argument has stopped learning. The organization feels that the moment it happens. — Mike Brewer
When did you last change a significant position because someone on your team made a better argument? If you cannot remember, what does that tell you about the intellectual culture you have built?