“If you hire them, they’ll cause you trouble.”

Have you ever received a warning from someone about a potential new hire?

I have, on several occasions.

Here’s a short story of one hire in particular that sticks out in my mind --

Just as I was making the decision to hire this person, someone warned me -- “If you go with them, they’ll cause you so much trouble.”

I asked a few follow-up questions to learn the specifics of why this person was so much “trouble.”

And came to the conclusion that the “trouble” in question was…

a simple disagreement.

That was it.

Now, just so we’re all on the same page: 👋 DISAGREEMENT ≠ TROUBLE 👋

I hired this person, and his honesty and critical thinking skills proved to be incredibly valuable.

As a leader, if your team feels comfortable enough to disagree, it’s a gift that they are giving you.

Please treat it as such.

I’ll leave you with some food for thought — this quote from Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize Winner: “Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.”

By the way, if you’re looking for some helpful leadership tools to help you hone your one-on-one skills and be prepared when situations like the one I just described come up, click here.