Despite rising to where you are through great decision making, you know you’re not infallible (just ask your partner or closest friend!). Why? Regardless of your position within your organisation, you’re part of a team, and the vast majority of decisions – even those that are for you and you alone – will, in the very least, involve some input from your team.

However, teams are funny ol’ things!

That’s right. Team decision making, whether by consensus or by “captain’s call”, is an interplay of personalities, agendas and assumed understanding, such as, how something will get done or the level of risk being taken. That creates a mosaic of possible (and, at times, unpredictable) outcomes.

And that is why you need to be aware of how you are listening. How you “Deep Listen” as Australian listening thought leader Oscar Trimboli would say. How well you overcome your tendencies, or should I say biases (ouch!). It might be a tendency to overemphasise one team member’s input and underplay another’s. It could be a tendency to anchor to the first good idea or the first number heard. It could be to grab every bit of confirming evidence at the expense of evidence to the contrary.

Don’t catch yourself being unaware. Listen, deeply.