Good Leaders Offer Perspectives More Than Opinions

In a world full of opinions, the best leaders recognize the superior value of a perspective. While both opinions and perspectives guide choices and decisions, there is a world of difference between them. 

An opinion represents a belief or judgment about a topic or issue that is grounded in feelings, emotions, and values. Opinions are fast on the draw. They can be formed quickly by drawing on a slice of experience or a select piece of data.  Because opinions are personal judgments of how certain facts compare to your beliefs and values, they are often full of bias and lack objectivity. 

The power of belief means opinions can quickly become firm and fixed, stifling any new thinking on a topic. Of course, anyone can have an opinion, no matter how poorly formed or supported. It’s easy to have an opinion on issues you know virtually nothing about. 

Perspectives, on the other hand, commonly draw from multiple sources of data and incorporate a slate of facts that hang together. They don’t impose the finality of an opinion but rather offer a larger view about how to engage an issue. They are most commonly formed over time by experience, past outcomes, and the knowledge derived from both.  

When leaders are quick to offer their opinions, they constrain how issues, problems, or opportunities are viewed. The status and authority of leaders make their opinions carry more weight than they should. Team members often accept and adopt the leader’s opinions to the detriment of decision-making and open discussion.  

Leaders who prefer to offer perspectives will instead broaden the conversation and allow for multiple judgments to find a place to latch onto. The best perspectives raise more questions than answers, allowing a group to find their way to a great decision or discussion by starting from a vantage point that elevates what is important to consider. If opinions lay out distinct judgments, then perspectives offer a way of looking at things that require team members to deflect those judgments until the group agrees on how they want to approach the issue. 

In group discussions, the best leaders are more likely to offer perspectives than opinions. By suggesting a perspective before allowing others or themselves to advocate for their opinions, leaders set the table for a healthy conversation and help to eliminate the bias inherent in opinion-driven discussions. 

Because perspectives determine what the team sees and the angle from which they see it, any time a leader offers one they influence what matters most to consider. That’s why perspectives should always come before opinions for leaders.  What’s your perspective on that?