If your leadership team cannot reach consensus, innovation stalls, decisions lose clarity, and execution suffers. Consensus does not mean our decision is 100% unanimous. It means we have a clear decision and rationale that we can support with integrity.
Disagreement is not the enemy — unresolved conflict is. I would like to challenge a common leadership failure: Mistaking strong opinions for a lack of progress. Consensus is not about harmony or compromise. It is the enabler that allows teams to move beyond ego, binary thinking, and win‑lose debates — unlocking better ideas, execution success, and sustainable growth.
You may have heard the old saying “We’ll just have to agree to disagree.” The meaning is that we are calling it quits. No resolution. But… what if there’s a better way? And when we do better, the results speak for themselves. Faster decisions. Less circumvention. No shadow operations. Execution with commitment.
What separates those who leverage disagreement as a strategic enabler from those who see it as a hindrance? In this article, let’s explore what can set you apart in the face of disagreement as you seek to create better outcomes for yourself, your team, and your business.
1. Be Curious — Seeking to Learn Uncovers New Solutions
It sounds obvious but as we become more experienced, more skilled, and more knowledgeable, we risk losing humility. Sometimes, we think we have no more to learn. The first step in effectively facing into a different point of view is admitting and believing “I still have things to learn. I do not know everything.” It may even help to say these words out loud the next time you find yourself in disagreement.
As leaders, we are creating a new future. No one has ever done exactly what we are doing before. So, learning is essential to the job. If you are able to approach any conversation with a mindset of learning, you claim your strategic advantage. Defenses come down, temperatures drop, decision quality improves, and risks are effectively mitigated.
When you approach a conversation with a learner’s mindset, lean in on the learning itself. Ask great questions, seek to understand, imagine what experiences shaped the other person’s point of view. Reclaim that innate desire to learn, expand your world, and know something you did not know before. You will co-create new ideas and new solutions with your team. You will see a path you would not have seen otherwise.
2. Start Small — Identify the Decision That Is Right for Today and Go From There
We often try to tackle the big things first. Put the big things aside. What about the small things? Where do we see eye to eye? What can we agree on? Sharpen the focus here. Small wins unify and strengthen relationships to tackle the bigger things next. These small victories propel us to confidently lean in on important decisions that steer the course of our business.
In the post-COVID-19-pandemic era, many of my clients were struggling to gain consensus on how to get employees to return to the office. I heard a lot of debate. What if people quit? What if they do not want to come? How will we enforce the policy? In many of these conversations, I asked the group to take a step back and consider some closer-in points of alignment that were easier to tackle. What is our strategic goal for our employees? I heard things like collaboration, communication, and culture. The question was then what policy should we start with to move toward this strategic goal? We do not have to solve for the next 20 years but let’s agree to our starting point for the next 90 days. This opened a different conversation with leaders. They felt the freedom to make the best decision on a small initial policy that they could adjust over time instead of trying to solve for the next few decades.
3. Think Beyond Binary — Consider Unconventional Ways to Get to the Desired Outcome
Our minds are trained over years of decision-making, push for productivity, and drive for results to simplify what is coming our way, quickly analyze, make a decision or choose a position and go. The “slow down” to examine positions feels unnatural and cumbersome. The automation of simplify-analyze-act-move to the next thing has been very useful in our professional career. The shortcoming is that this cycle moves us quickly to pick a position and drive it to action. I have lots of other things to do and I need to move this one off the list.
Slow down, engage, give the position room to breathe. Examine, debate, and consider what is behind the position. We see our options as A or B but what about new creative options that combine the best parts of A and B? Can we envision a win/win?
I was once told a story of a small community up north who loved hockey. They had a community hockey rink but were struggling to keep it open with city funds. The city council came together to decide between A) closing the rink or B) keeping it open. Each side shared their position. Lots of raised voices and passion. They debated, they yelled, they voted. They could not reach consensus. It was only later that someone came forward to point out that it was clear everyone cared about the community and had a desire to hold on to what made it special and stay fiscally sound. Why could we not come up with a solution that did both? This person brought forward an option to keep the rink staffed and open for community use specific days of the week and rent it out for special events other days of the week to raise money to offset maintenance and labor costs. Yes. Why did anyone else not think of that?
Be that person. Push the group to share what is most important about their positions and what might be a new, creative solution that delivers a winning scenario for all.
4. Sometimes, Reset — When All Else Fails, Take a Step Back
Time can be your friend. Does consensus need to be reached? If so, does it need to be reached now? If not, taking a step back may welcome new thinking, better perspective, more ideas, and more openness. Do not fear pausing. Sometimes, this can be the best leadership approach. Clarify if and when consensus must be reached, what data or additional intelligence is needed to bring more insight to the conversation. Set an action and a date to revisit with a purpose and a plan. Tomorrow is a new day. Who knows what may come your way that could accelerate this process?
5. Be Effective — Act Consistently With What Matters Most
Here is the question every leader should sit with: Do you want to be right, or do you want to be effective? I cannot take credit for this great question as I picked it up early in my consulting days from more experienced leaders and mentors. It stuck from the moment I heard it.
What is most important? Can I see the forest for the trees or am I stubbornly chopping wood because I like my new chainsaw?
Be the leader who sees the big picture and can release his or her position as he/she chooses something more — commitment, buy-in, and the opportunity to test-learn-adjust, and grow.
Leverage disagreement as progress that moves you forward. If you want faster, cleaner decisions, ask these five questions in your next executive team meeting:
- What decision are we making today and what must be true for it to be a good decision?
- What are we seeking: speed, cost, risk, growth, or something else?
- What data, assumption, or risk is driving our disagreement?
- What decision can we support with integrity as a first step to move things forward?
- When will we review this decision and which leading indicators will tell us to adjust? We reserve the right to get smarter.
How Ankura Can Help
Ankura’s Performance Improvement – Transformation Execution practice specializes in guiding executives to move business priorities to best-in-class delivery. Let us help where you are stuck. Our expert facilitators and organizational change leaders partner with organizations to lead strategic offsite meetings for executive teams that are designed to make material progress on strategic imperatives. We help you move with speed to drive results for your business. Where you see decision gridlock, misalignment, competing priorities, or lack of commitment, we see possibilities. Let’s talk before your next offsite.
© Copyright 2026. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Ankura Consulting Group, LLC, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals. Ankura is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice.
