How to Turn Pushback Into Progress: Three Tips
In this short video, learn how leaders can handle pushback in ways that actually build team trust.
Employee pushback can be painful for leaders to deal with and create tension on teams. But it’s possible to harness pushback and turn it into a force for organizational good, says Phillip G. Clampitt, the Blair Endowed Chair in Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and coauthor of the MIT SMR article “Five Ways Leaders Can Turn Pushback Into Progress.”
Clampitt’s article ranks as one of our most popular, so we decided to find out more about this feat of managerial jujitsu. In this brief conversation, Clampitt explains why leaders need to react skillfully when pushback happens, and how to respond effectively. He shares simple, straightforward techniques and phrases that can help you defuse opposition and even turn detractors into allies.
Video Credits
Laurianne McLaughlin is senior editor, digital, at MIT Sloan Management Review.
M. Shawn Read is the multimedia editor at MIT Sloan Management Review.