Disagreement – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

A team that never argues may simply be silent

In my work as a coach and consultant, I see the same scene play out again and again. A director presents a plan at a team meeting, asks if anyone has comments, and the room answers with silence. Everyone nods. The meeting wraps up early, and he leaves convinced the team is on board. Ten minutes later, in the hallway and on chat, the real conversations start: "that’s not going to work," "nobody asked operations," "here we go again." What nobody said in the room gets said outside it, where it does no good at all.

Many leaders mistake harmony for the absence of disagreement. They celebrate quiet meetings and get uneasy when things heat up a little. Yet a team that never argues doesn’t necessarily agree. Often it’s just keeping quiet, and that silence is expensive: the best ideas never surface, risks show up late, and commitment to decisions is only skin deep.

High-performance teams stand out because they can think differently out loud without breaking apart. They know how to challenge ideas without attacking people. They put tension on the table where everyone can see it. And once a decision is made, everyone backs it, including those who argued against it, because they were truly heard.

None of this happens by accident. Healthy disagreement needs solid footing, and that footing is shared purpose. When we all know why we’re here, pushing back stops being a threat and becomes a contribution. I push back because I care about getting there. When the purpose is fuzzy, every disagreement turns into a power struggle, and keeping your head down looks like the smart move.

This is where leaders carry a responsibility they can’t hand off. The team watches closely what happens to the first person who dares to say "I disagree." If that person gets an irritated look, a sarcastic comment or a quiet penalty, nobody else will risk it. If they get curiosity and thanks, the door swings open. Something as simple as asking "what are we missing?" or "who sees this differently?" changes the conversation. And asking the person who usually says nothing for their view can surface exactly what was missing.

There’s personal work here too. To take disagreement well, I have to stop treating my proposal as an extension of myself. If every objection feels like an attack, my team will pick up on it and play it safe. Humility means holding your view firmly while staying open to changing it when a better one comes along. That balance can be practiced, and it’s one of the shifts that does the most to change how we lead.

When was the last time someone on your team openly told you they disagreed with you?

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. If you’d like your team to learn to disagree without falling apart, drop me a line. It’s one of my favorite conversations to partner on.

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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