Steering Through Resistance

One thing is guaranteed, and that is you'll face pushback. Confusion, doubters, and old ways of thinking will come your way. You'll be questioned, you'll be tested, and you'll feel alone. At times, you might even doubt your abilities.

It'd be great if you could sweep away all this pushback with just one command. But that’s not how it works. Even though you've overcome your own challenges, you can't control every situation. You're not always going to be able to win everyone over, and they're not always going to be open to your ideas.

Here's what you can do: Learn from the greatest wealth of wisdom in history. Whatever pushback you're facing, however new or scary the challenge, many leaders have faced similar ones before. And guess what? There are many books that can help.

“Throughout my career, I've turned to books for guidance and inspiration,” the well-known leadership expert Simon Sinek once said. “Books let us dive into tough topics. We share and discuss different titles at team meetings. When I was starting out, my mentor always recommended a good leadership book. She had trouble putting her advice into words, but she’s the one who handed me Peter Drucker’s ‘The Effective Executive.’”

Books are a great way to introduce new ideas. They help you learn from others' successes and failures. Look for books that will be helpful and share them with your team—read them together, encourage them to read, and put them in common areas. Engage in the ones they're discussing or that are popular in leadership circles.

Let the wisdom of the past guide you and your team. Use books to navigate through resistance and create an innovative and resilient team culture. As a leader, your smartest move is to build an environment where new ideas can thrive despite pushback, powered by lessons learned from history.