Connecting to Admired Leadership
Good Leaders Offer Perspectives More Than Opinions
Episode Summary
A conversation with Admired Leadership Partner & Executive Coach, Dr. Suzanne Peterson and Wes Bender from CRA | Admired Leadership, exploring the critical distinction between offering opinions versus providing perspectives as a leader. Drawing from decades of Fortune 500 executive coaching experience, this session reveals how leaders can shift from immediate reactions and judgments to broader, more thoughtful approaches that open up dialogue and improve decision-making. Suzanne provides practical frameworks for when to offer opinions versus perspectives, and how this shift develops both individual leaders and their teams.
Episode Notes
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Key Highlights
- Opinion vs. perspective defined: Opinions are immediate reactions grounded in feelings and bias that often shut down conversations; perspectives are broader views based on data that raise questions and open up thinking
- When opinions are appropriate: Three situations call for direct opinions - time-sensitive decisions, when someone explicitly asks for your judgment, and very high-stakes scenarios where deliberation isn't feasible
- Four question frameworks for offering perspective: "What lens are we using?", "If we thought of this as an X problem instead of Y, how would we approach it?", "What would [person/role] say that we're not seeing?", and "What are we optimizing for?"
- Acknowledge your bias to counter it: Either admit your bias upfront and ask others for different perspectives, or actively seek people with different biases and ask "What would be true if I abandoned my bias?"
- Perspectives early, opinions at decision time: When you have the benefit of time, gather perspectives through questions; when it's "go time" and a decision must be made, that's when opinions are needed
Notable Quotes
- "An opinion is your immediate reaction, grounded in feelings and bias. A perspective is a broader view based on data that raises more questions than answers."
- "Opinions often shut down conversations, especially if you're a leader. If you have a really strong opinion, everyone goes 'well, I'm not going to bother to weigh in.'"
- "When you have the beauty of time, let's get perspectives. If it's go time - high stakes, decision needed - that's where opinions come in."
- "Before you assert an opinion, ask yourself: What am I assuming here? The problem may be misidentified."
- "If you always offer opinions, your team gets lazy - they just wait for you to give the answer. If you offer perspectives, they learn to understand trade-offs and ask better questions."
Featured Speakers
- Dr. Suzanne Peterson is a Partner at CRA | Admired Leadership with over 25 years of experience coaching Fortune 500 executives. Known for helping leaders shift from "here's what I think" to "here's what you might not be seeing," she specializes in expanding how leaders see their challenges and opportunities. Her work focuses on high-performance coaching with teams already operating at top levels who want to get 10-20% better.
- Wes Bender serves as a facilitator and thought leadership coordinator at CRA | Admired Leadership, helping to connect practical leadership insights with real-world application through webinars and educational content. A proud Tennessee Volunteers fan navigating parenting teenagers.
Resources Mentioned