Word-Of-the-Week #706: Rebuttal

February 15, 2018 by  

Rebuttalthe act of refuting by offering a contrary contention or argument. 

Last week’s WOW on Credit caused a bit of a stir at home, as the love of my life Chris, totally disagreed about taking credit. And so being an equal opportunity publisher I am sharing his perspective this week.

In a leadership context it is so important to be able deflect the credit for a successful outcome to others rather than take credit yourself. Think about it, if you are the “boss” you are ultimately accountable for the outcomes, good or bad. What is the point then of publicly taking credit for them?  

It is far more important to take responsibility for making others successful. There are no limits to how far a person can go or how much he/she can accomplish as long as we don’t mind who gets the credit.  

If you truly accept that each person contributes to the whole and you’ve let go of your large ego you’ll easily be able to share the wealth and give others the credit. The truth is the need to “take credit for something” just satisfies your ego. It’s like saying “I’m right and you’re wrong.”

As a leader, your most import job is building character and growing potential in others not in showing how important you are. Resisting the need to feed your ego is a very cathartic experience. In the long run it’s the right thing to do!” 

And just for the record I got a lot of positive feedback from readers who wrote, “Ok this one was written for me! I’m going to work on answering those questions. Thank you for your posts and support.” And “Great WOW Susan! It’s so easy to put the “but” behind our accomplishments. Thanks for the positive reminder!” 

Maybe taking credit is more of a gender issue? Do you think women tend to discredit their accomplishments or abilities more than men do? Or is it as Chris said, “It’s all about having confidence in yourself. You know it deep down and so it’s just more important to help others gain that same confidence by giving them credit.”

This week’s focus is on making a rebuttal. How comfortable are you in offering a contrary contention or argument? How accepting are you of receiving a rebuttal?

I LOVE REBUTTALS! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.

Comments