Strong Views, Lightly Held: A Better Way to Think Strategically Together
It’s perfectly fine to have a strong view. In fact, senior leaders should have them.
You don’t get to the top without developing well-formed opinions, sharp instincts, and the confidence to back them. That’s part of the job.
But in strategy conversations, strength isn’t the issue, rigidity is. The problem comes when strong views are held too tightly.
When that happens, strategy becomes a battle of egos. People talk past each other, trying to win rather than understand. The loudest voice or the most polished sounding logic prevails – not the wisest path forward.
Nobody shifts, nobody grows, and the outcome isn’t strategy, it’s submission.
I once observed a team of very highly paid executives literally talk at the empty air in the room, each one trying to sound smarter than the last. Nothing changed, and nothing shifted.
For so many smart people, it was one of the dumbest things I’d ever seen. No wonder their strategy was a confusion of silos that were constantly fighting.
The real shift happens when views are held lightly. Still clear, still confident, but open, flexible and willing to be changed.
Lightly held doesn’t mean vague or weak, it means porous. It means holding space for other people’s thinking to shape your own. It means you don’t need to be right to be valuable.
When that dynamic takes root, something powerful happens – for individuals and for the team. People let go of defensiveness and they start listening with curiosity. They speak with less ego and more care. They become part of a group intelligence that sees more than any one person can.
Strategy becomes a shared act of sense-making – not a competitive debate.
Newness emerges, insight surfaces across the enterprise, and silos soften. People discover patterns, connections, and options they hadn’t seen before.
The team doesn’t just agree, it aligns. You get stronger portfolios, smarter trade-offs, and decisions that hold, because people understand and own them.
Teams that can do this well don’t just have better strategies; they become better thinkers – together. And that changes what it feels like to be part of the team.
There’s energy in the room, respect, and an appreciation for each other’s minds. A sense that something new is possible, that strategy isn’t a tug of war, it’s a space for discovery.
So how do you make this possible? Start by naming it.
Give the team permission to hold strong views, and to evolve them. Signal that changing your mind is not a weakness – it’s maturity.
Model it as the facilitator, the CEO, the chair. Ask people to share their logic, not just defend their position.
Create safety for difference, and don’t rush to closure. As Rilke wrote “live the question”, hold the ambiguity, and don’t rush to answers too soon.
Because when strategic conversations move from persuasion to exploration, what emerges is not just a better strategy – but a better way of working together.
That’s what “strong views, lightly held” really means. It’s a capability every team aspiring for collective high performance should cultivate and protect.
© 2025 Matt Walsh. All rights reserved.