America's Benefit Specialist June 2023

THE IMPACT OF CRITICAL-THINKING SKILLS ON EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

By Gordon B. Zellers, Ed.D. InCite Performance Group Ft. Collins, Colorado gordon@incitepg.com

In 1960, John Kennedy was elected to the presidency. Things went very smoothly for the first several months but, in the spring of 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion happened. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed attempt by a group of anti-Castro activists to overthrow the regime. It was covertly financed and directed by the U.S. government under the direction of President Kennedy’s administration. GIVE YOUR TEAMS THE ABILITY TO SPEAK UP. IF THEY HAVE A COUNTERPOINT, REWARD DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT. THE KEY HERE IS COMMUNICATION.

What’s less known about the Bay of Pigs Invasion is that it failed as a result of something called “groupthink.” Group think is when we surround ourselves with others that have very similar viewpoints. As a result, we don’t source alterna tives to solve a challenge. Groupthink can happen in the workplace when we don’t establish an organizational culture that challenges one another and listens to other perspectives. I’ll touch more on this later. President Kennedy’s close group of advisors all believed the mission would succeed and they fell into several traps. First, they didn’t create a culture that made it safe to chal lenge one other. Looking back, Kennedy realized there was pressure on his team to conform around his viewpoint. Second, they never identified all of the challenges, poten tial pitfalls and alternative solutions adequately. The room was no doubt full of alpha personalities, yet none of them challenged the consensus and all conformed without deeply analyzing the risks.

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