Terina Allen, who covers careers and strategic leadership for Forbes, writes in an article there, the following.
‘Not much undermines leadership effectiveness like surrounding yourself with or creating yes men who fear expressing dissent.’
Paraphrasing, if you over use phrases such as I like to work with “like-minded” people and then wonder why everyone in a meeting is silent, you may be contributing to a culture that stops people from speaking up with their non-like-minded points of view.
Design Kompany agrees with this idea that if you keep people from saying what they really want, or erase their individuality in an effort to control, you lose. You lose and they lose, but you lose: you can’t have a place that’s engaging to work, that’s quality in performance, and that the best of human creativity is getting to come out to play, if you stamp out anything that is too… non-likeminded. [deleted]
Having yes-men is a block. It’s a hindrance to thinking and voicing concerns, preventing big fails, and making sure people feel heard and valued.Allen suggests, pondering this question:
‘How limited will my learning be if I actually only surround myself with those who see eye-to-eye with me all the time?
‘You don’t need to surround yourself with perpetual disagreement either, but it is important to ensure balance for learning and growth.’
[Emphasis mine]