The Cost of Being Right Too Often

The most successful leaders are often right more often than others.

That is how they get there.

Their judgment is trusted. Their decisions work. Their pattern recognition becomes sharper with experience.

But over time, something subtle begins to shift.

The confidence that comes from being right reduces the need to question. Decisions feel clearer. Familiar patterns start to look universally applicable. And gradually, without noticing, leaders begin to rely more on what has worked before than on what is actually changing.

Being right too often can quietly become a liability.

Not because success is a problem. But because it can slow down a leader’s ability to update their thinking at the pace required by the environment.

This is where coachability becomes critical.

What Coachability Really Means

Coachability is often described as being open to feedback. That definition does not go far enough.

In practice, it is the ability to:

• Stay open when you are convinced you are right
• Notice your internal reaction when challenged
• Actively engage with perspectives that do not match your own
• Update your thinking without losing confidence

It is not about agreeing with others.

It is about staying adaptable when your own thinking feels certain.

When Success Starts Working Against You

Experience is one of the most valuable assets a leader has. It enables speed, clarity, and confidence in decision-making.

But it also creates patterns.

Those patterns become mental models. Over time, these models move from being useful guides to becoming default answers.

In my coaching work with senior leaders, this shows up consistently. Not as a lack of capability, but as a quiet over-reliance on models that have worked well in the past, but are no longer fully aligned to the present.

Leaders are not wrong. They are just not updating fast enough.

What follows is rarely dramatic. It is gradual:

• Decisions begin to look similar across different contexts
• Signals that do not fit existing thinking are dismissed
• Teams stop pushing back and start aligning outwardly
• Strategy sounds coherent but does not fully translate into execution

The cost is not immediate failure. It is reduced adaptability.

What Happens in the Brain

There is a neurological reason this pattern is so common.

When our thinking is challenged, the brain can interpret it as a threat. The amygdala activates, shifting us into a more defensive state. Our ability to stay curious reduces at exactly the moment it is most needed.

As Daniel Goleman describes in his work on emotional intelligence, this “amygdala hijack” can override rational thinking, even in highly experienced individuals.

There is another layer to this.

The brain does not just defend ideas. It defends identity. For many leaders, being the one who gets it right is part of how they see themselves.

So when an idea is challenged, it can feel personal, even when it is not.

The result is predictable:

• We listen to confirm, not to understand
• We dismiss too quickly
• We reinforce existing beliefs

Coachability is the ability to notice this pattern and choose a different response.

A Practical Way to See It: The Coachability Loop

Coachability is not abstract. It follows a pattern that can be observed and practiced.

Input

You invite or allow challenge. You hear perspectives that are different from your own.

Reflection

You pause long enough to examine both the input and your internal reaction.

Integration

You update your thinking where needed.

Application

You act differently as a result.

Most breakdowns happen in the reflection step. Leaders move from input to action too quickly, carrying forward the same assumptions.

Why This Matters for Speed, Not Just Quality

There is a common belief that openness slows things down.

In reality, lack of coachability is what creates hidden delays.

When leaders are overly certain:

• Issues surface late
• Teams hesitate to challenge
• Decisions require multiple revisions
• Execution drifts before it is corrected

When leaders are coachable:

• Problems surface earlier
• Conversations are more direct
• Alignment happens faster
• Fewer cycles are needed to reach clarity

In environments where results are expected quickly, this difference compounds.

Research by Amy Edmondson on psychological safety shows that teams perform better when people feel safe to speak up and challenge. That safety is shaped largely by how leaders respond when they are questioned.

Coachability at the top creates speed across the system.

Recognising the Patterns

The challenge with coachability is that the gaps are rarely obvious.

They show up in small, everyday moments.

A few questions can help surface them:

• Do I seek out perspectives that challenge my thinking, or those that validate it?
• How often do I change my view after a meaningful discussion?
• When was the last time someone genuinely influenced my thinking?
• What happens internally when I am challenged?
• Do people around me feel comfortable disagreeing with me?

These are not signs of weakness. They are indicators of how adaptable a leader is in practice.

The Organisational Cost

When leaders become too certain, organisations become less adaptive.

Not because people lack ideas, but because fewer ideas are allowed to challenge the dominant thinking.

Strategy then becomes something that is agreed upon, rather than something that is tested and refined.

Execution suffers not due to lack of effort, but due to misalignment that was never fully surfaced.

In many organisations, the turning point is not a new strategy. It is a shift in how leaders engage with challenge. Once leaders become more coachable, alignment improves without additional layers of process.

Building Coachability in Practice

Coachability is not a personality trait. It is a set of habits.

Leaders can strengthen it by:

• Actively inviting challenge, not just feedback
• Listening without immediately responding
• Taking a moment to process before deciding
• Making it visible when they change their mind

There is a useful parallel in Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset. Leaders who see their thinking as something that can evolve are more likely to adapt effectively in changing environments.

Organisations can support this by:

• Valuing learning alongside performance
• Creating forums where challenge is expected
• Recognising thoughtful dissent, not just alignment

Over time, this shifts how decisions are made.

A Final Reflection

Being right has value.

But staying effective over time requires something more.

The leaders who continue to perform at a high level are not those who are right most often. They are the ones who realise, early enough, when they might not be.

A simple question can make the difference:

What might I be missing?

Leaders who ask this consistently do not just make better decisions. They create environments where better decisions become possible.