In this solo episode of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast, host Alex Dorr argues that modern teams lose value when members contribute opinions instead of expertise. He defines opinions as gut‑feelings or resistance that focus on why something won’t work, while expertise is data‑driven, evidence‑based, and solution‑oriented. Dorr explains how opinion‑driven input derails meetings, silences other voices, and wastes talent. He offers two practical tools to shift conversations: (1) a simple reframing exercise that turns "we can't because…" statements into "we could if…" statements, forcing contributors to propose actionable solutions; and (2) the SBAR (Situation‑Background‑Assessment‑Recommendation) template, which structures input so that the analysis (Assessment) is grounded in facts, data, and best practices. Throughout, Dorr provides coaching tips for leaders to call out opinion versus expertise, guide team members to locate relevant data, and foster a culture where expertise drives decision‑making. The episode concludes with a call for leaders to validate feelings, eliminate drama, and consistently use these tools to unlock the full value of their teams.
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I can't think of a bigger way to derail your team than allowing this to happen. Welcome to another episode of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Dorr, CEO of Reality-Based Leadership. And today we are talking about something I see leaders allowing into the discussion in their teams that is so destructive, even though they don't always see it as that. And it is the idea of allowing opinions into the conversation instead of expertise. Because here's the truth. This is a core principle of reality-based leadership. Opinions, unfortunately, no longer add value. It's expertise, not opinions that add value. Now, what do I mean by that? In this episode, I want to cover the difference and what's changed. And then I want to give you a couple of tools to be able to, if you have a great team member that wants to contribute, and that's usually the case, is people are really passionate about contributing or they see things that are, uh, not going to be so great about a decision, a change, or something you're doing. But the way they're sharing it is derailing the meeting. It is holding back dialogue. It is shutting down others from sharing. Because of the passion they're bringing to the conversation. And what I would say is that's often they're bringing their opinions instead of expertise. And I know it's going to feel like a play on words, but it is so critical because in reality-based leadership, every one of the tools I teach, every one of the things you're learning on this podcast is trying to pull the expertise out of the talented people you have on your teams. Like we don't want to get talent and get amazing people on our teams. And then have them use the worst of their input to work in the wrong direction. And so that's what this is all about. So let's dive into this and let's start with opinions. First of all, in general, the way I think of it, the difference between opinions and expertise is that opinions often focus on why it won't work or why we shouldn't have to. If I'm sharing it, if someone on my team is sharing it, they're focused fully on why the idea won't work. That's usually going to be opinions. And I'll go deeper into that. Expertise is how it could work given the concerns. And what I think is really powerful about the shift that this episode can help you start doing is where do I see this come up? A lot of teams have someone with a ton of experience. They have a lot of technical expertise and they have technical excellence. They've really, they know where the bodies are buried, so to speak, in your organization. So when you ask them about a system or a process or a legacy you know, software that you have. They do know where to find things or they know who to reach out to across the organization. But they sometimes use that when you're trying to do something new as a way to raise their hand. They play devil's advocate and they do all of that peppering you on why this is not a good idea. Why we've tried it before 10 years ago, why it's not going to work again. And what's in there though, is some gold. Although early in my career, I'd say that's all resistance and that's all just holding us back. And it's all just, you know, Helplessness and not trying to help, but there's usually some gold in there, but it's all opinions. So let's go deeper. So opinions often are biases. It's, I sometimes say it's gut feelings without a framework or a proven process because gut feelings are oftentimes, if I am in reality-based leadership, I'm following good mental processes. I'm really in tune with others. Gut feelings are usually pretty good for you. But sometimes when they're shooting from the hip and someone's like, my gut's telling me this, but they're not very disciplined in how they approach things, usually opinion. Now, expertise on the other hand is backed usually in today's day and age by data, the evidence. It's based on best practice. It's been proven out to work in the analytics and the numbers. It is proven by other companies. This thing is tried and true. It's repeatable. That would be speaking through expertise. And so one thing I've noticed, I don't know if you noticed this, is right now people with the most opinions are actually having the least amount of expertise. And this is a big thing. So how do we then take this situation where someone is really excited, but they're bringing in a lot of opinions and is shutting down conversation. And the rest of the group is like, I don't want to get involved in that hot mess. That person's all fired up. We want to make sure everyone stays engaged in the conversation. So if someone on my team or a group I'm working with is giving a lot of reasons why it won't work, and they are doing what I call bringing the opinions in, I often call a timeout. And the first technique, so simple, you're starting with, we can't because... we can't because 6 or 7 reasons. I want you to reflect for a second. All of us are going to reflect for a second. And I want you to write down, we could If. Now we can't because, now we could if. Now what that framing does, and I like writing it down, is it takes the same concerns, the same input, but it's moved it into moving forward with us expertise. It forces you to say, given these concerns, basically you say, good thing I'm here. I have some expertise to help us move forward given these concerns. On the other side, it was, here's some concerns. I'm not bringing any input into how to fix it. We just need to stop the action. That's opinions. So now, given these concerns, good thing I'm here. I have some expertise on how we could get there. And this is the magic, pulling that from someone that seems to be resistant or just opinionating and now transferring it, shifting the conversation into now they're fully bringing their expertise. That is magical. So that technique of we could, if Is bringing— you immediately move that person that could be the highest contributor into their sweet spot. And that is how we move forward because there's no decision or there's no change that doesn't have some risks. If we only made decisions or implemented changes with no risks, we'd make no decisions. And then we get eaten up by our competition. And so the expertise we need from our teams, and you know this, you need it from your teams, is how could we, given the challenges ahead? risks ahead? How do we navigate it? And that pulls that right out of that, that person's input. Another tool that I want to bring in, and I'll link it in the episode notes, is our SBAR tool. S-B-A-R. It is a Swiss Army knife tool. And what I love about it for when it comes to getting people's expertise to the forefront is it actually in the template drives it. So real quick, the SBAR is S, the situation. They write out the situation or the problem as they see it in one sentence. And that really helps as well, by the way, we talk about ditching the drama. That's what this podcast is all about. It helps that person from getting into the big backstory, what happened 10 years ago, why it didn't work the first time, why it's going to be a disaster again. It's just, here's the situation, the concern. Now what's the relevant background? This is just a nod to be background relevant to our strategy. Are you bringing this up because it pulls away from what we're trying to do strategically or in our key focuses? Or are you just bringing this up and fighting this a ton because it's not your preference? And preference can't trump potential of what our organization, our department, our team's trying to do. So this is where they have to reflect and say, I'm bringing this up and I'm, I got all these concerns because it's, it's going to hurt our strategy. If those are good, now we go to the A. SBA of the SBAR, analysis or assessment. This is all about expertise. And why I love using this tool is if you have someone that is not speaking from the data, the science, the evidence, best practice, the analytics, your internal experts, all of this, you don't tell them that you're bringing your opinions because that's one way to punch the ego in the face is like, you know, those are all opinions. They're not facts. And if you've been in that conversation lately in this world, that never goes anywhere, as you can tell, but it pulls it out of the tool to say, how would you fill out the A? And there's what I love about the template you're going to get from the episode notes is it asks for what to fill out in the A for the individual. So you can just sit there and partner with them on the A, which is, you know, who have you talked to? What are the facts? What's the data? What's our internal process? Are you following that process? What's our SOP? What's best practice? What's the vendor say? So they fill out that A and the A should be the most. And that's really rounding out that analysis with expertise. And that's what, at the start of the podcast, we talked about the difference that drives the difference. Now, sometimes I bring out that tool and here's the key. As I'm coaching and someone says, hey, do you have a minute? And they're bringing up a problem instead of it spiraling into venting, I'm there to help them. And we go through the SBAR. As we get to the A, I go, let's fill out the A. And they're like, well, where would I find that information? I don't even know where you would get data on that. And we actually have it in our internal system. So that's where I can teach and coach that person without schooling them or mansplaining them, as they say sometimes, into here's where we find that information. And that's really exciting because it's that thought partnership. So they, they then can find it themselves moving forward and bring more expertise in the future. So the A in that tool brings that out. Hopefully that's the longest part of the tool because all of that great insight and that expertise leads to a better recommendation, which is the R. What should we do about this? Given this is the change and thank you for all that expertise and that breakdown. Now, what do you recommend, recommend for us? I want to hear from you. You don't have to solve it, but give us the short-term steps, midterm steps, long-term steps. You've been here for 25 years. You have a lot of industry knowledge. You have a lot of expertise. Thank you. So that SBAR ensures that it's not just venting or complaining or stopping the action. It brings out and pulls out all of that expertise in a really effortless way. So we, we could if reframe instead of we can't because, and number 2, the SBAR tool, which I'll link. Those are 2 ways to ensure that your team is not In your organization. I mean, this is a responsibility of us as a leader. Am I speaking from opinions or expertise? I think we reflect on that. And then is my team doing so? Because if we're doing that, I can guarantee you, people might not be telling you, but it's not adding as much value. So if you want to add value, you want to be called to the table to make big decisions and be involved in the things that shape your organization, getting this right is the key. So I hope this episode got you thinking. Find some others that maybe you have a lot of passion, a lot of input, but it's not being heard. That's usually a sign. It's because we're not coming with expertise. We're on the side of opinions. So you got this, hang in there. And thank you so much for listening. And we appreciate you showing up every single day, spreading the word, ditching the drama. And as you know, every single day, it's our job to call people up to greatness, but you can't call someone up unless you're loving people up first. So validate their experience, hear them out, help people feel their feelings and feel frustrated when they feel frustrated, but then don't forget about the call to greatness with some of our tools like the SBAR you just learned. I'll see you on the next episode. Let's keep having some fun.
