Listen to their concerns actively and with empathy and acknowledge them. Make sure the feel heard. Provide clarity around the organizational goals and how the project and the team's objective align with them. Hear them on their feedback on the goals and encourage collaboration on how they can be improved, considering the team's input. It is important to make them feel heard and valued, to ease their concerns. Get agreement on how goals will be updated going forward with their input, as applicable.

It's good to have conversations with people when this scenario occurs. Have discussions with people to understand what they think of the organisational goals and if they have any concerns with those. The more you are willing to listen to them and address their concerns, the more people are likely to work with you and work on those goals. It's probably a good sign that people are vocal about any concerns they have, instead of being silent. The danger for many teams is when their people go quiet and leaders take that as agreement on the goals/expectations.

To navigate skepticism about organizational goals, I would actively listen to my team’s concerns and validate their feelings by creating safe space for open dialogue, encouraging questions and collaborative discussions around the goals. Recognizing that skepticism often grows from a history of organizational distrust, I’d work to build transparency and accountability in our processes. By transparently addressing their feedback and incorporating their insights, we can transform skepticism into shared ownership of our objectives. It’s essential to demonstrate how each goal aligns with our collective values and vision, and foster trust and purpose, turning doubt into alignment and motivating the team to work toward our shared success.

When your team questions organizational goals, view it as an opportunity, not a roadblock! As a servant leader, it’s essential to listen first—really hear their concerns. Greenleaf’s approach is all about empathy and trust, so validate their feedback. Then, as Northouse suggests, involve them in refining the goals. Collaborate to find common ground and align vision with their insights. Turn skepticism into engagement by showing you value their input. And remember, even the apostles questioned Jesus at times—it’s a chance for growth, not conflict! Keep it positive, and you’ll steer toward progress.

Skepticism can be natural. What it comes down to is have you fully unfolded the entire "thing" that your team has skepticism about? Are you transparent and honest? I've always tried to be respectful to my superiors by never minimizing their intent to my team and seeing it through. But I don't try to find ways to expathize with the team in the situation. If I have done my job correctly and led them appropriately, my team will trust me and follow me through this change. And if your team is feeling this way, chances are others in the org. are as well. This is an opportunity to encourage your team to be the spearhead on the change and embrace it. To not be the team that the boss has to worry about or correct because they are lagging behind.