This is something I've often struggled with before I joined Facebook, and it's something I occasionally grapple with there too. Like you, I felt I was usually

This is something I've often struggled with before I joined Facebook, and it's something I occasionally grapple with there too. Like you, I felt I was usually correct, but had come to the realisation that not only was I occasionally wrong in short-term hindsight (just after the fact), but sometimes only in longer-term hindsight (ie, after I'd learned some lessons further down the road). Ultimately, it comes down to trust and teamwork. I had a much longer post, but: a) Make sure you are doing what you believe to be the right thing for the company as a whole, and that you're armed with as much information as is easily obtainable about it to inform your strong opinion. b) Then, if you are able to believe that the people around you are doing what they believe to be the right thing for the company as a whole (even if you might need to remind them that they should do that) based on the information (and you might need to help them understand what you have discovered) and experience available to them, then your life will be a lot less stressful than if you're the guy that feels they always need to steer the ship. It's also something I've learned more and more about leadership and mentoring: a) It's hard to learn lessons if you're not making mistakes. Telling people how to avoid mistakes in one case doesn't help them learn how and whether to try avoid them in future. b) Choose your battles - expend your influence capital on the most important thing, and don't transform from that person that's been a great help in the past to that person who just tries to meddle in everything.