I have always told my mates that I expect them to question me. That practice allow me to sometimes make a better decision. It’s good training. It builds the competence and confidence of the mates, especially those who aspire to become captains themselves. It makes me a better captain by being willing to listen to mates who might disagree with me for good reasons.
I learned this myself from the excellent mentors that I had coming up. The foundation of this is that I’m not afraid to be wrong. Being a captain should not be a power trip. It must be about the safety of the crew, the vessel, and the cargo. A one-man show almost always has a detrimental impact on safety, and always has a negative impact on crew morale. A one-man show is an indicator of a person who is terrified to reveal that he is as human as everyone else on board.