The person who separates respect from agreement makes honest company more possible.

Most conversations get quieter than they should because disagreement is treated as a withdrawal of regard. If differing is going to cost you warmth, people stop differing, and what you get instead is a room full of pleasant, useless assent. Someone who can hold both at once, plainly opposed and visibly still fond of you, changes what everybody nearby is willing to say. That capacity is rarer than intelligence and considerably more useful in a group.

Say clearly, next time you disagree, that you still think well of the person. Then hold the position anyway, and watch how much more you get told.