Business leaders and managers at all levels are faced with making 'tough' decisions on a regular basis. This is especially true in today's economic environment.
I have always been fascinated by the process that leaders (both good and bad) go though in making the ‘tough call.’
As an example, I have worked with some leaders who base their decisions on raw emotion (usually the bad leaders); others are gifted with great insight (based on experience) and let intuition be their guide; others base decisions purely on facts; and most good leaders that I have worked with make decisions based on a combination of facts and intuition.
In today's economic environment, there are very few historical precedents or experiences that can fully support a decision that many business leaders are faced with. There are certainly good lessons that can be derived from history, but very few business and political leaders today have first hand experience in leading through the type of environment that we are in today.
What about the facts? Given the rapid and constant change we have experienced over the past four months, many facts become outdated as quickly as they are presented.
So what to do?
Below are three basic steps that I have come to appreciate as I have grown in my professional career. These are derived from both my own experiences and from working with great leaders over the years.
1. First, it is important to understand the 'core issue' associated with the business challenge that you are dealing with and gather as many facts and insights surrounding the issue as possible. At this stage in the process, it is important to separate ‘facts’ from ‘opinions.’
As a leader, you are often presented with 'facts' that are presented to support a specific argument or point of view - which by default make them adverse. This is not to say that these adverse or 'position-based' facts are not valid, but they seldom represent a fully informed view of the core issue that needs to be addressed.
2. Second, it is important to look at your decision options from all angles and perspectives. Many tough business decisions will have a broad affect on your business which might include: brand; reputation; relationships with employees, customers, partners, governments, etc. It is very common to overlook the total impact that a tough decision will have on your business. This is why it is important to consider many options – as you weigh the impact and trade-offs that most important decisions will require.
As a leader, this is where intuition and experience play a big role.
3. Third, it is important to ask a lot of questions. This will help you to understand the options on the table as you make sense of the facts and sift through potential agendas/motives of people involved. Asking the right questions also helps you to measure the risk and impact that your decision will have on your business and with key relationships.
You may even consider speaking with trusted representatives from affected internal or external groups (customers, employees, partners, etc.) to get their perspective. This interaction will also help secure support and buy-in (by all parties) of your final decision once you are ready to communicate.
The ‘tougher’ the decision the more challenges you can expect to face as you communicate and implement. You will need to be prepared to help affected parties understand the rationale behind the decision and even share some of the alternatives considered and why you chose a different path.
These are three ‘basic’ steps that I have found to be helpful in making good and informed decisions.
If all else fails, you can always resort to the good ole’ fashioned coin toss!
Additionally, here is a link to a great paper that I recently found called MAKING TOUGH CHOICES: A SIX STEP PLAN FOR MAKING TOUGH BUSINESS DECISIONS authored by Phil Thompson a business lawyer in Canada. This paper outlines a good and complimentary blueprint for decision making with a bit more detail and additional perspective.
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