“I keep trying to type a response, but I think I am going to leave it until Monday,” Nancy wrote to me on Friday afternoon, referencing a customer who was less than 100 percent satisfied with what we’d delivered.
“I think leaving it until Monday is a great idea,” I wrote back.
After jumping on the phone with her about something else later that day, I still thought the issue needed more time. “Let’s discuss it at our Monday morning meeting,” I said.
When Monday morning came, I had a good sense of the road I thought we should take. After presenting it to Nancy, I asked. “What do you think? Does my reasoning make sense? Is the underlying logic of how I arrived at the decision sound?”
“Yes, definitely,” she said. “It feels right, and it’s the response I’m proud to deliver.”
After we hung up, I thought back upon the process that had gotten us to such a good place. I reflected on it even more after Nancy apprised me that the customer was quite happy with our resolution. I wrote to Nancy: “I think if we take a breath and both think something out, we usually come up with a pretty good path forward.”
And therein, I think, lies a good chunk of leadership and decision-making wisdom. I’m certainly not taking credit for inventing it, as it’s come up in dozens of CIO interviews as a best practice. And when one thinks about it, the two parts of the process work quite well in tandem. By that, I mean having the necessary discussions almost forces a slowing-down of the decision-making process.
And let me be very clear that, though I am the ultimate decision maker, it is not always my suggestion which carries the day. For example, when I hear Nancy or Kate say something like, “I feel very strongly about this,” or “My gut is clearly telling me what we need to do,” I listen hard, and would only go take a different path if my gut was exerting an even greater force in a different direction.
I recently read a post by Bill Rieger, CIO at Flagler Hospital, in which he talked about how important good listening is to good leadership. I couldn’t agree more. As a leader, the first step to success is admitting to yourself that you don’t know everything, then understanding that, if you’ve hired well, your key folks are bringing a lot to the table. After that, it’s time to engage them, to not only ask for their input, but require it.
“I need to know what you think — what you honestly think,” I’ve said, knowing I, unfortunately, sometimes frame questions to get the answers I want (not a great leadership quality).
So in short, get the thorny problem in front of your best people and ask them to ponder it. Then reconvene the group and have everyone put their opinions on the table. (Though extreme, Lincoln went so far as to have his cabinet put many of their opinions in writing so they couldn’t disavow them after the fact). Then it’s quite reasonable for the leader to take a little more time to percolate on all the suggestions. Finally a decision must be made — not quickly, but as quickly as reasonably possible. After which the leader must see it through, unless and until it’s clearly not working.
The above is a general outline of good decision making, but there are no clear markers indicating when enough time has passed or when too much time is about to lapse, and therein lies the art of leadership. It’s an art worth studying, because getting it right, or even close, means nothing less than the difference between success and failure.
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