Leadership and The Art of Making Hard Decisions Look Easy

A Bonus Feature for This Week!

Dear readers,

As the summer comes into clear focus with the arrival of the Memorial Day weekend, I face different decisions about how and where I want to spend my time. I've been taking a lot of short hikes and exploring some of the natural wonders not far from my backyard. I also like exploring interesting gathering places where I have found interesting people and engaging in good conversation, wine, and music while enjoying the warm sunshine outdoors. These distractions are valuable, good for my soul, and a great source of inspiration for new essays.

In honor of the holiday and my recent burst of thinking, this week offers a double feature. It is reminiscent of heading to the drive-in theater on summer evenings with my wife, kids, and dog - and finding that I often enjoyed the experience as much, if not more, than what was on the screen.

This bonus essay will help you cue up the decisions you are pondering and the things you choose to observe and celebrate.

I wish you a week filled with new insights and opportunities for growth!

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Leadership and The Art of Making Hard Decisions Look Easy

The great weight of leadership rests on decisions. We rely on leaders for sound choices, especially when they are tough. Very little has to do with anything else. Some matters require specific authority, but many, if not most, can be delegated, provided the leader decides to. However, the most critical decisions can’t be delegated, and those who shy away from this fundamental necessity of leadership often fail.

Decisions are about more than just the specific issues they address. The process is often complicated due to the context, not the content. There is a clear link between decisions and results. In most cases, good decisions yield positive outcomes, and bad choices lead to negative ones. However, it's in the grey areas that things get complicated. Sound decisions can sometimes lead to unfavorable results when all outcomes are relatively undesirable, and it's impossible to discern the better options at the moment of decision.

More confounding is when poor decisions render good results. We liken this to getting lucky. I can think of times when I have been unprepared to attend to a situation only to find it has resolved itself. Had I known there was no need to prepare, there would have been no decision to make. Dumb luck can serve leaders as well as the rest of us. Luck is unavoidable but beneficial in many decisions, but counting on it isn’t wise. There are times when facing dismal odds with few, if any, good choices. The approach, “Hey, we might just get lucky,” may be your best choice.

Decisions weigh heavily on leaders because of the intrinsic conflicts that make them fraught. Being diligent means assessing the needs, the available data and information, the risks of failure, and the need for timeliness. The most crucial decisions leaders face often must be made without the benefit of sufficient time to thoroughly investigate all options, disambiguate the complexities, and weigh the uncertainties. The US War College labeled this condition as VUCA, an acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. They were applying the concept to changes in warfare tactics that rendered traditional command and control ineffective. Still, it fully applies to the decisions most businesses face today.

In my experience working with business leaders, the solution to making good decisions in a VUCA world is to move away from reactiveness and become more creative and resourceful.

Leaders who succeed more often are those who master emotional intelligence, garner trust by being sufficiently transparent when they can and honest about why they are not, can elicit debate and collaboration, and think in the context of complex systems rather than simple solutions. It is challenging to do so, and this is the actual weight leaders carry with them. But that load lightens as you develop the strengths that will make you a more resourceful and effective leader. This will take time and may require some guidance, but choosing to do so may be the best decision you can make today.

You can access over 150 other pieces on business leadership and related topics at the ALPS BLOG at ALPSLeadership.com.

If you would care to share your thoughts or engage in thoughtful dialogue on any of the topics covered or anything about your experience or questions you may have. In that case, I welcome the opportunity to speak with you via phone or Zoom. You can also always write me, and I will always respond.

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Have an outstanding week!

Philip R. Liebman, CEO ALPS Leadership