Today's Business Lessons
How bad decisions happen
Leadership is never easy. People desire positions of high leadership
without knowing the many challenges that accompany such titles. Most
people equate leadership with high positions, but this is not quite the
case and I do have an explanation for this.
These people are focused on the perks of leadership; they do not understand the price of leadership.
When you’re a leader, all eyes are on you.
Every person makes mistakes. No one is exempted from making wrong
decisions. When you were a junior, you probably got some tongue lashing
or a memo.
As a leader, you get the blame for every mistake. The entire team
criticizes and comments against you. Your bosses start to doubt your
capabilities and you begin to doubt yourself as well.
I’ve made many bad decisions when I was building my career as an
executive in the companies I worked for and I’ve also made many bad
decisions as an entrepreneur. But thankfully, over the years I have
learned to recognize the warning signs of a bad leadership decision.
This is the value of evaluated experience.
Perhaps you might find these warning signs helpful, but please do
consider the context. These are just hints and not foolproof. But should
this list of hints help you make better decisions and avoid bad
decisions, then I’d be glad because it has attained its goal.
1. YOU ARE ANGRY AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A DECISION.
Important decisions need some “think time” before they are handed
out. Never make a major decision at the height of your emotions.
Sometimes you need to sleep it out because if you angrily churn out a
bad decision right away, then you may have to spend more sleepless
nights trying to fix it.
2. YOU WANT TO MAKE A DECISION WITHOUT CONSULTATION.
Do you know what the Scriptures have to say? In the wisdom book
Proverbs 15:22, the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, said,
“Plans fail for the lack of counsel. With many counselors, plans
succeed.
3. YOU ARE TAKING YOUR SWEET TIME TO MAKE A DECISION.
This is the antithesis to the first hint. A decision that is slow in
the making is tantamount to not giving a decision at all. There are
leaders who always want to play safe and analyze all information that
without which, they won’t be able to make decisions. Remember, some
decisions need to be made deliberately but carefully.
4. YOU CONSIDER MAKING A DECISION BECAUSE IT IS POPULAR.
Leaders are not called to be popular; they are called to be effective
and responsible. If you make a decision because it would make everyone
happy, then you might be settling for less than the best. Sometimes,
leaders have to make unpopular decisions that might upset people but do
well for the organization.
5. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A DECISION BECAUSE IT IS CONVENIENT AND EASY.
Some decisions are easy to make, most decisions simply aren’t. Some
decisions will cost money, time and personal energy. Do not choose
convenience over effectivity.
6. YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A DECISION BUT YOUR GUT TELLS YOU OTHERWISE.
Your experience, knowledge and wisdom have developed the “feel” for
reading and understanding certain situations. You have a gut for a
reason.
7. YOU WANT TO MAKE A DECISION THAT BENEFITS YOU AND NOBODY ELSE.
This is the worst thing any leader would do. The moment you choose
personal advantage over ethics and values, you lose respect. Your people
might not be able to trust you anymore and this could be the end of
your leadership career.
The world is changing. Everything is in a constant state of change and leaders are the change catalysts.
Leaders have to make both easy and hard decisions. Wrong decisions
are inevitable, but if these are made with the best intentions for the
organization, then they are acceptable. But when bad decisions are made
for personal advantage, then you know you have a problem.
Competence is basic requirement for leadership and so is a good and ethical character.
After all, the essence of leadership is not about dictating to
others, but serving them for the better. This essence makes decisions
right.
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