By Andrew Swinand, CEO of the Inspired Thinking Group
A mentor once advised me, “When you’re a junior leader, you get to make good and bad decisions – and your good decisions will be celebrated. But when you’re a senior leader, all the good decisions are taken, and all that’s left are bad and bad decisions.”
In the most senior positions, the remaining decisions are those no-one else wants to make. John F. Kennedy (JFK) called these the “hard and unpopular decisions necessary for our survival.” Faced with a scenario such as laying people off or losing money, business leaders have a responsibility to bear unpopular decisions in the greater interest of the organisation.
Sometimes, the best (or only) choice is the least bad option. Often, the best decision we can hope to make is one that we can live with, the one that’s fair to as many people as possible. The question then becomes: How do you make the best bad decision?
Making use of the best ‘bad’ decision
Tough decisions are a zero-sum game; there’s seemingly no end to the dilemmas facing leadership today. Deciding whether to return to the office or adopt a hybrid work model is a classic case of limited alternatives.
Those with families who have found a manageable work-life balance at home may feel forced into the office. Team members struggling with loneliness or disconnection from their colleagues may be uncomfortable remaining fully remote. You simply can’t please everybody.
However, some guardrails can help leaders make the best bad decision. Having a concrete vision of where your organisation is headed and a clearly defined set of values helps make the most of a difficult situation. You need to be able to live with your choice. When your choice does not align with your values, it’s not a bad choice with a purpose – it’s just bad.
Understand the trade-offs
In a world full of bad and bad decisions, understanding the trade-offs of any choice will help guide you to the best one. Here are the core principles that can help you make the best bad decision possible:
1. Move from a place of transparency
No matter what choice you have to make, studies show that clear communication of vision positively impacts employee response. Without communication and actively deployed values, leaders can make bad decisions worse. Although leadership is responsible for making final calls, the outcomes don’t only affect them. For this reason, it’s important not to make critical choices in a vacuum.
2. Remain open to the gift of feedback
Always seek the input of mentors. Your willingness to seek counsel will not undermine your leadership credibility. Having a mentor and seeking feedback from peers can help leaders understand both sides of an issue and the trade-offs involved.
3. Prioritise your people
Another guiding principle is to talk to those affected. People perceive doing so as a sign of competence, especially when the task is complex and those consulted are experts in their fields. In the face of difficult decisions, employees feel valued and heard, creating a resilient organisation that can withstand unforeseen disruptions.
Remaining true to your company’s values is the most crucial element of decision-making. The primary goal is to put those values into action.
Principles in practice
Imagine you’re part of an industry founded on creativity and talent, such as advertising. As a leader, how do you deal with demanding clients? Challenging clients, whose accounts may be highly profitable for the company, can leave teams feeling depleted. Do you bleed money, or talent? In a creative agency, people are often the most precious asset. With that in mind, the decision is clear – those difficult accounts should be resigned.
The key is to approach business relationships in a supportive yet profitable way for both your client and your teams, while also remaining mindful of the tension between tough accounts and the risk of employee burnout. The problem with bad choices is not the degree of difficulty, but whether the outcome will be fair. To make choices, consider the cornerstone of your vision. If your organisational values are built on prioritising the success of your people, remember that healthy teams make a healthy company.
To lead is to choose
The most complex decisions are subjective. Objective data analysis doesn’t yield clear-cut solutions. Leaders who evaluate decisions ethically and morally are better equipped to navigate disruption when it inevitably hits, and having a methodology in place ensures leaders avoid making the worst lousy decision or, even more detrimental, making no decision at all.
Kennedy famously had two teams draft opposing approaches to handling the Cuban Missile Crisis. This empowered him to assess all options. In doing so, he rewrote the rules on decision-making. To paraphrase him: “to lead is to choose and it’s our responsibility to centre our executive decisions around our values.”
