Every so often leaders have to make tough, heart wrenching decisions. It sucks! However, when a leader takes a position on the sidelines and fails to step in when required to make an unpopular call, they will lose all credibility and trust.
As a leader, you are entrusted by shareholders, customers and the team to “do the right thing.” That responsibility always means that you have to do the right thing. The right thing might mean that you have to restructure the business, terminate an employee, tell someone “No,” change a strategy, tighten up processes, implement changes, cancel programs, etc. The list goes on and on. The leader that does not make the decision and act upon it with conviction and purpose will for sure lose in the long run.
Yes, doing the unexpected, unplanned and unpopular may piss-off a few people or even force you to eat your lunch by yourself for a while. The alternative though results in not capturing revenue opportunities, losing customer support or rising unnecessary costs. This will eventually result in the business losing even more in the long run.
As a leader faced with making a tough call, here is my checklist for making the decision easier…
Always falling back to the guidance of your foundational visions, purpose and values will give you the answer and allow you to build a stronger, more stable environment to thrive within.
Leaders that make tough decisions that do not support the values, vision and purpose are destined for failure along with Culture degradation.
