Shifting from Deliberation to Confident Action in Leadership

Recently, in this space, I’ve been sharing how executive decision-making is different now and the implications for today’s leaders.

To recap – timelines have forever changed; leaders must now face the reality of needing to make split-second decisions when there is no clear path forward. With the pace at which things are changing in our world, we need to recognize that the cost of delay is much greater now than it was before.

Along with this new approach to decision-making comes a new definition of risk. The higher we move in an organization and the more responsibility we take on, the more we are asked to deal with ambiguity and risk. And in today’s environment, that can be a scary place to be for many leaders.

The Challenge of Decision-Making in Modern Leadership

Why do many leaders struggle with this new paradigm of rapid decision-making? The root of this challenge lies in the contrast between past and present business environments.

Many leaders honed their management intuition during times that were (relatively) stable, where change was predictable, and we valued the certainty that came from riding out the trends.

It often meant following an extended process of evaluating all the available options, partly to assure ourselves that we were on the right track but also to reduce the risk of making the wrong move. Our decisions have consequences – for us and our organization.

The answers, if there are any, are not as clear and straightforward as they were early in our careers.

We are now living in a world where no one knows how to plan for tomorrow. And that demands more action–less deliberation.

We can no longer make minimizing risk the primary focus of our approach to decision-making.

Evaluating risk must now take a back seat to taking in-the-moment action based on confidence in the knowledge that increased risk-taking and making mistakes is more acceptable now.

Every organization is different in how it supports risk-taking and the potential for making mistakes. However, shifting the culture and making this a more accepted practice is rapidly becoming the norm for leaders.

Consider a decision you made recently. Did you stall in moving forward? Did your level of confidence increase as you deferred your decision, or could you have quickly committed to a path forward, knowing that you could reverse course if the situation called for it?

This is what no-regret decision-making is all about. Every decision is a good one—until it is not.

Pushing Boundaries in High-Stakes Leadership: Reframing the True Cost of Comfortable, Cautious, and Autopilot

In a recent post, I covered how to deal with different approaches to decision-making. While this is a natural part of company life, I believe leaders will need to develop specific expertise in this area, given our uncertain and constantly changing environment.

Here’s why.

There’s no question that decision-making is different now. Timelines have forever changed; leaders must now face the reality of needing to make split-second decisions when there is no clear path forward. With the pace at which things are changing in our world, we need to recognize that the cost of delay is much greater now than it was before.

This can be a frightening and anxious place from which to operate. During times of volatility, many leaders default to inactivity, to an overly cautious approach. Their instinct is to hold back, to wait for the horizon to clear, to tell themselves that this is not that different from situations they have experienced before.

But they are fooling themselves if they think that way.

Here’s a scenario familiar to many leaders.

You’ve learned that there are organizational changes coming in your company. Often, this means a new structure, shifting priorities, different ways of operating, and new expectations. You are expected to continue to make decisions and to provide guidance and direction to your team. How do you do that when you literally don’t know which end is up?

My Guidance on Executive Decision-Making

Start by creating a reasonable expectation in your own mind about what you need to decide and when. That includes making the day-to-day executive decisions that keep your team grounded and moving forward. Your approach must move beyond both being stuck (and hoping no one will notice) and leaping toward something that feels easy, known, and comfortable (and hoping it sticks).

This requires the discipline to get off autopilot—to stop and think about what you are facing and not automatically respond based on what you think you know.

It’s tough for leaders to face that they really don’t know what to do, and that’s okay. You need to develop the ability to confidently evaluate alternatives in the heat of the moment, recognizing that you may be headed down a path we have never been before.

Consider a decision you made recently. Was it made on autopilot, or did it push the boundaries of your comfort zone?

In my next post we will talk about another aspect of this – no longer making minimizing risk the primary focus in decision-making.

Related Posts

Decision-Making is Different Now → 

Don’t Hit the “Pause” Button on Executive Decision-Making →

How Can I Improve My Decision-Making Under Uncertainty? →

Leadership Shift #1: A New Model for Decision-Making →

Decision Dynamics: 3 Shifts Leaders Must Make Now – Part 2 →

How to Make Decisions in Uncharted Territory →

Navigating Decision-Making Differences in Executive Leadership →

People are different. Leaders are different. And different leaders have different approaches to making decisions. There’s no one “right way” — but it can be challenging when your own style doesn’t match with your colleague or your boss. Watch Bobbie LaPorte’s July 16 “Calling the Game” video for some tips on how to work together despite these differences.

Strategies for Aligning Diverse Approaches in a VUCA World

My executive coaching clients bring me all types of contemporary issues that they are facing.  When I reflect on these, it seems like many of them come down to a difference of approach in decision-making, often based on an individual’s workplace style – for example, cautious vs. action-oriented – and the situational context for the decision.

For example, you might have a very strong bias to action, wanting to move as quickly as possible to make decisions, execute, and deliver results.

Your manager, on the other hand, might be more cautious, opting to conduct a more thorough analysis of supporting data, carefully weighing all the options, soliciting input from multiple stakeholders…..then another round of analysis, etc. You get the picture.

Or it could be the reverse: you have a more moderate, risk-averse approach while your manager is actively pushing to make a decision and move on.

I am not attempting to over-simplify this: many factors come into play in making decisions. The important distinction here is that both of these approaches are good and have their place in any company at different points in time.

Leaders have different styles in terms of what motivates them, what stresses them, and how flexible they are in different situations. All of that contributes to their approach to decision-making.

Three Clashing Decision-Making Approaches to Consider

So, if you find yourself in a situation when there is clearly a difference, if not an outright clash, in how you and your manager are approaching decisions, here are three things to consider:

1. Try not to react; be objective. Don’t take it as criticism of you personally or of your work.
2. Reflect on whether this is a pattern of clear differences in approach or perhaps more situational.
3. To make a case for your approach, share why you need to move more quickly or more cautiously, as the case may be, and how it will impact your goals and the work of your team, putting it in the business context.

Decision-making can be anxiety-provoking and downright scary in a world where so many of the variables we work with and the context we work in are changing so quickly.

Taking a more subjective, rational view (which I acknowledge can be difficult when you are in the middle of it) will help bring some clarity (and sanity) to the process.

However, having said that, one of the biggest curveballs leaders now face is how the timeline and process for making decisions in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) have changed—more on that in next week’s VLOG.

Related Posts

Decision-Making is Different Now → 

How Can I Improve My Decision-Making Under Uncertainty? →

Leadership Shift #1: A New Model for Decision-Making →

Decision Dynamics: 3 Shifts Leaders Must Make Now – Part 2 →

How to Make Decisions in Uncharted Territory →

How to Communicate Clashing Operating Styles with Your Boss →

Embrace Quick Decisions and Risk in Uncertain Times

Hi, this is Bobbie LaPorte, back with another week of “Calling the Game,” where I share my own experience and insights while giving you valuable tools you can use to call your own game…and plan the best moves for you and your team.

In my book: “When the Curveballs Keep Coming: A Leadership Playbook for an Uncertain World,” I share the three shifts that every leader must make – now. In a previous post, I covered the first shift: that defaulting to autopilot, to old habits that are out of sync with our current environment, limits your ability to see what’s possible in this time of uncertainty.

In this post, I want to focus on the second shift: how leaders need to understand that decision-making timelines have changed.

This means moving quickly from a detailed analysis and exhaustive evaluation of unexpected situations to the possibility of what’s next. And that is uncomfortable for most leaders.

So why is decision dynamics important now?

Because we’ve been trained to approach challenges in a methodical, disciplined way: laying out the pros and cons, gathering data, and creating options and scenarios for consideration.

Then, what follows is usually a prolonged decision-making process that involves appropriate stakeholders, more data and validation, and detailed risk analysis to narrow down the options…and then—hopefully—a decision.

But times have changed. As a leader, you now need to move more quickly through your evaluative and decision-making process.

You can no longer make minimizing risk your primary focus. Increased risk-taking is more acceptable now, as is accepting that mistakes are now part of innovating and trying new things.

Mistakes have less impact now because you can change course quickly if needed, using strategic awareness to move confidently to what is next, what is possible.

Because in a world that’s shifting on a weekly, if not daily, basis, the cost of delay is greater than ever.

Remember: in these times of change and uncertainty, every decision is a good one – until it’s not. 

Okay, that’s it for this week’s “Calling the Game.” Hope this helps you gear up for a great week and navigate any curveballs that may come your way!

Transcript of Your Next Best Move: How to Make Decisions in Uncharted Territory

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly tip for your Best Next Move – where I help you have more agency in your work, acknowledge your capacity to act, and see what you can do right now.

This week I wanted to share a scenario that comes from my new book “When the Curveballs Keep Coming: A Leadership Playbook for an Uncertain World” because I believe it represents a challenge that many of you are facing in a changing and uncertain world.

A new, young VP I was coaching was faced with making some tough decisions about his department’s strategy.  Given all the uncertainty in the business environment that was before him, clearly, this was uncharted territory for him.

Have you ever faced the same challenge – when you need to plan in an environment you have never experienced before and don’t know where to begin?

One option he considered was to use the same process he had in the past; at least he had experience with that, which was more reassuring than starting from a blank slate. After all, he thought: ” I have just gone through a process of proving myself to be promoted. My past experience has value, people have confidence in me.”

And as a new VP, he felt real fear about admitting he wasn’t sure how to proceed; that might open him up to potential criticism from his team, his manager, and his peers.

He went back and forth on how he should proceed – but in the end, he decided to ask his team for input, even though he realized that they were also searching for the same certainty, likely relying on what they had known worked in the past.

And that opened up a conversation when he admitted he didn’t have the answers in this environment – that no one does – and that he needed them to work together and create a new approach.

He knew his team well; while they were young in their careers, they were smart and resourceful. That gave him the confidence they would figure it out together, instead of relying solely on what had worked in the past.

And they did.

But if you look closer at his successful outcome, there are two other elements at play here:

1. He practiced two of the new requirements of strategic leadership: being vulnerable to ask for help; and getting results through others.
2. He knew the strengths and skills of his team well; he was not afraid to ask them to extend themselves to try something new…one of the key elements of leveraging your team’s strengths.

In this environment of continuing change and uncertainty, every day presents some new challenge that you’ve likely never seen before. For most of us, the natural path is to default to what we have done in the past, what is known and reasonable.

But in many cases, the solutions we are seeking don’t exist as we know them – or at least we may not recognize them as familiar and useful as we did in the past.

So, here’s my tip to make decisions in uncharted territory

When you are faced with a new challenge and you don’t know where to begin:  don’t be afraid to admit you are unsure, that you need help. None of us have all the ready answers to deal with the new curveballs we are experiencing every day. And don’t hesitate to start with your team, as my client did.

Part of your job as a leader is to introduce things that others might not feel they could do. We need the skills and talents of everyone to handle the challenges we see every day.

As always, I want 2021 to be a year of momentum for you, one of possibility thinking that takes advantage of the agency we sometimes forget we have.

That’s my tip for this week.  I’ll see you next week. Take care of yourselves.

Your Best Next Move: How can I improve my decision-making under uncertainty?

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly tip for your Best Next Move – where I help you have more agency in your work, acknowledge your capacity to act, and see what you can do right now.

Many of you know that I have been working on my leadership book on navigating uncertainty (which is coming out this fall). It’s been good to see so many of the concepts I have been studying being used successfully by my clients.

And one of those is the new model of decision-making under uncertainty.

I hear from many of my clients that – in the face of not knowing what is coming – or having enough information to confidently make a decision – they get paralyzed – hitting the “pause” button, waiting for certainty to return.

But that is never going to happen.

Decision-making under uncertainty is very different. Timelines have forever changed; leaders like you must now face the reality of needing to make split-second decisions when there is no clear path forward.

And with the pace at which things are moving and changing in our world, we need to recognize that the cost of delay is much greater now than it was before.

Intuitively, we all know that we no longer have the answers. I know that is a tough admission for leaders to make, but we can’t even see around the corner to what tomorrow may bring, never mind the next quarter.

And yet, as a leader, you must still develop the ability to think about your next move, and not rely on what is known and comfortable, what you’ve done in the past.

I call this ability strategic awareness

It means having the self-knowledge and self-awareness to trust that you are headed in the right direction – to confidently make decisions in the heat of the moment, knowing that you may be headed down a path you have never been before.

And this can definitely be a scary place to be, I get that. What if you choose wrong? What will your boss, your peers think? Maybe your team will lose confidence in you.

Perhaps. But the alternative is even less attractive. If you make a decision that turns out to be wrong, changing course, if necessary, is better than operating in autopilot mode, resorting to what’s been reasonable in the past….or even worse, waiting, becoming paralyzed, fearing the ripple effects of what could go wrong.

No action in these times will surely impact how those around you view you as a leader – much more so than taking action, moving forward, finding your best next move.

So here’s my tip for decision-making under uncertainty:

The next time you have to make a non-trivial decision – before you react – default to autopilot mode, to what you’ve done in the past (which most likely will NOT be the right way), or worse, become paralyzed and do nothing –  stop and think: and ask yourself these questions:

• What is the real issue here?
• What do I need to know to move forward?
• What resources do I have to draw on? Who else can help me?
• What move can I make that at least creates forward momentum for my team — knowing you can always change course.

I understand that this behavior change will not happen for you overnight, but you have to take some risk to think differently – now – about decision-making under uncertainty.

As always, I want 2021 to be a year of momentum for you, one of possibility thinking that takes advantage of the agency we sometimes forget we have.

That’s my tip for this week.  My book: “When the Curveballs Keep Coming – A Leadership Playbook for an Uncertain World” – will be out in the fall. Stay tuned for more information.

I’ll see you next week. take care of yourselves.

With the pace at which things are moving and changing in our world, we need to recognize that the cost of delay is much greater now than it was before. We also need to accept that we no longer have the answers. I know that is a tough admission for leaders to make, but let’s be honest: we can’t even see around the corner to what tomorrow may bring, never mind the next quarter.

Let me share an example of how one of my clients handled this challenge.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was faced with making some tough decisions about her department’s strategy. She asked her team for input, but they seemed reluctant to offer concrete ideas. At first, she felt frustrated with what she perceived was their lack of interest and participation. But then she realized that they were afraid and feeling stuck—just as she was. They were searching for some certainty and relying on what they know worked in the past. But we all know that certainty is no longer there.

Instead of pressing them further, or giving up and making the decision on her own, she shared that she was also afraid, anxious, and unsure. That opened up a whole new conversation, and together they carved out a new path forward, one that wasn’t visible before they tapped into the collective ideas of the team.

The path forward means taking intentional action and developing the confidence to make no-regret decisions. Changing course is better than resorting to what’s been reasonable in the past—or, even worse, waiting, becoming paralyzed, and fearing the ripple effects of what could go wrong.

Every decision is a good decision—until it is not.

The Cost of Delays in Decision-Making Is Greater Than Ever Before

Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with this week’s “Let’s Get Growing” tip…where I help you take charge of your plans and accelerate your initiatives as you head into the Q4 of this year.

This week I’d like to talk about how decision-making now is very different.  Timelines have forever changed; leaders like you must now face the reality of needing to make split-second decisions when there is no clear path forward.

And with the pace at which things are moving and changing in our world, we need to recognize that the cost of delay is much greater now than it was before. Things can and will change in an instant.

And yet you still must develop the ability to make to make decisions in the heat of the moment, knowing that you may be headed down a path you have never been before.

Does this feel familiar to you?  Well, it does to me.

I know this lesson well about making in-the-moment decisions. Let me share with you a relevant personal experience from my first Ironman triathlon race.

The swim event is called a “mass start”: meaning that I am in the water with 2500 fellow athletes at the same time, waiting for the starting gun to go off promptly at 7:00 AM. Then it’s total chaos: “combat swimming” we like to call it.

So there I was that morning of my first race: I had trained, I was prepared, I was nervous and anxious but I was ready. Or so I thought. Once the starting gun went off, I did my best to steer clear of the hundreds of arms and legs slashing through the water all around me. But somehow, I got kicked in the face and my goggles flew off…lost somewhere in the water – so now what?

My first instinct was: “give up” – I mean, how can I possibly swim more than two miles without goggles?

It would have been easy to give up, right? Just say “it’s not my day, not meant to be”.  But “I” knew I could figure out a way through this…I just needed to keep making progress.

How I responded – the choices I made that day in the heat of the moment, instinctively being able to adapt and regroup –  created the conditions for my success down the road.

Do you ever feel like you got (virtually) kicked in the face?

I’ll bet there’s been a time when you got hit with a change or unexpected situation that made you feel like that. Who hasn’t?

When dealing with change and uncertainty, many leaders hesitate, – they get stuck; they hit the virtual “pause” button, waiting for “certainty” to return.  But this is exactly the opposite of what you need to do. Because certainty will never return.

Think about a decision you made recently: how quickly were you able to regroup and respond? And was what you came up with from what you relied on in the past –  or was it from outside your comfort zone?

Taking action – tackling the challenges that uncertainty presents from a place of “what can be” is your first step to navigating through uncertainty.

That’s my “Get Growing” tip of the week. I’ll see you next Monday… remember to see this time as an enabler, not a liability or a time to “pause”, waiting for certainty to return.

Take care of yourself!