Does Your Team Know How You Like To Make Decisions?

One of the greatest causes of frustrations is confusion over decisions. You think the decision is yours to make, but your boss wants final veto, decisions are made that impact you and you don’t have input, or perhaps there is an illusion of inclusion when the decision has already been made. Perhaps you believe that decisions are clear and not a cause of confusion with your team, share this article with them and ask them.

Remember when you last made a major purchase, like a house or a car. Think back to how you made that decision. Did you research reviews and comparison shop for hours? Did you walk into the showroom or open house and say, “I will take that one” and decide immediately? Did you make a decision, but then talk to others and then update your decision in a different direction? Did you keep your decision quiet and make it on your own, or ask other people you trusted?
 
How you make decisions is unlikely to change, and you are unlikely to change the decision-making preference of your team, your boss, and your peers. The crucial step is understanding. That is where many leaders fail. I created the Decision Dilemma tool to remove the spin and uncertainty that can suck away hours of time and energy. You can download it for free here.
 
Plot yourself on the Decision Dilemma continuum, and then plot where you predict your boss is, along with the cultural norm of your division or company.
 
This is one of my most requested conversations to build into Galvanize Your Team executive workshops that I run. One executive team I am working with last month told me I saved them nine hours each and every week, and for the whole of the executive team of 11 people. That is 5,148 hours a year!
 
Successful leaders are ruthless not just with their own time but also with their team’s time. Regularly ask your team to share how you can help unlock decisions and remove roadblocks to faster decisions further down in your organization. Lead by example and create spontaneous decision points in which you encourage real-time gathering of the relevant people to make decisions that are time sensitive.
 
What are the top ten decision-making tenants in your organization?

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Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

Why Wait? Why Not Right Now?

Be patient. Wait your turn. Good things happen to those who wait.  

No they don't. 

Not in business, not in life. As I am fresh from giving five keynote talks in three countries in 18 days, I have been discussing with executives around the world why NOW is absolutely the right time to accelerate your business growth.

Here are some recent quotes from the executives that I work with:

"I should have moved him out of his role sooner," said a CEO who wanted to keep giving one of his executives another chance to prove himself, but in that time that executive caused three other leaders to quit. Given the cost of replacement is 1.5 times an employee’s compensation (when you take into account the cost of hiring and loss of productivity), this delay cost that CEO over $875,000.
 
"I should have done this years ago Val," said an executive to me recently who just joined a new company after spending several years too long at her last company making herself miserable and tolerating mediocrity. The cost of not quitting sooner affected her energy, happiness, and profit contribution that she made.

We are all taught from a young age to be cautious and studious: Watch your step, don’t run with scissors, practice those violin lessons, and study every possible topic in case it comes up in your exam. But this obsessive over-reliance on being too thoughtful can ingrain behavior and habits that are too cautious. This deep-seated behavior continues to show up in the workplace, resulting in leaders who become frozen with inaction because they want to make sure they make the right decision rather than a decision.

As part of the research for my book, Thoughtfully Ruthless: The Key to Exponential Growth, Wiley, April 2016, I identified that leaders who paid attention to the Cost of Doing Nothing, were more successful at making decisions at the right speed.

Consider a decision that you have been pondering for a while and ask yourself what the business impact of NOT making that decision is (sales, profit, cost, competition passing you by, etc.) I asked this of one of my executive clients prior to commencing an executive coaching relationship and he said to me “We will become the next TIVO.” Now that is a compelling reason to take action!

Rarely do leaders regret acting too fast.

What are you excessively waiting on today?

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

How To Start A Difficult Conversation

How often do you wonder what the true intent was after a conversation is over?

It is easy to avoid difficult conversations when the reality is far easier than all of your anticipation and pre-thinking. 

If you start by stating your intention, it sets the right expectations for everyone involved.

Here are a few examples I have advised executives on lately, I call these Words That Just Work (WTJW):

An executive wondering why the previously promised VP promotion hasn’t happened yet:

“I would love a conversation about what I need to do, or demonstrate that will improve the probability of me becoming Vice President. When is a good time to have that conversation?”

Results:
Their boss was able to articulate that it wasn’t about the results they were achieving, but about the visibility of those results to people that mattered. That is what the executive is now working on to improve the probability that he will be promoted.

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A Marketing executive who was trying to help a Technology peer of his on an initiative that would save the company a significant amount of money:

“It occurred to me that in my effort to help out, I may have come across as overbearing and getting too involved in your function, is that how I have come across to you? My intention here is to identify opportunities for us as a company to save money so that we can reinvest it. How can I best help you with that?"

Results:
These two executives now have a new level of transparency and candid conversations and are working together closer than ever to identify how to tap into each other’s expertise for the greater benefit of the company.

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I used to work with a regional leader who would regularly ask his peers about their regions. He barraged them with questions about their business, their sales, and their growth plans. He frustrated everyone he met because they thought his questions meant he doubted their ability to deliver on their quarterly projections and was acting superior. When I spoke with him about it, he told me he had heard that their regions were outperforming his own and he wanted to learn why they were so successful. I told him he needed to share the intention behind his questions because his questioning style was putting people off and confusing them. At the next meeting he said:

“My questions are because I want to know how you are so successful and my regions are lagging behind"

Results:
Once he did this, his interactions were far more productive and his peers began volunteering more information and became more open to sharing ideas with him. 

I call this Crystal Clear Communication, crossed wires happen when you don't share your thoughts or intentions. You can download the Crystal Clear Communication Guide here.

Might others doubt your intention, which is clouding your ability to be curious?