Being a leader is so rewarding, from the influence you can have on the way the team works together, what it achieves and the direction it takes, to developing the capacity and expertise in each member of your team.
It is definitely a busy role. People are constantly asking things of you – complete this, decide that, attend this meeting, write this communication piece, I could go on.
It is decisions and the pace of them that I want to think about today. Decisions are a normal part of leadership. Leaders need to make decisions. In fact, not making a decision is, in effect, making a decision.
In my programs, I talk about your rights as an individual and therefore also as a leader. Here is the list of rights we discuss, and they come up as part of the Elevating Leadership Program that I provide to leaders in schools across Australia and New Zealand.
You have the right to:
- Decide for yourself
- Make mistakes and learn from them
- Refuse requests
- Say ‘no’ without feeling guilty ( to things beyond your role responsibilities)
- Be yourself
- Say “ I don’t know”
- Refuse to make a decision NOW
The thing about rights is that you don’t have them if you don’t enact them. I mean, if you don’t live by them, or you don’t exercise them.
In the list above, there are two important points about decisions. One of these is the right to decide for yourself and the other is the right to refuse to make a decision NOW.
Let’s break each one down.
The right to decide for yourself – this right is about not being forced into a particular decision by others. Many leaders, and this is especially true of first-time leaders and leaders new to a role, or new to an organisation, feel they need to take the decision path that is being given to them by others around them. This might be because they think the other person is more experienced, perhaps knows more about the organisation, or its people, or its history, or they don’t want to offend or disappoint. So they go with the decision that is being thrust towards them.
Does that sit well with you? Are you happy to go with a decision made by others for which you are actually responsible? Have you blindly accepted someone else’s opinion? Have you given in to the decision of another?
You have the right to decide for yourself. If you are responsible for the outcome, it needs to be a decision that you are comfortable with, and have wholeheartedly agreed to. If you are going to ask others to come with you on a direction, once a decision has been made, you have to believe in it, you need to know why you took that direction, or made that decision, because it is up to you to convince others to join you on the journey. You can’t do that if you don’t support or believe in the decision that was made.
The right to refuse to make a decision NOW – this right is about not being forced into a quick decision. Leaders are often faced with the situation where someone approaches them and immediately presents them with a challenge that requires sorting out and they demand, albeit often politely, a decision to be made now, on the spot, pronto, so they can leave the conversation, or your office, ready to take their next step. Let’s just slow it down here.
- Have you heard the situation from other angles or perspectives?
- Have you looked at the facts of the situation rationally, removing the heightened emotions that might come with urgency?
- Have you looked at the possible choices for the decision, beyond the one that has been presented to you just now?
- Have you considered the available options and the consequences of the decision, on the team, organisation, or course of events?
These things require time. Sometimes not too much time, but they still need time, and as a leader you have the right to take the time to think through all of these things. Remember what I mentioned before, if you don’t support or believe in the decision made, you can’t convince others to join you on the journey.
On the other hand, do you want to be the sort of leader that makes a decision in haste, regrets it, and then changes your decision when already your team may have started taking action based on your previous decision? This is so annoying, and a quick and easy way for you to lose respect from your team.
Take the time to consider facts, choices and consequences before you make the decision. Then you can back up your decision with the reasons why you made it. The evidence behind a decision is what will help you convince others to join you on the journey. Give yourself permission to think, because you already have that right. The right becomes yours when you enact it. So, enact it by giving yourself time to think.
What do you do about those people who are eager, and often impatient, for a quick decision or come to you with their decision already made and want you to rubber-stamp it? These people are fast, they want to maintain their momentum and keep moving things forward. Putting the brakes on these people is quite demotivating for them so we don’t want to do that. We want to keep them energised, and positive, but as the leader, you need to explain to them that you need some time to consider, some time to think, to look at the facts, choices and consequences.
The best way to do this is to negotiate some time to do this and decide on a date/time when you can meet again and come to a decision. Know first in your mind the time you need to look at the facts, choices and consequences. The negotiation is about when, after that time – the time you need to think – you will come back together and come to a decision or perhaps discuss it further. The worst thing you can do is leave things hanging in the air, and your team member or colleague leaves the conversation with uncertainty about when they can continue to move forward. Set a date so they know, and you know.
Permission to think allows decisions to be backed-up, so you have the evidence, the reasoning behind why you made it. This aspect of leadership is vital. As educators, one of the things we pride ourselves on is evidence-based outcomes, so the same goes for your decisions.
I will say it again, you can’t convince others to join you in a course of action, or on a journey, if you don’t believe in it yourself. You will believe in it when you can explain the reason why the decision was made. So have the evidence. Allow yourself time to think. Give yourself permission to think. You have that right.
I am giving you permission to take time to think. Will you give yourself the same permission to think, to take the time you need to make a considered decision? Will you give yourself permission?
By Janine Stratford – Leadership Coach, Coach-Trainer, Career Strategist at Coaching Focus.
March 2023 7-minute read, 1200 words
