As a leader you make many important decisions each day, decisions that impact coworkers, teams and process. Decisions that have a ripple effect far outside your sphere of influence. It is easy to get paralyzed by this reality and avoid decision making or, you could hastily make a decision without thinking about the underlying significance.
Are you taking the time, an actual moment to sit and ask yourself… “What is the real problem?” or “Am I responding to the fundamental issue?” Often, I see decisions being made so quickly and superficially that it is only putting off and adding to the underlying issue.
I see that fear is the culprit. Fear of asking for clarification since that may just open pandora's box. Fear that taking the time to dig deeper will only add to the chaos and confusion. Fear that there isn’t time.
Here is the problem, if you keep responding to and making decisions for the obvious small problems, you not only will NEVER make significant forward progress. You will be continually putting out fires and managing the chaos rather than building a team, empowering your staff and developing opportunities to grow relationships and culture.
Prior to making a decision, challenge yourself:
Take a moment and buy some time for clarity.
Ask one more question: dig deeper, and be curious
Ask yourself, “Am I making this decision out of fear?” If so, what am I really afraid of and then focus on that!
A great podcast episode that reiterates this point is: How to be Awesome at your Job: Dr. Mark McLaughlin Episode:557