Tag: leadership

Tips on Making Hard Decisions

Last week, I talked here about how it could be costly to defer hard decisions.

I can honestly say that the higher I have progressed in an organization that the harder the decisions have been. But that’s part of your role as a leader. Here are a few hard decisions I’ve had to navigate and some tips on making them.

To Spend or not to Spend – Some people’s financial management philosophy is easy: just don’t spend money. But when you’re responsible for a team or organization, spending money in some categories is an investment in your future. Wise spending can help propel you toward your values and encourage positive organizational momentum. Good questions to ask yourself here:

  1. Are you investing in a tangible asset that will survive 12 or more months and benefit yourself and other members of your team?
  2. Are you providing resources that will help members of your team be more effective or more efficient in their roles? (Training, technology, and administrative support are all valuable ways to resource a highly functioning team member. PS. You are a member of your team so this applies to you also.)
  3. Are you providing for the maintenance of a tangible asset to increase it’s life for 12 or more months beyond what it would be without the maintenance?
To Hire or not to Hire – Proverbs tells us it is foolish to hire “any passerby” and unfortunately, we are sometimes desperate enough for help to come close. Here are a few questions to help you in the hiring process:
  1. Does this person have the skills and competencies that are critical to the position?
  2. Does this person have solid character? (You can’t get this in an interview alone. Contact references.)
  3. Will this person be a good fit for the culture of my organization?
  4. Does this person have the capacity for where I hope to be going with our team in the next season?
To Fire or not to Fire – This is by far one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make as a manager and leader. But it can also be one of the most costly decisions to delay when it needs to be made. When a fire was necessary, I have always worked hard to help the person find an off ramp that will enable them to prosper upon leaving us. But I usually waited far beyond when it was ideal and cost myself extra energy or team morale in the process. As an aside, you should never resort to a fire until you have made attempts to address weaknesses through training, better management or accountability. Good questions to ask yourself to evaluate whether a fire is necessary:
  1. Would you hire this person again, if they were interviewing today for the role? Consider the “To Hire or not to Hire” questions above.
  2. Is this person keeping other team members from performing to their potential?
  3. Will this person be better off?
Now, like I said last week, delaying the decision is costly. Take the time to consider the details, pray for guidance and then make the decision.

Hard Decision? Make it!

As a leader, I have found that one of the things I’m called on to do often is make decisions. Duh, that’s easy, right. Except some decisions aren’t easy. I LOVE easy decisions. A costs more than B; B is better than A, anyway: PICK B! But those are rarely the decisions that come before me. And when decisions are hard, it is tempting to delay decision making, hoping the decision will get easier in the future.

Sometimes that can be helpful, but usually an unmade decision costs you more than you might think. Here are a few costs I’ve experienced by delaying decision making:

1. Lost choices: Sometimes delaying the decision results in the loss of an option. Your decision may get easier three weeks later because you no longer have a choice. Taking what’s left may or may not have been what’s best for the organization.

2. Lost time: I often put off decisions until I can get more information, or so I have “more time” to think about it. But almost every decision will require execution on the other side, by you or by someone else. The extra two weeks you spent making the decision is now lost for the follow through on the back side.

3. More expensive: Very few options get cheaper because you put them off. By delaying decision making, you may end up paying extra to the printer, the designer, or another outside group to rush things once you get it back to them. Even if you’re pulling on another team member, you’re spending relational currency to get them to execute on a tighter deadline. In my world, short deadlines often force me to use paid staff or contractors, rather than volunteers.

4. Lost creativity: I have worked with a lot of creatives in my 10+ years in ministry and I have learned that creative juices take time. Rushing a creative is usually asking for stale material or a copy, rather than giving the time for something fresh to be developed.

What other costs have you experienced due to delayed decision-making?

Handling Frustration

I recently navigated a scenario with our team where a leader admitted that he felt overlooked, unheard, and unappreciated when a key decision was made. This leader wrote a strong email admitting his frustration to one of our staff members and copied me.

As I read his email, I felt strongly that this scenario would be a lesson from God for all of us in how to handle frustration. You see, even though this scenario placed our staff member in the difficult position of answering the frustration, the same scenario has played out before where they were sitting in the frustrated seat. And even as I realized that, God reminded me that I also have been in that seat quite a few times. All of us have. The question is “how do we handle it?”.
Based on experience from both sides of the frustration, here are a few lessons I have learned:
1. Always go up. Up the ladder or the chain of command, that is. When you are bothered about something, it’s one thing to share your pain with your peers or those you supervise. But this inevitably only furthers the angst in the organization. If you want to help move the team toward health, you need to share your feelings with your supervisor or leader above you and work it out there.
2. Consider your own contribution. I’m not saying your frustration is your fault, but there really are two sides to every story. Were you available to offer input when the item was being discussed? Or were you too busy or out that day? Taking responsibility for part of the situation will make it easier to approach your leader with grace.
3. Bring an alternate solution. Leaders in many cases are trying to solve problems. If you feel frustrated with how your leader is handling something, rather than just voicing your feelings, can you bring a new perspective or alternate idea?
4. Extend grace both ways. Believe the best. In 15+ years of ministry, I have been frustrated and been guilty of frustrating others. Never once was anyone malicious in their decision making that led to that frustration. Get humble and seek out your leader with a heart for reconciliation. “God gives grace to the humble…”
How about you? Any other tips for navigating frustration?