Tired of making the same decision over and over? (#311)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” – Warren Buffett
This Week’s Edition
For recurring decisions, decide once. Stop remaking it under pressure with half the facts.
Clarify Your Thinking
Brant understood the concept of delegation. He trusted his people.
But they still needed his input to take their work from 80% to final.
Our coaching discussion revealed he was playing decision whack-a-mole.
Every time his team members darkened his door with an issue, he thought it was a unique request.
Therefore he handled each issue as a one-off. Handling it case by case.
He chalked it up to being nimble, being close to the business, and supporting his team.
He didn’t realize he was paying full price for the same decision over and over, usually at the worst moment, when he was tired and the information was thin.
Old Thinking: Good judgment means deciding each issue on its merits in the moment.
New Thinking: Good judgment means deciding the rule once, when I’m clear, and applying it on sight.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
Here’s the cost. Decision fatigue is real.
It just quietly degrades your best thinking right when you need it most.
Every time you re-litigate a decision you’ve already made a dozen times, you spend energy you needed for the call only you can make.
Build the template before the moment, not in it.
Step 1. Audit yourself for two weeks.
Keep track of the in-the-moment decisions you are making.
Step 2: Pick the recurring decision you keep remaking.
The one that shows up weekly and makes you stop and weigh it every time. Delegation, which meetings you take, what gets escalated to you, which deals you personally touch.
Step 3. Set the rule now, while your thinking is clear and nothing’s on fire.
Make it specific enough to apply without debate. No agonizing, just a rule.
Step 4. Write it down and apply it on sight.
When the moment comes, you’re not deciding. You’re recognizing. The hard thinking already happened, back when you had room to do it well.
Decide it once. Free yourself for the decisions that actually need you.
Boost Your Performance
Want to stop burning your best judgment on the same decision twice? This week’s video shows you how to build the template once.
What’s Your Opinion?
What’s one recurring decision you’re still making from scratch every time it lands?
I’d love to hear your thoughts: robin.pou@robinpou.com
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
