Leadership Decisiveness: Making Calls with Imperfect Information (And Living with the Results)

In working with other teams, I'm given the opportunity to understand situations that they have lived through over the years. I was told of one leader that saw the writing on the wall regarding communication with the public and decisions with stakeholders.

The new leader changed the ways of doing things. Asking more questions. Having more conversations. Educating and growing relationships.

There was pushback from the team. It was a drastic change. People were uncomfortable. They questioned whether all those conversations were really necessary. They wondered if this new approach would slow everything down.

But the leader made the call and stuck with it. In the end though, the change was huge. More people understood decisions. There was more investment from stakeholders. The organization built trust in ways that hadn't been possible with the old approach.

That's decisiveness. Not just making a decision, but making it and following through even when there's resistance.

The Cost of Indecision

"While understanding things completely is a great thing, debating and debating to the point of not making a decision is not."

Here's the thing: I've also worked with a leader that would ponder every side of a situation before a decision was made. While understanding things completely is a great thing, debating and debating to the point of not making a decision is not.

In this instance, decisions were seldom made. The organization they worked in was in paralysis. Discussions took place regularly. Debates even. But there was never a decision that came from it.

People waited. Hoped. And waited more.

So many projects couldn't move forward. Many situations were held up and delayed. The impact wasn't just frustration. It was real work that didn't get done. Real improvements that didn't happen. Real problems that festered because no one would make the call to address them.

That's the cost of indecision. Not just lost time, but lost momentum, lost opportunities, and lost trust from people who need you to lead.

The Reality of Imperfect Information

Financial impacts can frustrate everyone

Working in finance in public works, making decisions often frustrates people. Everyone wants their road improved, or more maintenance performed, equipment needs to be upgraded or replaced, employees want more money or benefits.

I'm lucky that it's not my job to make the final decisions. Those get made by the Board. I just have to take the plans, put them together, take the priorities, and figure out how much can be done.

It's tough. You feel the needs of all the different stakeholders. You would love to be able to recommend everything, but never is that possible.

I've gotten very used to the decision process. I realized that it's a balance. I had to get to understand the implications of all the different options and plans, learn from the different departments, and understand how it all works together.

Most recently, the State of Michigan passed legislation that will result in increased funding for road agencies. Plans were made. Not implemented of course, but none the less, the plans were put together. As time progressed we realized that the funds will come, but they won't come for over another year.

The plans were delayed. It was a tough decision, but quite simply, there was no money to get them completed.

That's the reality of leadership decisions. You rarely have perfect information. You have what you have, and you have to make the call based on that.

When You Realize You're Wrong

"Once I admitted the mistake to myself, I made attempt at retraining and refocusing."

I once realized I made the wrong choice in hiring someone.

I'll be honest. After selecting the person myself, it took a bit longer to realize my mistake than I would have liked. I think I had some blinders on for some time and tried to make excuses for their behavior and lack of understanding.

Once I admitted the mistake to myself, I made attempt at retraining and refocusing. But I did clearly see things at that point and once the opportunities to improve weren't taken well, we parted ways rather directly.

Here's what I learned from that: decisiveness doesn't mean you'll always be right. It means when you realize you're wrong, you make another decision to address it.

I could have let that bad hire limp along indefinitely, hoping things would somehow improve. That would have been easier in some ways. Less confrontation. Less paperwork. Less admission that I'd made a mistake.

But it also would have been terrible leadership. Once you see clearly that something isn't working, you have to act on that information.

What Decisiveness Isn't

Decisiveness doesn't mean being impulsive. It doesn't mean making snap judgments without gathering any information. It doesn't mean refusing to listen to input or feedback.

The leader who changed the communication approach didn't just wake up one day and announce the new strategy. They saw the writing on the wall. They understood what needed to change. They made a deliberate decision based on that understanding.

But once they made that decision, they committed to it. They didn't waffle when there was pushback. They didn't endlessly reconsider whether they'd made the right call. They moved forward with confidence even when it was uncomfortable.

That's the balance. Gathering enough information to make an informed decision, then actually making it and following through.

The Paralysis of Perfect

Decision paralysis

The leader I mentioned who couldn't make decisions wasn't stupid or incompetent. They were smart. Maybe too smart for their own good.

They could see every angle. Every potential consequence. Every way a decision might play out. And because they could see all of that complexity, they couldn't commit to a single path forward.

What they didn't see was the cost of not deciding. While they debated and discussed and pondered, their organization stagnated. Projects stalled. People became frustrated. Opportunities passed by.

Here's what I've learned: waiting for perfect information is just another form of avoiding decisionmaking. Because perfect information doesn't exist. There will always be unknowns. There will always be risks. There will always be a chance you're wrong.

Decisive leaders accept that reality and make the call anyway.

Living with Your Decisions

Every decision you make as a leader will upset someone. The road project you prioritize means another road stays in poor condition. The equipment you replace means other equipment keeps limping along. The employee you invest in means less resources for someone else.

That's the nature of leadership. You're making choices with limited resources about competing priorities. Someone is always going to be disappointed.

Decisive leaders accept this. They make the best call they can with the information they have, knowing full well that not everyone will be happy about it.

And when it turns out they made the wrong call? They own it. They adjust. They make the next decision with that new information.

That's the other side of decisiveness. You have to be willing to live with the results of your decisions, good or bad.

Building Your Decisiveness

"Every time you make a decision and follow through, even a small one, you build your decisiveness muscle."

If you struggle with making decisions, here's what helps:

Set a deadline for yourself. Not every decision needs to be made immediately, but most decisions don't need endless deliberation either. Give yourself a reasonable timeframe to gather information and think it through, then make the call.

Understand the implications. This is what I had to learn in finance. What are the actual consequences of each option? What are you trading off? What can't be undone? Understanding this helps you make more confident decisions.

Accept that you might be wrong. This is crucial. The fear of being wrong paralyzes people. But being wrong and adjusting is better than never deciding at all.

Practice on smaller decisions. Every time you make a decision and follow through, even a small one, you build your decisiveness muscle. Start with the easy ones and work your way up.

Stop seeking consensus on everything. Sometimes you need input. Sometimes you need buy-in. But not every decision requires everyone to agree. Sometimes you just need to make the call and move forward.

Why This Matters

Your team needs you to be decisive. Not perfect. Not always right. But decisive.

They need to know that when decisions need to be made, you'll make them. That projects won't stall indefinitely while you debate every possible angle. That when things go wrong, you'll make the call to address it instead of hoping it resolves itself.

When you're decisive, even when you're wrong sometimes, people trust you more than when you're perpetually uncertain. Because they know you'll move things forward. They know projects won't languish. They know you'll take responsibility for the direction you're setting.

And when you do make the wrong call, when you realize your hiring decision was a mistake or your strategic direction needs to change, your decisiveness shows up there too. You acknowledge it. You adjust. You make the next call.

That's what leadership looks like. Not perfect decisions every time, but the willingness to make decisions and live with the results.

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Next in the series: Courage - Having the Hard Conversations