Do Not Leave Decisions to Chance

One of your biggest jobs as a leader is to make decisions. Yes, sometimes it’s hard, and yes, sometimes people do not like you very much afterwards, but that is what you get paid to do. If you try to pass that off, you are not doing your job. It is as simple as that.

We are not talking here about little decisions, like “where should we go for lunch?” This is about important decisions that affect the direction of the company, or affect people’s lives and careers. Do not pass the buck to others, and DEFINITELY do not leave it to chance.

One way leaders pass it off is by having employees vote. This is what we call “a bad idea” for a number of reasons. First, you will set a precedent, and once people get a taste of voting they are going to start expecting it; the next time, when you actually make the decision yourself, you will face a serious backlash. Next, when employees vote they often are focusing on their particular role in the company, and their vote will likely reflect that. Remember, it is YOUR job to deal with the big picture, not theirs. They could come up with something that takes your company way off course, and you really cannot do anything about it since you gave the authority to them. About the only thing worse than having a vote is having a vote and then ignoring the results.

This is not to say your employees should not have a voice in decisions and should not offer their input; they should. But there is a difference between making an input and making a decision. They can offer their suggestions, but it is up to you to make the final decision.

Another thing we see sometimes, especially with regard to training and other limited opportunities, is a lottery. That is, put everyone’s name in a hat and pull out the winner, who then gets to go take a class or go on some company-sponsored trip or something. This is a total cop-out on your part. Leaders (and maybe we should put that in sarcasm quotes: “Leaders”) who do this are trying to avoid having anyone get mad at them, but c’mon, all the good employees — the ones you want to keep — will be mad that decisions about them are being made by the laws of probability rather than by what is good for them and for the firm. You need to make decisions about people based on their talents, the company’s needs, your employees’ desires, and not just on the luck of the draw.

If you give up control over decisions you are setting yourself up for problems, something that is just as true in MNCs as it is in startups. Never mind that you are abandoning your responsibilities, you also may be about to lose control over where you go from here. Leaving important decisions to chance risks putting your company on a path for which you are not prepared, or may lead you to lose the very people you most need to keep.

If you are not willing to make decisions then what, exactly, are you getting paid to do???