Tactical Patience: The Art of Delaying Decision Making

“Coach, it’s fourth down and 1 yard to go — do we go for it?” As leaders, many of us are proud of our ability to make a quick decision or take immediate action. When our staff looks to us for a decisive decision we do not disappoint. We will step in and make the call. Oftentimes, the situation calls for it. Consequently, we get really good at being decisive and when we are good at being decisive we tend to see most situations as requiring an immediate response. However, when we lean too heavily on decisiveness we tend to neglect the other side of leadership — being patient. As a result, we can make a hasty decision when the situation calls for tactical patience.

Tactical patience can be defined as giving a situation enough time to develop and unfold before trying to determine its meaning, significance and how to react to it. Unfortunately, team members typically do not reward or admire front line leaders that demonstrate tactical patience. “Make a call boss and let’s get going!” However, as we increase our leadership responsibilities we will face more complex and ambiguous situations that requires our ability to pause and refocus. If you are a leader, like me, that suffers from Tactical Impatience then we often feel a sense of urgency that drives us to act or make a decision quickly. Sometimes this sense of urgency is a self imposed timeline. Here are a couple suggested actions that I’ve been working on that may help you to hone the skill of tactical patience:

1. Fight the urge to speak first in staff meetings. Allow others an opportunity to have input before shaping the conversation.
2. When you allow others to speak, don’t dismiss it. As decisive leaders we often jump to a solution or decision before having all the relevant information. Try to keep an open mind and understand your staff’s point of view.
3. Actively listen and learn to ask good probing questions. This will force your staff to come prepared so that when they offer up recommendations or different courses of action they know you are going to listen and challenge their way of thinking. You will end up with less “noise” and better information.
4. Finally, when in doubt — wait it out. If you are uncertain as to what the best decision or action should be then ask yourself, “Do I need to make this decision right now?” If the answer is “No” then hold off on making it. Instead, set a later time to come back to the decision and possibly task your staff to gather more information.

I’ve come to appreciate that effective leaders are able to intuitively determine when they need to be decisive and when they need to demonstrate tactical patience. The Germans call this, Fingerspitzengefühl, which literally means “finger tips feeling.” This word describes a leader’s intuitive ability to effectively read a situation and respond appropriately and tactfully. To grow as a better leader we must fight the urge to act decisively in every situation so that we can develop Fingerspitzengefühl.