Biggest challenge we faced: Making the “right” decision.
There’s a misconception that great leaders are the smartest people — they make the right decision every time.
When it comes to decision making, the difference between a good leader and a great leader is one’s ability to make decisions with conviction. The ability to make decisions with conviction does not come from knowing what the “right” decision is every time. Rather, the ability to make decisions with conviction comes from trusting their and their team’s ability to course correct and ensure that any decision made turns out right.
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been reminded of the above ethos because we’ve been faced with many decisions across all facets of our company: What do we want to invest capital into? How much capital? Which partners do we want to work with? How much time should we spend on X vs. Y? … I’ll save you the brain dump.
To complicate things further, everyone has an opinion on what I should do as a leader and what we should do as a company.
How do you navigate this —digest (sometimes opposing) feedback from trusted sources and act with conviction on the torrent of decisions that need to be made?
How we overcame this challenge: When things become complicated or overwhelming, I like to make it simple. As a result, I’ve relied on these two truths:
- Don’t worry about making the “right” decision. I think of decisions as less black and white; right or wrong. This truth relieves the pressure of having to make the “right” decision. I love this quote from Scott McNealy, Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems, “It’s important to make good decisions. But I spend much less time and energy worrying about “making the right decision” and much more time and energy ensuring that any decision I make turns out right.”
- Trust your stuff. This is a mantra I repeat in my head almost hourly. It’s a reminder that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. And if I look at my track record, I’ve always been able to figure it out and excel. New challenges are always daunting, but we should be secure in what got us “in the room” and trust that the skills we’ve developed, experiences we’ve endured, and support system we’ve built have prepared us for any challenge that lies ahead.
