Decision Making is Not a Popularity Contest

"When I've heard all I need to make a decision, I don't take a vote. I make a decision."
- Ronald Reagan

As a manager, when a decision you make doesn't work out quite the way you planned, who's going to be held responsible for it? You are. If you only make decisions based on others' approval, do you think those other people are going to be around if the decision turns out badly? Of course not. So, why should your decisions be a popularity contest? So often, I've seen managers who don't want to make decisions without the approval of others around them. This is because they aren't confident in their decision-making ability, they fall to the pressure of other strong-minded individuals, and/or they just don't want to take risks that are part of big decisions. Management exists because someone has to take the lead in business. So lead. Don't let your decision making be part of a popularity contest. Here's how it's done.

1. Identify the problem or the area of opportunity that a decision must be made on.

2. Talk to those who are involved in this specific area. The purpose of these discussions are to gather all of the available information from the perspective of staff - not to gain approval.

3. Review any other available data that could be helpful in making your decision.

4. Measure the potential financial impact of the decision - positive or negative.

5. Decide and put the plan into action.

The point is simple: all you need to make your decisions is relevant information. Once you have all of the available relevant information, you then must decide, act, and don't look back. All of your decisions will not be popular with everyone that you work with and they don't need to be. They just need to be good decisions based on relevant data. Don't get lost in popularity contests and don't get bogged down in the fear of big decisions. To be certain, important decisions bring with them various levels of risk. That's part of the deal, but you are in a position to lead by making these decisions. So, don't leave them up to the consensus of others who won't be around if the deal goes bad.

I want to note that I'm not suggesting that managers should ignore the good advice of others around them. Good advice is part of the information-gathering process. I'm just saying that it's up to you how you use it. Never ignore good information.

Finally - when you make smart decisions based on relevant data and the deal goes as planned, who do you think should get credit? This is a 2-way street. A leader who is able to make tough decisions, based on all of the available, relevant data, deserves all the credit - especially considering that you'll take all the blame if it goes bad. And, if you allow your decisions to be part of some group consensus, expect to be lonely when the group was wrong. Be strong and lead with good decisions.