You’re a leader. You have to make the difficult decisions within your organization. These are the decisions that weigh heavy on your conscious.
Some of these weighty decisions could be:
- Whether or not to do rolling layoffs in the midst of an economic downturn
- Releasing an employee for a moral or ethical failure
- Closing the doors of your organization
- Standing firm in your beliefs
Each of these decisions requires you to be bold, strong, and courageous. Each of these decisions can also hurt someone else. That’s what makes these decisions so weighty…
There’s a consequence behind the decision.
But…
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to make these tough decisions. You must search deep in your soul and choose the right actions to take.
Not everyone will like your decisions. You will have to live with them. But they’re yours to own.
Making Difficult Decisions With Confidence And Integrity
I’ve seen leaders skirt their responsibilities to make these decisions. They choose to let an issue linger. Or they pass the buck to someone else.
Great leaders don’t do this. They step up to the plate and are willing to make the call when needed.
How do you do this? How do you make difficult decisions with confidence and integrity? The following actions will help you make the best decision that you can in a situation.
Consult with others in your organization or trusted confidants:
Leaders get in trouble or make bad decisions because they feel like they must do things independently. It is their decision, after all. If they’re making it, they better be the decision maker.
But that’s not the best course of action in making a decision.
Great leaders know that they have to call on the wisdom of others in their organization or inner circle. They are willing to approach other leaders to ask for their input on a decision.
The best decisions are made with the counsel of others.
Fully own your decisions:
Leaders who lead with integrity own their decisions. They don’t pass the buck or play the blame game.
No.
They know they made a decision. They know they have to stand behind the decision.
When you make a decision, own it.
You may have made a wrong decision. Or something happened and things didn’t go right.
You’re not a bad leader for a decision going bad. You may be a bad leader if you don’t own the decision.
Make slower decisions:
We make bad decisions when we make snap, split-second decisions. We think we’re doing what’s best, but we’re making decisions without the complete information behind it.
When possible, make slower decisions. Research what is needed, happening, or needs to happen. Put together a plan. Then make a decision.
You’ll find yourself making decisions that benefit you and the organization.
Faith As A Guide In Decision Making
If you’re a believer, your faith can play a massive part in the decision-making process. You know that your decisions are not you’re own. The God of the universe is guiding your decision-making process.
As a Christian leader, you can do the following to make better decisions.
Pray before any decision:
Take your thoughts and ideas to the Lord in prayer before you decide on anything. Ask Him to guide you. Ask for wisdom, peace, and clarity.
God will give it to you.
Understand God’s plans are not your plans:
We all have grand visions and desires for ourselves or the organizations that we lead. We may want to rise up the ranks of the organization to the corner office. Or you might want to hop from organization to organization helping these companies grow and succeed.
But…
These desires may not be what God has in store for you. His ways are higher than our ways. Be aware of this as you’re making decisions.
If you see things aren’t going as you desire, take it back to prayer. Ask God why you do not see the results you expected. You may discover your plans conflict with God’s for your life.
You understand your decisions are about more than yourself:
Christian leaders know that the world is about more than themselves. There’s a whole plan for the world. There’s also the fact that we’re expected to be good stewards of what we’ve been given.
This means your decisions are based upon the understanding that you’ve been placed here for a reason. It’s not for you. It’s for the glory of God.
Make sure your decisions are reflecting your faith.
Decide With Confidence
Taking these steps will help make the difficult decision-making process into something you can handle. You’ll feel you have the resources and abilities to make the difficult decisions every leader has to make.
You won’t always make the right decisions. But you can make better decisions and keep your integrity intact.
