There was a consistent pattern which I don’t think he ever realized. While I was watching him as a leader from a distance over many years, the stories I heard came from several staff members I knew, and they were almost identical. “He can’t decide”, “He’s still thinking about it”, “He’s asking for more data”, etc. It didn’t matter when or who I heard the story from who, it was like the line in the song “I’m Henry the VIII, I am” popularized by Herman’s Hermits, “Second verse, same as the first…” He simply struggled making decisions and my observation is the only decision he made was to do nothing new. Imagine leading an organization and by the end of your tenure, the organization hadn’t changed at all. That will be his legacy.
He’s not alone in being indecisive. I’ve experienced many leaders over the years struggle with indecision, and I think it’s because decisions come with consequences. A leader stuck with indecision is one who fears those consequences and worries too much about what “could happen”. They prefer the “devil they know” instead of taking a chance on the “devil they don’t know.”
Indecisive leaders don’t realize the impact of their indecision on the team or organization they lead. It freezes them, leaving them without clarity. A decision need to be made because there is a problem and something isn’t working the way it should. Without a problem, a leader isn’t forced to decide anything. There are an infinite number of different problems and opinions on solutions to those problems, all rising to the desk of a leader. When deciding, they should gather data, solicit feedback, etc., but in the end they must choose. Until they do, the team is stuck in the day-to-day existence of uncertainty and without direction.
Why is that a problem? Because our brains love certainty, which comes in the form of predictability. If a decision isn’t being made, the brain of every team member is in limbo and can’t predict what to do next. When there is uncertainty about the future, internal stress rises. A couple of years ago, my wife and I learned from a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia that they noticed something else on the scan which would require more testing. It took several weeks and multiple tests to learn what it was. The testing period was the hardest, because we didn’t know what it was, we couldn’t plan, we could only stress about it. Once we knew what we were dealing with, we adapted. Times of uncertainty are also when the rumor mill begins to crank up because a rumor that makes sense, accurate or not, provides some certainty and allows the brain to calm down.
What does a leader do?
Gather whatever data will be helpful and seek out opinions, and wrestle with them. It’s an important part of the process. Weigh the pros and cons, but don’t look for a perfect answer, there isn’t one. Pray over the decision, ask God for his guidance. Then decide. Once you decide, everyone has clarity and can move forward. No decision is perfect, so react to whatever happens. Rarely are the consequences as bad as we imagine. As an example, a leader knows they need to restructure responsibilities within their team. They delay announcing the decision because taking something away from a leader will not make them happy. There are fears the person will quit, even though it’s right for the team. Finally, they pull the trigger, and nothing happens. Why? In this example, rarely does the person quit, they might be unhappy and feel devalued, but quitting without a new job is rare. If they do, you find someone new and move on.
I’m a believer that God orders our steps and blesses decision making. If we decide and it’s the wrong one, He makes sure we know about it and then He re-directs our steps.
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 (GNT)
