Last weekend I received an urgent call from a former business colleague who is a board member of a large, privately-held company. She’s also head of the company’s audit committee, which carries certain obligations for conscientious financial oversight.
She started this way, “Tell me if I am crazy or not…”
“You’re not crazy; never have been. But someone is obviously trying to get you to second-guess yourself and apparently succeeding. Tell me about it.”
Her situation was a classic; probably all too common in boardrooms. A CEO was pushing certain influential board members for fast agreement without supplying nitty-gritty transaction details.
The CEO relied on “just trust me, it will be fine” assurance. A signature was required to go forward. My colleague wanted to know more.
Years ago, in a different business life, I studied the specific situations that lead to disastrous business decisions in promising, mostly tech startups. The businesses were well-funded but eventually struggled because of a whopper of a mistake.
Many of the business founders admitted they made a crucial decision in a matter of minutes. They felt “caught off guard” by someone pushing for a fast answer—an employee, vendor, customer, competitor, etc. They went along with a recommendation, signed on the dotted line or took on the big lease because they assumed the person “knew better” or had more expertise to make the right call. In other cases, the founders caved to a manipulative warning that they’d “never get the same opportunity again.”
When I asked the founders to tell me more about how they felt at the time they agreed to something they later regretted, they often said they were “pressured,” “distracted,” or intensely “frustrated.” They also said they felt compelled to “just do something” without much thought about what else could go wrong from the move.
The next time you feel pressured to give a fast answer to anyone, consider the following tactics to help you be a better boss of your future:
Change the timeline. Probably the only decision that really has to be made on the spot is when a family member is in a hospital emergency room and someone has to make a decision about surgery. Outside of a medical crisis, I’ve found that whenever someone is pushing me for a fast answer it’s usually for the other person’s convenience or commission.
The very best way to extend the timeline to make a decision is to simply say, “let me think on it.” It’s simple and straightforward. Here, I’m not talking about ducking responsibility in a fearful way, but buying more time to gather facts, read the fine print of a contract, explore competitive options or speak to trusted allies. After you announce your decision to delay, stop talking. Don’t let an awkward silence unnerve you. Be friendly, but firm. You do have a lot of choices in managing your company, including the choice not to be pushed into something you don’t really want or need to do.
Decide before noon. When is the best time of the day to make important decisions? In the morning! As the workday progresses, your resistance to bad employee behavior, outlandish customer requests and pushy salespeople goes down. It is at these times when we are more likely to “just give in” to make a problem or person go away. Entrepreneurs who work long hours have to be highly disciplined to avoid making big decisions in the late afternoon or evening hours. It’s like gathering up the will power to say no to a brownie or scoop of ice cream late in the day. It’s too easy to give in.
Clear the room. “Present bias” is the term behavioral scientists use to describe a situation in which a person’s willpower or resistance is compromised by something or someone who is present at the time a decision is being made. Judges often leave a courtroom before making important decisions. You can too. Send all salespeople and staff members out of your office so they don’t have the opportunity to compromise your better judgment.
Walk away from anger. When people don’t get what they want, they can make disparaging comments, name call, yell, or threaten an attack on social media. What should you do when someone attacks you in a hurtful, unprofessional way? Leave the room. Nothing good can come from talking to someone who is unable to listen to your point of view. Here’s one more tip. Don’t agree to meet with the person until enough time has passed for reason to prevail. And when you do meet, consider inviting a third person to the meeting to temper more angry flare ups.
“Phone a friend.” When you have to make one or more critical decisions on matters that are relatively new to you, solicit at least one business colleague or advisor for an independent perspective. Ideally, try to find someone with “been-there done-that” expertise. You should never be too proud to ask for help, especially when you need it most.
Share leadership. The more you want to grow your business, the more you must let go of the notion that you are the only—or even the most important—decision maker in your company. You can’t always be there to tell employees what to do, but you can teach them how to make decisions that represent your leadership priorities. It’s too hard for a founder to consistently make really good decisions if you are overwhelmed by having to make too many decisions every day.
Expect adversity. All business leaders have really bad days. One day a hacker may shut down your website. Another day, one of your oldest customers may file bankruptcy before paying your company’s bill. When nasty surprises occur, just say to yourself, “Hello adversity, I’ve been expecting you.”
You can maintain psychological advantage when you accept problems and setbacks as a normal part of business flow. Saying “Why me?” isn’t helpful. Better decision-making comes from not allowing adversity to gain the upper hand of your emotions and confidence.
