151 qkuci ideas for delegating and decision making

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151for Delegating

andDecision Making

Quick Ideas

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Chapter title here

151Quick Ideas

for Delegatingand

Decision Making

Robert E. Dittmer andStephanie McFarland

Franklin Lakes, NJ

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151 Quick Ideas to ... fill in blank

Copyright © 2007 by Robert E. Dittmer and Stephanie McFarland

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International

Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole

or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage

and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without

written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

151 QUICK IDEAS FOR DELEGATING AND DECISION MAKING

EDITED BY DIANNA WALSH

TYPESET BY GINA TALUCCI

Cover design by Jeff Piasky

Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press

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further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687,

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www.careerpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dittmer, Robert E., 1950-

151 quick ideas for delegating and decision making / by Robert E.

Dittmer and Stephanie McFarland.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-961-9

ISBN-10: 1-56414-961-7

1. Decision making. 2. Delegation of authority. I. McFarland,

Stephanie, 1968- II. Title. III. Title: One hundred fifty-one quick ideas for

delegating and decision making. IV. Title: Delegating and decision making.

HD30.23.D62 2007

658.4’03--dc22

2007025101

www.careerpress.com

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Chapter title here

Contents

How to Use This Book 11Introduction 13 1. What Is a Decision? 15 2. Decisions as Remedies 16 3. Decisions as Avenues to Progress 17 4. Making the Decision: Is It Yours to Make? 18 5. A Key Question: Why Are You Making

This Decision? 20 6. Decisions to Save Face 21 7. Decisions to Gain Prestige 22 8. Decisions to Fit In 23 9. Decisions to Get Promoted 2410. Is It Soley Your Decision to Make? 2511. Do You Need to Share the Decision

With Someone Else? 2612. Consulting the Key Players 2713. Do You Need a Consensus? 2814. Is Consensus Decision Making Right for

Your Situation? 2915. When Consensus Is the Answer 3016. When It’s Not 3217. Know Your Decision-Making Style 3318. Simple Decisions 3419. What’s the Problem? 35

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20. Covey Has It Right: Start With the End in Mind 3621. Research Starts With the Ears 3822. How to Listen Effectively 3923. Techniques for Asking Questions 4024. Think—Don’t React 4225. Think Options! 4326. Prioritize—Know What Decisions to Make When 4427. Seek Input From Others—Even When It’s

Soley Your Decision 4528. Decisions to Save Face 4629. Consult With Mentors, Veterans in

Your Field, Company Experts, and Colleagues 4730. Value Others’ Insight 4831. Have a Brainstorm 4932. Weighing Pros and Cons 5133. There are No Mistakes, Only Lessons 5234. Risk Is Good—Embrace It! 5335. Leverage Risk for a Calculated Outcome 5436. Avoid Making Decisions From Ego 5537. Avoid Making Decisions Political 5638. Avoid the Proverbial Knee-Jerk Reaction 5739. Avoid Group Think 5840. Group Think Is Manipulation—

It’s Not Consensus 5941. Remember the Organizational “Layers” Involved 6042. Whoa! You’re Challenging the Status Quo? 6143. When Culture Stands in the Way 6344. Ambiguity—Applying the Law of Co-orientation 6445. Look for the Win-Win Result 65

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Chapter title here

46. Decisions That Require a Strategy 6647. The Law of Diminishing Returns 6848. Banishing the “What Ifs” 6949. Keep an Open Mind 7050. Let Go of Assumptions 7151. Let Go of Fear 7252. See the Possibilities 7353. Don’t Be Afraid of Conflict 7454. Change Is a Natural Catalyst for Conflict 7555. Change Is the Fuel of Progress 7656. Don’t Take It Personally 7757. Don’t Make It Personal 7858. Handling Those Who Disagree 7959. Base Your Decision on the Merits of the

Proposal or Solution 8060. Resist the Urge to Go With the First

Option on the Table 8161. Resist the Urge to Go With Very Limited Facts 8262. Resist the Urge to Dismiss Problems

That Require Dynamic Levels of Decisions 8363. Do What’s Right! 8464. Walking With Integrity 8565. No Decision Is a Decision 8666. Don’t Be a Buridan’s Ass 8767. Take a Step Backward to Review 8868. Sometimes You Need to Use Brakes 8969. Comparing Outcomes With Goals and Objectives 9070. Overcoming Mental Decision Blocks 9171. Go Have Fun! 9272. Sweat It Out! 93

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73. Go Mindless! 9474. Give It a Rest! 9575. Try Some Theory 9676. Who’s That Cheerleader in the Cute Outfit? 9777. You Can Be a Cheerleader 9878. Being Supportive of Other Decision Makers 9979. Learn From Others’ Experiences 10080. Respecting Differences of Opinion 10181. Handling Other Decision Makers 10282. Handling Those Affected by the Decision 10383. Handling Your Own Staff 10484. Be “Ask Assertive,” Not “Tell Assertive” 10585. Show Them, Don’t Tell Them 10686. When You Don’t Have the Final Decision 10787. Power Versus Influence 10888. Practicing Reason Over Rank for

Better Decisions 10989. Win-Win Is an Easy Sell 11090. Evaluating Decisions 11191. Evaluation Also Means Looking at People 11392. Good Decisions Today Are Tomorrow’s

Successes Replayed 11493. Moving On—From Success and Failure 11594. Defining Delegation 11695. Delegation Versus Decision-Making 11796. What Delegation Is Not 11897. Organizational Culture—Are You Set

Up to Succeed? 11998. A Closer Look at Delegation 12099. Delegating Sideways and Upward 122

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100. Why Delegate? 123101. But I’ll Be Giving up Power! 124102. Get More Time to Get More Done 125103. Make Quick, Quality Decisions 126104. Employees Unite! 127105. Encourage Employee Commitment 128106. Teach a Man to Fish 129107. Know Your Management Style 131108. Develop Your Coaching Skills 132109. They Like Me! They Really Like Me! 133110. Popularity Is a Plus 134111. Delegate to Improve Relationships 135112. Authority Versus Responsibility 136113. Show Them the Vision and the Rewards 138114. Have a Game Plan 139115. The “Who” and “What” of Delegation 140116. Assessing the Team 141117. Selling the Work 142118. Make Your Optimism Obvious 144119. Set Expectations 145120. Set a Time Line 146121. Follow Up 147122. Confidence in Competence 148123. Fight the Fear of Mistrust 150124. The Big Decisions 151125. Fight the Fear of Delegating the Bigger Decisions 152126. Outline Specifically What You Want Done 153127. Spread the Word 154128. Don’t Jump at the First Sign of Trouble 155

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129. Continue to Move Forward Even WhenProblems Arise 156

130. Have Employees Help Resolve Problems 158 131. Perfection Not Necessary 159 132. Organizational Rewards of Delegating 160 133. Your Rewards for Delegating 161 134. You Get Relieved of Workload 162 135. Greater Team Involvement 163 136. Better Results 164 137. Increased Team Loyalty 165 138. Enhanced Capabilities 166 139. Enhanced Self-Esteem 167 140. Enhanced Sense of Accomplishment 168 141. The Importance of Trust 169 142. Provide Training 170 143. Training for Trouble 171 144. Celebrate Success 172 145. Reward Success 173 146. Be Encouraging 174 147. Be More Than a Good Listener 176 148. Be a Mentor 177 149. Be a Resource 178 150. Don’t Delegate and Forget! 179 151. Make Delegation a Standard

Operating Procedure 180Index 183About the Authors 189

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How to Use This Book

How to Use This Book

Every quick idea in this book is tested and true. They comefrom the collected experiences and wisdom of literally hun-dreds of people—well beyond just the authors. And they arepresented here to help you learn how better to make high qual-ity decisions and to learn the best practices in delegating.

The book is designed to be consumed piecemeal—that is,in small bites. So don’t try all of these ideas all at once. Someshould logically follow others—it will be obvious to you as youread through the book. So, read the book quickly through togain a quick impression of the ideas here. Then start pickingout those that seem to you to be immediately helpful and trythem out. They are the ones that can make a quick difference.Later, review the book again and try some additional ideas.

Of course, some of these ideas are in sequence and thosewill be obvious and will make logical sense to you when youread them. Later, go back and review the others routinely andpick a few more to try. And so on…

So, on first read, label the ideas you read as:

� Implement these ideas now.

� Review thee ideas in a month

� Review these ideas later

� Pass this idea on to _____.

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151 Quick Ideas for Delegating and Decision Making

If you have a staff, involve them in this process. Get theirreactions and thoughts. Perhaps even invest in additional cop-ies of this book and distribute them to others who work for youfor discussion and professional development. Get more thanjust yourself involved if you can.

Every 90 days or so, revisit the book for some new ideas ortechniques. As you situation changes you may well find ideasthat are usable that you discounted earlier.

Remember, all of these ideas and concepts are proven tech-niques. Proven by research and other professionals around thecountry and around the world. They have worked for othersand they can work for you!

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Oxford

Introduction

Congratulations on an excellent decision: buying this book.Whether you are just starting out in management, are a

long-time seasoned leader, or are working your way to thatfirst manager role, this book is right for you. It’s filled withquick, simple, yet compelling tips on how to make decisionsmore effectively, and how to implement them through delegation.

Making decisions and delegating are the two most impor-tant responsibilities of management. Yet, they are the two mostdifficult skills to master. After all, managers are learning howto make decisions and delegate on the fly as they hurry theirway through, day to day, just trying to get it all done.

151 Quick Ideas for Delegating and Decision Makingpulls together tips and insights in one easy-to-use guide thatcan help you become a leader among leaders.

In this book, you will learn how to know when it’s time tomake decisions by consensus, and when it’s time to go solo.You’ll also learn how to develop a strategy for making betterdecisions, time after time, and how to analyze decisions beforethey are made and after they are implemented. You’ll learnhow to go “mindless” when decisions become too overwhelming.

Yet 151 Quick Ideas for Delegating and DecisionMaking goes one step further. It also gives you insights onhow to better implement your decisions, and how to influencepeople and develop your employees to get better results. Forexample, you’ll learn how to overcome the biggest stumblingblocks to delegating, such as giving up power, facing your fearof failure, and letting go of perfection. And it also gives you

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proactive tips on how to leverage your management style, howto determine which employees are best for what jobs, and howto delegate sideways and upwards to colleagues and superiors.

In short, this book is an excellent guide—filled with quicktips that are easy to digest and fun to learn—to help you set upyour own system for creating opportunities, and succeeding atthem day after day.

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1What Is a Decision?

Yes, this sounds like a stupid question. But wait—it isn’t,really. We often think we are making decisions when what weare really doing is simply making choices. Decision making is amanagement tool designed to be much more than just selectingfrom some choices.

While there are often choices in decision making—at leastone hopes there are—those choices must be analyzed in termsof outcomes and consequences. That is what makes decisionmaking a management pro-cess in any organization. Itis the focus on achievingdesired outcomes that isimportant.

Thus, decision making isa process of analyzing alterna-tives to reduce uncertaintyabout achieving a desiredoutcome. Of course, alongthe way, we must always beconcerned with unintendedconsequences, but moreabout those later.

So, decision making formanagers is the identificationof alternative solutions to problems, challenges, and opportuni-ties; the analysis of those alternatives; and the selection of thealternative most likely to achieve the desired outcome withthe best affect on the organization. There! How’s that for a

Assignment

Review your role inyour organization and thinkabout the decisions youcommonly make. Reviewyour process for makingthose decisions. Determineif you have made those de-cisions in the past based ondesired outcomes.

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definition? Pretty simple, right? Well, maybe not. We are goingto spend another 92 ideas on this process called decision mak-ing. It’s not simple, if you want to get it right, that is.

As we examine decisionmaking, we can view theprocess as one with two po-tential goals: first, to fixproblems or challenges wehave identified, and second,to make decisions that ad-vance the organization.

Probably the most com-mon decisions are made toremedy a problem inside theorganization. We are con-stantly faced with these inlife. For example, our sonbrings home a bad reportcard, so you make a decisionto require him to study and do his homework every night beforehe can watch TV, surf the Internet, or play a video game.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe quality of a decision is really based on a number of

factors, but the process is extremely important. So, let’s get

it right!

2Decisions as Remedies

Assignment

Think about some ofthe recent decisions youhave made in your person-al and professional life andidentify which are remedies,or decisions to fix some-thing. Think about thosecircumstances. We’ll comeback to those later.

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You have identified a problem and created a solution to theproblem—a remedy, so to speak. In doing so, you probablyevaluated a number of different alternative solutions and ar-rived at this one.

We do the same kind of decision making in our organiza-tions all the time.

The other major kind ofdecision is one in which youmust determine how to takeadvantage of an opportuni-ty, or how to move the goalsand objectives of an orga-nization forward. These arequite challenging, anddemand quality decision-making skills.

As managers, we areoften called upon to makedecisions to move the or-ganization forward—toincrease the chances of

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueSolutions to problems are the most common decisions

we make in life, and are often the ones we are most practiced

at accomplishing; but there are others.

3Decisions as Avenues to Progress

Assignment

Similar to the previ-ous assignment, thinkabout some of the deci-sions you have maderecently in your profes-sional life and identify thosedesigned to advance thecause, to achieve progressfor the organization.

Quick Ideas 1 to 3

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achieving stated goals and objectives. We normally equatethe achievement of these goals and objectives as progress,and that’s what managers do: they make progress, achievegoals and objectives, and ensure the constant success of theorganization.

Achieving these goals almost always requires quality deci-sions made from a wide variety of alternatives and in a broadrange of settings and circumstances. The decisions are oftencomplex, involve many people, have significant consequencesand ultimately determine the extent of success or failureof the organization.

How’s that for decision making as a management func-tion? Feel the pressure? Stress building up?

Well, it doesn’t have to. There are tried-and-true ways tohandle these decisions, and that’s what this section of the bookis about.

Here’s the first decision you have to make: Do you reallyhave to make this decision?

Sounds like a dumb question, but it’s not! Your first task inany decision-making situation is to make certain it is your re-sponsibility to make this decision. Sometimes we all have a

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDecision making to promote the organization’s success

is what being a manager is all about. Good decision-making

skills will help make you a good—or even great—manager.

4Making the Decision: Is It Yours to Make?

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tendency to rush into a situ-ation and “fix it.” Often, thatcalls for some decision mak-ing. Yet, if we took the timeto think about it, the situationmay require a decision bysomeone else, not us. Howto decide?

Start with the situation.Does it require a decision

right now? Are you the person who logically should make thedecision? If it isn’t a crisis or emergency, would you still be theone to make the decision? If the answers to these questionsare yes, then make the call.

If, however, the answers are no, then it may be someoneelse’s decision to make. Next questions: Are they there to makethe decision? Is there time for them to do so? If not, perhapsyou will need to make the decision for them.

If time is not of the essence, then consult with anyone in-volved to determine whose decision it is to make.

Assignment

Think about decisionsthat have been made in thepast that clearly were madein the heat of the momentby the wrong person. Didthe results turn out badly?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDon’t make decisions you don’t have to or shouldn’t.

They never turn out right.

Quick Ideas 3 to 4

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There are those managers who just love to make deci-sions. It provides confirmation of their purpose in the organization,and it often gives them a sense of power and authority. It ispersonally and professionally rewarding to them to be able to

make decisions.Yet, it is always impor-

tant to remember that theability and authority to makedecisions are not a right, buta responsibility. It is an im-portant role and function ofmanagement, and should notbe taken lightly, or undertak-en for personal reasons orends.

Just as importantly, it iscritical to ensure that you are the correct person to make thedecision. Ask the following questions before undertaking thedecision-making task:

� Is this my decision because I am responsible forthe outcome?

� Is this my decision because I am responsible forthe people involved?

� Is there someone else who might be more quali-fied to make the decision?

� Is this a decision my boss should make?

5A Key Question: Why Are You Making

This Decision?

Assignment

Think about thesequestions. They are notposed lightly. Think aboutsituations you may findyourself in where your per-sonal stake in the outcomemight be a problem.

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Finally, ask yourself if you have a personal stake in theoutcome. If you do, while it may still be your decision to make,you should identify your position and try to set it aside so youcan make a rational and objective decision—not one influencedby your own motivations.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we aretempted to make a decision that affects others because we madea mistake, and are trying to make up it. We are trying to “saveface,” saving our personal reputation from damage.

If this is the only reasonfor making the decision, it isa bad one. Decisions shouldbe made for the good of theorganization and its members,not to help one manager savehis or her reputation fromdamage.

If you find yourselfthinking about whether to dosomething or not, solely forthe purposes of making up for—or covering for—a previousmistake, don’t do it. Stop at that point. If you’ve screwed up,

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueMaking decisions for the wrong reasons may well turn

out alright, but they might turn out badly as others discover

the decision was made for personal reasons.

Assignment

Remember when youhave seen others decidesomething only so they cancover for their own mistake.How do you feel aboutthat?

6Decisions to Save Face

Quick Ideas 5 to 6

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take your lumps and move on. There will be other timesto shine.

Here is another questionable motivation for making a deci-sion: If the reason you think you have a decision to make isbecause you will gain in reputation or in influence—prestige—then the real outcome of thedecision is not for others orfor the organization, it’s foryou.

These situations almostnever work out to your ad-vantage. You may think youhave a good reason for thedecision, but most will seethrough your rationalizations and see it for what it is: an attemptto improve your prestige in the organization.

Resist these impulses to make a decision just because it’sgood for you.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueSo, do you want to be one of those people? Probably not.

7Decisions to Gain Prestige

Assignment

You’ve seen others dothis before you. You didn’trespect them then.

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This is another decision you are tempted to make not be-cause the organization needs it, but because you need it, whichis always a questionable motivation. The desire for new man-agers to fit in with their new peer group of other managers isstrong—and normal.

However, there are many more ways to begin the fitting-inprocess than by making decisions for that purpose alone. Again,the people who are affected by that decision will immediatelyrecognize your motivationand think less of you for it.And your new peer groupwill also see the same thing;your credibility and capabil-ity will be damaged.

Instead, to fit in, becomea resource to other manag-ers. Become someone theycan count on for help andadvice. Get to know themand let them get to know you.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDon’t become one of those you have criticized in the

past.

8Decisions to Fit In

Assignment

Recall others whohave made decisions just tobe “one of the team.” Youdidn’t respect it then, andothers will not respect itfrom you.

Quick Ideas 6 to 8

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Probably the worst motivation for making any decision isthe personal, self-aggrandizing motivation of making a decisionin such a way as to position yourself for a promotion. Thisusually means a decision that benefits you, but not others. You’veseen this: A manager reorganizes his department just todemonstrate he has ideasrather than because the de-partment will be moreefficient or effective afterthe reorganization.

There are two good rea-sons to reject this motivationfor a decision. First, it’s apoor excuse to make a de-cision. As a manager, you are charged with making decisionsto improve outcomes for the organization—not yourself.

Second, those you think you will be impressing will recog-nize the motivation and will not value it. You may think they willnot notice—but they certainly will. Remember, you did whenyou saw things like this happen!

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueFitting in with a new peer group involves relationship

building, not decision making.

9Decisions to Get Promoted

Assignment

Resist the motivation tomake decisions for personaladvancement.

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Not every decision requires a sole decision maker. Many,especially in business and industry, require a number of veryinformed and involved deci-sion makers to collectivelymake the best decision forthe organization. Decisivepeople, perhaps like you,tend to want to “make thingshappen.” But sometimes it’sbest to either pass the deci-sion to someone else whomay be more appropriate, or,even more common, involveothers in the decision.

At other times, expedi-ency will suggest that thedecision should be made inconsultation with other managers or perhaps with your boss—all of whom may well have an important stake in the outcome(s).Consider those players, and the circumstances, before under-taking the decision alone.

But you need to determine that based on the evidence.What is the nature of the decision? Who will it affect? Will itaffect others besides those I am responsible for supervising?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDecisions for personal motivations usually backfire.

10Is It Soley Your Decision to Make?

Assignment

Review the decisionsyou have made or partici-pated in making in the past.How many were sole deci-sions by yourself or othersand how many were groupor collaborative decisions?Use this set of experiencesas a guide.

Quick Ideas 8 to 10

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Will it affect processes conducted by others? These kinds ofquestions will help you determine who should be involved in thedecision process.

Seems like a simple questions, doesn’t it? To share or notto share. Yet, it is not always that easy to tell. If you haveanalyzed the situation as wehave already suggested, youknow who needs to be in-volved. But do you knowwhether they need to sharein the decision process orjust be consulted?

We’re back to some ofthose earlier questions. Whoshould be involved andwhy? The why will suggestif they need to be a co-decision maker. Sometimesthere is just one other person

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRemember that a shared decision is often not only better

received, but also better implemented.

11Do You Need to Share the Decision With

Someone Else?

Assignment

Review past decisionsand consider those thatwere consultative versusconsensus. Why were theyconsultative and not con-sensus, or vice versa? Yourown past experiences willbe important here.

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with an important stake in the outcome of the decision. Whenthat is the case, consider consulting and sharing the decisionprocess and outcome with him or her.

Sometimes there are many with a stake in the process oroutcome. In those cases, you will need to decide (yes, anotherdecision) whether you will consult and then make a decision, orwhether you will work toward a consensus.

Each of these options is different, and requires slightly dif-ferent processes and concerns.

Once you have identified the need to make a decision andconsult with key people, you need to make certain you havecorrectly identified the right players. A rule of thumb is thatanyone who will be affected by the decision should be consult-ed. If their processes will be affected, consult them. If theirbusiness outcomes will be affected, consult them. This appliesto other managers as well as to your own work team.

When consulting, make sure you convey to them that youare only doing that—consulting. You will make the decision, butyou are asking for their input and recommendations. Neverimply that they are part of the decision-making process. Whenyou consult, you are clearly seeking input, not partners in thedecision.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConsulting versus consensus can make a real difference

in the success of the outcome of your decision.

12Consulting the Key Players

Quick Ideas 10 to 12

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Here’s one way to dothis: “Hi, Frank, I’m trying todecide whether to move ourTask A from Office A toOffice B. As I make my de-cision, I’m asking any keyplayers, like you, what theaffect might be from yourperspective.” A statementlike this clearly asks for in-put, yet just as directlyindicates you will be makingthe decision.

Consensus is a decision-making technique that uses all ofthe resources and the participation of an entire group. Thatcould be a group of managers, or it could be a group of work-ers. Consensus always requires more time to make the decisionthan a simple managerial decision. It also is not a democraticvote.

Consensus involves compromise by the group making thedecision. Not everyone can always get everything he or shewants. Often, your role as a manager is to mediate and moder-ate the process to an effective conclusion: the decision.

Assignment

Practice a few linesakin to this example. Writethem down so you can re-trieve them as needed.Make certain they clearlyindicate you will be makingthe decision, and you areasking only for input.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConsult anyone whose processes or outcomes will be

affected by your decision.

13Do You Need a Consensus?

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More often than not,consensus will require theparticipants to negotiate anacceptable solution thatrequires trade-offs. Not ev-eryone will get what he orshe wants. What you arelooking for is a final productthat everyone can live with,which actually achieves your goal. The result is a reasonabledecision that everyone in the group can accept.

Of course, deciding when consensus decision making isappropriate is the key to using this mechanism best.

Consensus decision making is best used when there is aclearly identifiable group or team to make the decision. Theboundaries of the group need to be clear, such as a normalwork team with a clearly established membership and commongoals and objectives, or a management team that routinely meetsto collaborate—not an ad hoc group of people just broughttogether, which just ends up being consultation.

Assignment

Consider consensusdecisions you have been in-volved in making in the past.How have they been betteror worse than others?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConsensus decisions are difficult to manage and obtain,

but often provide the best results through time. Your task is

to manage the process effectively and efficiently.

14Is Consensus Decision Making Right

for Your Situation?


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The situation needs tobe right as well. Never useconsensus for personal ac-tions. That’s a manager’sjob, pure and simple. Neveruse consensus for determin-ing equipment purchases,product development deci-sions, budget decisions, orsimilar situations.

Consensus decisionmaking is best when theteam members, or partici-pants, have a real stake inthe process or the outcome, or both: a work team deciding howmost effectively to achieve a goal or objective; a managementteam deciding how best to integrate new processes or proce-dures that affect everyone; or a group of workers decidinghow best to change a process to increase efficiency.

All of these are good situations for consensus decisionmaking. Remember, however, that the manager’s role is to fa-cilitate this process.

Studies and experience have demonstrated time and timeagain that consensus decisions are almost always the best

Assignment

Review consensusdecision-making situationsyou have participated in,and determine why theywere or were not appro-priate situations for aconsensus decision. Weoften learn best from ourown experiences.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConsensus decision making is hard work. But the poten-

tial rewards are significant. Make certain you choose wisely.

15When Consensus Is the Answer

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and highest quality decisions; they often produce the bestoutcomes.

This is based on what we know about people’s behaviorsand motivations. If they are involved in the decision process,they are invested in its result. Behaviorally, they recognize theyare at least partly responsible for the success of the decision’soutcome.

People work harder and more energetically to execute anidea or decision they had a role in making, and this almost al-

ways results in significantlyimproved outcomes.

Use consensus decisionmaking when you have plen-ty of time to create thedecision, and when you havea clearly identifiable and co-hesive group of people toparticipate in the process.Use consensus decisionmaking when quality is moreimportant than time. Quitefrankly, this should be mostof the time.

Assignment

Recall the consensusdecisions you have partici-pated throughout the years.Did you feel better aboutthat decision than othersyou were not a participantin? Were you more likely towork harder at that imple-mentation than others?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConsensus decisions almost always result in higher qual-

ity decisions and immediate group acceptance and execution.


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So when do you not use consensus decision making?An authoritarian decision is appropriate under some cir-

cumstances where consensus is either not possible or notpractical. This sounds negative, but it doesn’t have to be. Anauthoritarian decision is one made by someone with the “au-thority” to make the decision.

There are two primary factors that may dictate whether ornot an authoritative decision is appropriate: time and politics.

When time is of the essence, an authoritarian decision isbest made. Getting groups together, discussing the process, andarriving at a consensus decision takes time—time you don’talways have. If you are in acrisis or an emergency,don’t go for a consensus de-cision, make one yourself.

Organization politicscan sometimes be a barrierto a good or practical deci-sion. Not every organizationis a smoothly running ma-chine. Sometimes internal divisions are significant and divisive.If it is likely that internal groups will polarize around specificpositions and be unbending, then it becomes almost impossibleto obtain a good consensus decision. So, when the internal or-ganizational politics of the situation indicate many different andwidely divergent factions will preclude a quality decision, useauthoritarian style.

16When It’s Not

Assignment

Recall the decisionsyou have seen made in theauthoritarian style. Evaluatethe circumstances and theoutcomes.

33

Each of us tends to have a favorite decision-making style.After all, we have been making decisions our entire lives! Most ofthem have been personal decisions about our own lives, but theyare decisions nonetheless and we are comfortable making them.

However, our personaldecision making styles maywork well for us, but not forour organization. Beware ofapplying your personal styleto your organization. It maynot work very well.

For example, some ofus are “thinkers.” We wantto think through a problemor challenge and arrive at adecision based on evidence,facts, and so on. Others ofus are “feelers.” We make decisions emotionally based on howwe feel about a situation, problem, or challenge.

Quite frankly, neither of these styles alone are appropriatefor an organizational decision. Certainly thinking and analyzing

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAuthoritarian decisions are often expedient decisions.

They aren’t always the best decisions, just the best decision

time and circumstances will allow.

17Know Your Decision-Making Style

Assignment

Evaluate your personaldecision-making style.How do you make person-al decisions? Is this styleappropriate for your orga-nizational decisions as amanager?


34


are fine techniques, and we all have emotions that are applica-ble to most situations. But using these alone is inappropriate.Just thinking about a problem does not get you input from oth-ers, and emotions should not play a role in organizationaldecisions.

Not all decisions are complex or require sophisticated ne-gotiating skills. Some are really simple, and you can make quickwork of them.

The quickest decisions are those that already have estab-lished guidelines and policies. For example, let’s say you wantto hold a client luncheon to showcase your latest product. Ifyou know you can spendbudget dollars for it, and youhave the money to do so,then you’ve met the two cri-teria to finalize the decision.In short, you went, you saw,you conquered—you’redone!

The point is, don’t wastetime and energy on thinkingabout simple decisions. Anddon’t waste time battling

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueJust thinking and feeling are too simple and not inclusive

enough for quality organizational decision making.

18Simple Decisions

Assignment

Take the win-win ap-proach, even in the simplestdecisions, and you will endup with more energy, good-will, and thinking power totackle the bigger fish.

35

over small decisions in group decision making, either. Concedewhere you can, make your pitch, and then let the chips fallwhere they may. In other words, don’t pull out a bazooka to killa mosquito.

So, how do we start making decisions?We start at the beginning, as with everything else, and we

try to figure out the problem. The first step is to recognize thata problem actually exists.Sometimes they are largeproblems and simply cannotbe ignored. They “slap youupside the head.” Othertimes, problems are moresubtle, and you need to beobservant and analytical.

Once we have decidedthere is a problem (or a chal-lenge or an opportunity), wehave to clearly define it. Itcould be a process problem,

a customer service problem, a manufacturing problem, or apersonnel policy problem.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIf the parameters for making the decision are clear-cut,

then your decision should be clear and simple as well.

19What’s the Problem?

Assignment

To practice this tech-nique, think about some ofthe problems you havefaced in the past and cre-ate a simple declarativesentence that describes theproblem.


36


First, try to define it with a simple declarative statement.For example, if customers are returning a specific product 35percent of the time, clearly state the problem this way: “Ourcustomers have problems with Product X at least 35 percent ofthe time; we know this because they are returning it to us.”

Okay, that’s pretty clear. You have a problem with a prod-uct. Customers are returning it. There must be something wrongwith either the product or the presentation of it. This requires asolution, and a decision about that solution will be required.Now you need to begin researching the problem to find outmore about it.

If you know where you want to go, you’re halfway there.That’s the concept best-selling author Stephen Covey describeswhen he talks about starting with the end in mind. Suggestingthat you work in a backward direction may sound odd, but it’sabsolutely necessary to move you forward in the right direction.

Starting with the end in mind is a perfect principle to applyin decision making. In fact, it’s the founding premise for MBO,or “managing by objective.” The term objective often getsthrown around like a piece of strategic code, but it simply means“the end result.”

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueUnderstanding the problem begins with stating the prob-

lem clearly.

20Covey Has It Right: Start With the

End in Mind

37

For example, all parents want to raise their children to be-come self-sufficient. Starting with the end in mind, in this case,means defining what self-sufficient means, picturing it, perhapsdescribing it, and then determining what key decisions must bemade on the road of parenthood to arrive at self-sufficiency.

You can apply the sametechnique. Picture yourselfsitting with your colleagues,all gathered to decide howto improve your company’scustomer-service image.Starting with the end in mindcould mean making a list ofwords you would like loyalcustomers to use in describ-

ing your sales representatives. Or it could be news headlinesyou would like The Wall Street Journal to publish about yourcompany’s superior service.

This clear vision of what you ultimately want to happen isthe foundation for good decision-making because it keeps youfocused. It keeps a group on track when it starts to veer offcourse. As the ideas start flying, you’ll be in the driver’s seatwhen you ask: How does that help us achieve our vision?

Assignment

Start with the end inmind: have a clear visionof what the end resultshould be.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueStaying focused on what you want the end to look like

not only saves you time, it saves you energy—energy you’ll

need to reach your ultimate vision.


38


Every decision begins with research. What do we know?What do we not know? Let’s find out the answers to thesequestions. We have access to the information, but more oftenthan not, it is with other people. So, our research usually re-quires listening to others.

But often, we are not good listeners. Listening begins withhearing. We need to do more listening and less talking. One ofthe greatest problems in cus-tomer service is not hearingwhat the customer is saying.If we do a good job of listen-ing, we learn all kinds of goodthings. People tell us good,usable information all thetime. We just have to listenand pay attention.

All too often, we wantto talk, not listen. When wetalk, we learn nothing. And the more we talk, the less likelyothers will talk to us. You’ve been there too. You walk into thehardware store and tell the clerk, “I’m working on my deckand…” He interrupts and starts telling you about all the deckmaterials they have, and where they are, and then begins lead-ing you to the right aisles. Of course, he never lets you finish totell him that you just need a common drill bit, not decking mate-rials! By the time he learns that, you have already wasted 15minutes in the store.

So, when researching the problem or opportunity, start withlistening to what others have to say, and ask good questions.You’ll learn a lot.

21Research Starts With the Ears

Assignment

Practice listening. Visitvarious retail stores andsee the difference be-tween good sales clerksand those who don’t listenwell.

39

Because listening is so important, how do we do a good job?First, remember that listening is not hearing. Hearing is the

active acquisition and trans-lation of sound waves intomeaningful concepts. Hear-ing is in the ears and thenthe mind.

Listening is the mentalactivity of attending to some-one else’s communicationwith the goal of gaining un-derstanding. Here are somesimple tips:

1. Focus on the speaker alone; tune out other stimuli.2. Actively listen. Pay attention to the communica-

tion, and tune out other thoughts and concernsyou are having.

3. Remember, if you are talking, you are not listen-ing! Minimize your own speaking.

4. Concentrate on learning from what the other per-son is saying. The goal is understanding.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood research begins with good listening skills.

22How to Listen Effectively

Assignment

Practice some of thesetechniques on a regular ba-sis, so you can develop anexpertise in good, solid lis-tening skills.


40


5. Suspend your preconceptions about the person,the subject, the circumstances. Try to focus onthe topic and the listening experience objectively.

6. Keep emotional reactions under control.7. Use active physical listening techniques: leaning

forward during the conversation, maintaining eyecontact, and providing positive feedback like nod-ding of head.

8. Minimize interruptions. Be patient and allow thespeaker to finish his or her thoughts.

9. Suspend judgment. It’s about listening and learn-ing, not about arguing.

10. Ask good, relevant, and insightful questions.

Beyond listening, asking good questions that elicit qualityanswers is also part of the research phase of making a deci-sion. When interviewing key players in your information-gatheringphase prior to making a decision, think about asking goodquestions.

Prepare before any discussion by thinking through whatinformation you want to gather and developing potential ques-tions that will elicit that information. Think about questions intwo ways:

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Listening is one of the most important tools in your

decision-making kit. It lets you learn and discover.

23Techniques for Asking Questions

41

First, create questions inboth a closed-ended re-sponse (yes/no) followed byquestions that are open end-ed (allow the interviewee torespond with details). Startwith the yes/no question.Once you get that response,you can ask the obvious: whyor why not? Allow the re-

spondent plenty of time to answer. Often, the longer the answer,the more details you’ll get.

For example: Are our customers returning Product X moreoften than others? Get yes or no. Then, follow up with morequestions: Why do you think they are doing that? What are theytelling you when they do return the product? Let your customerservice reps talk, and listen closely.

Second, ask questions that follow the journalist’s tried-and-true key elements of information: who, what, where, when, why,and how—known as the five W’s. Who is doing this? What isthe reason? Where are they returning the product? When dothe customers seem to return them? How are the products com-ing back? Why do customers say they are returning the product?

Assignment

Set up some scenariosand practice these techniquesso you become comfortablewith this information-gathering tool.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe quality of your decision is greatly dependent on the

information you are given.


42


Robert Frost once said: “The brain is a wonderful organ; itstarts working the moment you get up in the morning and doesnot stop until you get into the office.”

Too often this can be true among managers. You’ve prob-ably run across at least one of them. Almost like a natural reflex,the brain shuts down and they react automatically. Ironically,many of these individuals are probably sharp, intelligent, andwell-intentioned people. But one knee-jerk reaction too manyand they begin to lose credibility and influence.

Sadly, their reactions are often the result of fear.Explosive conflicts in decision making can be the result of

fear, and so can avoiding making a decision all together. Fearcan lead to poor decisionsmade without having all thenecessary facts. Unchecked,fear can quickly carry youaway from your vision.

So what drives fear indecisions? Sometimes it’spersonal insecurity or pres-sure from the boss. Ormaybe it’s just burnout.

But there is a cure forthis management disorder;it’s called “thinking.” Reacting is merely action driven by emo-tions, rather than rationale. Thinking, however, is the antidotebecause it is decision making based on analysis—analysis offacts, theories, and input from others who may have “beenthere, done that.” This collection of information is known as a

24Think—Don’t React

Assignment

Through time, thinkingwill set you up to succeed.Reaction, however, will setyou up to fail. Choose tothink, and you will chooseto succeed time and again.

43

base of knowledge, and all good decisions are made on thisbasis.

Cool rationale, however, can only come by way of an openmind that is ready to ask questions, listen, and truly understand.It puts action to the side, while the brain gets busy consideringall information available. That’s why the research step ofdecision-making is so crucial. Though you can never have allthe data, this should not preclude you from having as much asyou can gather in a given situation.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood decisions are built on a solid foundation of knowl-

edge, not the shifting sand of reaction.


As you develop an appropriate decision, remember thatthere is always more than one way to accomplish something.So, think about options—different ways of achieving an out-

come. Look at options bothfrom the perspective of whatoutcome you would like toget, as well as options onhow to actually achieveeach outcome.

As you examine yourdata, think about the likelypotential outcomes youwant from your decision.List those outcomes. There

25Think Options!

Assignment

Think back on all thetechniques you were taughton what to do personallywith decisions in your life.Many require you to listpros and cons. This is a sim-ilar technique.

44


may well be more than one acceptable and possible outcome,so list each.

Then, examine each outcome and list the potential ways toachieve that outcome. Again, there’s always more than oneway to get to a final destination, so think creatively using yourgathered information, and identify all the different ways to eachoutcome.

Then, of course, you have to choose—or, if you are using aconsensus process, the group needs to choose. But they do soby having all the information organized in logical ways.

Sometimes you find yourself in a position in which decisionmaking is your primary task. This is not unusual among seniormanagers and corporate leaders. When this happens, you havemultiple decisions to make, many of which you are working onat the same time.

So, there are some fairly simple rules:First, make those decisions that are needed by others as

quickly as you can. Don’t skimp on your research or analysis,but be mindful of others’ needs.

Second, for those decisions that don’t need to be maderight away, create a simple time line beginning with the date thedecision is needed, and back plan from there.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueArmed with information and options, you, or your group,

are ready to examine solutions and to make effective decisions.

26Prioritize—Know What Decisions

to Make When

45

Third, when you knowthe situation needs a collab-orative decision, create thetime line with the other par-ticipants in mind, and withtheir participation.

Finally, if you aren’t cer-tain if the decision is yoursto make, make it a priorityto find out through discus-sions and investigations. Ifit’s yours, you want the time to make a good decision; if it’scollaborative, you want to be certain you plan for others’ par-ticipation; if it’s someone else’s decision to make, you want toprovide him with enough time to do a good job.

Even if you are making the decision alone, without a groupconsensus, you need input from others. And if you are goingfor a consensus decision, then you really need input from oth-ers! And you should solicit that input.

Talk with or interview anyone who may have a stake in thedecision or its outcome. This should include, but is not limitedto, other managers and decision makers, your boss or bosses,

Assignment

Reflect on decisionsyou have been involvedwith in the past—yours,others, and collaborativedecisions. Did anyone planthe process? Did you haveenough time?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueBad decisions often are the result of rushed decisions.

Planning for them makes for better end results.

27Seek Input From Others—Even When

It’s Solely Your Decision


46


employees, customers, andvendors. In short, anyonewho will be affected in anyway by the decision.

This accomplishes twoimportant objectives. First, itdemonstrates that you arebeing thorough and inclusivein your investigations, and inyour preparation to make thedecision. People like to feelas if they have “done their homework” before making a deci-sion. Second, it makes everyone a player in the decision-makingprocess. Even if you are making an autocratic decision, justasking people for their input makes them feel like you know thedecision is important enough to them to ask their opinions.

Obviously this takes time, but it is time well spent.

Once you have decided that a decision is yours to make,you should remember that you are not the expert in all things.Often, there are others with special expertise and experiencewho can help you make these decisions. Take advantage oftheir advice and counsel.

Assignment

Think back on all thedecisions that were madewithout your input, but thathad some kind of effect onyou. Now you know whyit’s important to be as in-clusive as possible.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueInvolving people in your research also involves them in

the decision.

28Decisions to Save Face

47

Remember that a deci-sion made with all theinformation and adviceavailable is always a betterdecision than one made bysomeone who just goes offand decides on his or herown.

Yes, it may well be yourdecision to make. But con-sulting others better informs

you in the process and gives you much more information andbackground against which to make a good decision. Don’t hes-itate; ask.

So, if you choose to seek others’ advice, who should youconsult? You probably already know the answer. First, consultwith your fellow managers. Many have gone through the expe-rience and can help you by sharing their experiences. In addition,if your decision will have an affect on their work, you wouldwant their opinion anyway.

Consider consulting other experts in the company. Theymay not be your fellow managers, but they may well have

Assignment

Remember the timesyou have been asked foradvice on a decision? Thatwas someone seeking tomake a quality, informeddecision.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueInformed decisions are always more effective than deci-

sions made without counsel.

29Consult With Mentors, Veterans in Your

Field, Company Experts, and Colleagues


48


expertise you need. A very good example is your human re-sources experts on staff, especially if your decision is going toaffect employees in any way. They have seen lots of problemscaused by management decisions and can suggest possible ef-fective approaches from realexperience.

Consider talking withother veterans in your particu-lar field. You know them fromyour participation in trade andprofessional associations.They may have had a similarexperience and can share thatwith you.

Also always consultwith your mentor. You have one, right? Your mentor is some-one you consult with about your career on a regular basis. Usethem to help guide your decision making as well.

All of these other people you are consulting are more thanjust information providers. Don’t consult with people just to sayyou did so, and then just do what you want. If you do that theywill not help you the next time you ask.

Assignment

Make an informal listof people you could use asconsultants when you arecalled upon to make an im-portant decision. Use thelist as needed.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYou know people who can be of help. Use them. Consult

with them. They will help you with information and advice.

And you’ll make a better decision as a result.

30Value Others’ Insight

49

Value what they can offer you. Apply their information andrecommendations in your thinking processes as you analyzethe situation and create a so-lution (the decision). All toooften, people take the ap-proach that they are expectedto ask others advice, but thenthey don’t have to take it andcan do what the want.

This will almost alwayslead to two results: first, apoor, personally motivateddecision that often backfires.Second, a loss of personal credibility as those who were con-sulted realize their advice was solicited, but ignored.

When you do consult, make certain you not only use theinformation and recommendations, but that you tell those youconsult that you will do so, and you appreciate their help.

You’ve probably done this before: a brainstorm exercise. Itcan be done individually or with a group (a group is usuallybest).

Assignment

You’ve been here be-fore. Remember the lasttime someone asked youfor advice and then clearlydisregarded it. Will you helpthem again?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe information and advice you get from others is truly

valuable.

31Have a Brainstorm


50


You set a task or ask a question and everyone participatingthinks of things appropriate to that subject. The only rules in

brainstorming are that thereare no rules. Okay, maybea few. Set a time limit forideas and always have somemechanism to record whatyou (or all the participants)come up with. Other thanthat, anything goes. Noidea is too small, no idea isinappropriate.

This process providesyou with lots of really goodideas—ideas that you wouldnot have thought about oth-

erwise. In group settings, people feed off of others ideas tocome up with ideas they would never have thought of alone.

The result: You get a list of lots of ideas pertaining to yourproblem, your task, or your opportunity. Some will not be valu-able, and some will not be practical. But some will be newideas you would never have thought of to bring to the decisionprocess.

Assignment

Since most of us haveparticipated in brainstorm-ing sessions, rememberyour participation in one.Remember how some re-ally unique ideas came upthat you might not havethought of alone.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGroups often provide more high-quality ideas and solu-

tions than individuals. That’s why we do so much group work.

51

Okay, you’ve probably done this before: You get out a pieceof paper. At the top you write two words creating two columns:pro and con. You state yoursolution (the decision). Thenyou simply think throughthat decision listing all of thepositive results of the deci-sion under pros, and all ofthe potentially negative re-sults under cons.

Result: You have a clearlist of advantages and disadvantages for that decision. Now doit for every possible decision you can make to provide a solu-tion to a problem or take advantage of an opportunity. Eachone results in a list of advantages and disadvantages.

Use the lists to weigh the potential decisions.

32Weighing Pros and Cons

Assignment

Try this with the nextdecision you have to make,either professionally orpersonally.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYes, this is a very old technique and probably should not

be used alone. But it is still valuable, and is often a good

starting point for any decision.


52


Have you ever made a mistake? Come on, fess up! Wehave all made some mistakesin our lives. Some personal,some professional; makingmistakes is simply part oflife. We don’t let the possi-bility of making a mistakekeep us from making deci-sions or getting our workdone, do we?

So, don’t be afraid ofmaking a mistake when youhave to make a decision. Ifit goes wrong or your solu-tion turns out badly, use it asa learning tool, not only foryourself but for everyone involved. Then fix it and move on.

Mistakes are part of life and can often be repaired, so don’tlet that possibility keep you from making decisions.

33There Are No Mistakes, Only Lessons

Assignment

Think back on anymanager you have knownin the past who simplycould not make a decisionbecause he was afraid itwould be the wrong decision.Remember the problems thelack of a decision cost?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDon’t let the fear of failure stop you from being the

effective manager you can be.

53

There is always a level of risk in every decision. After all,if the decision were 100 percent clear, we wouldn’t need peo-

ple to make decisions; wewould let computers makethem. But we don’t, do we?Because there are lots of in-tangibles that have to beconsidered.

Risk is part of the pro-cess of decision making.What is the risk? On the onehand, we risk failure. We risknot achieving the goal orobjective because we makea bad decision or the wrong

decision. We risk someone else’s job. We risk our job!On the other hand, we also risk success. We risk over

achieving on any goal or objective. We risk having everyoneinvolved look good as a result of the decision. We risk our ownsuccess in our jobs.

As managers, part of our job is to make decisions. Everydecision implies risk, so live with it and move on. Make thedecision, and be prepared to work with the results.


34Risk Is Good—Embrace It!

Assignment

Examine your ownwillingness to take risks.They come with the terri-tory, so start realizing thatyou will have to take a riskwith every decision youmake.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe greatest risk you can take is not making the decision

and risking success—for you and for your organization.

54


Okay, we know wehave to take risks with ev-ery decision, but we don’tjust throw ourselves to thefates, do we? Of course not.We have to calculate therisk for each potential deci-sion and weigh the potentialoutcomes.

Remember that pros andcons exercise? It can help youidentify which decision willprovide the likeliest positiveoutcome. Remember thoserecommendations from others? They can help you weigh the de-cision possibilities so that you can try to achieve the best possibleoutcome.

That’s the task. Calculating the likely outcomes of each de-cision to determine which decision option will result in the bestoutcome—for your organization, for your people, and for you.

But sometimes the greater outcomes also require takingthe higher risks. You could, perhaps, take a lesser risk, but you’llalso achieve a lesser outcome. You have to weigh the optionsand determine how much risk is acceptable for the measuredoutcome you are likely to get from each option.

35Leverage Risk for a Calculated Outcome

Assignment

In decision-making situ-ations, some outcomes willrequire higher risks. Can youremember decisions you ob-served or participated in thatwere like that? How did theyturn out? What can you learnfrom those experiences orobservations?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIn almost all cases, higher risk will lead to greater rewards

(outcomes). You have to decide which level is appropriate for you.

55

We always want to make good decisions for good reasons.That will accomplish good things for our organization and ourpeople.

So avoid the potentialfor making a decision be-cause it’s “good for me.” Ormaking a decision becauseyou have the power. Ego isa terrible thing to allow intoyour decision-making pro-cess. It almost always turnsout badly—for you and forthe organization.

Make your decisionsbased on good information, good recommendations, and thought-ful analysis focused on achieving the best outcomes foreveryone. Remember that ego focuses on yourself. Good deci-sion makers focus on the organization and others.

36Avoid Making Decisions From Ego

Assignment

Reflect on decisionsyou have seen made bymanagers who did so be-cause “they could” orbecause it was good forthem. How did these deci-sions turn out?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEgo should be left out of the decision-making process.


56


Every organization has internal politics. To deny that wouldbe foolish. Yet, using political motivations to make decisionsoften turns out badly as well. Politics usually implies conflictbetween various groups in an organization or a community.Political motivations are always recognizable. The informationis different from what you have gathered from other objectivesources; recommendationsare not consistent with theorganization’s overall objec-tive, and would not serveone group more than anoth-er without any significantgain to the organization.

Allowing these inputsinto your process can resultin biased decision making.These decisions tend not tobe as good as they could be,and, worse, are often recognized by others who are just asbiased, which damages your credibility.

Thus, allowing politics to play a role in your decision-making process is allowing one faction to gain advantage overanother, and not necessarily for good or right reasons. So avoidpolitical reasons and arguments in your decision making if youcan. Again, focus on the greatest gain for the greatest number.

As a side note, of course, we can’t always avoid politics.Sometimes people will attempt to influence you in your decisionmaking not based on rational information or an honest focus on apositive outcome, but on personal gain or political (organizational)gain. When this happens, recognize it, acknowledge it, and weigh

37Avoid Making Decisions Political

Assignment

Remember decisionsyou have seen made by oth-ers that were politicallybiased. How did they turnout? How did it turn out forthe decision maker?

57

it carefully before allowing that influence to have too muchweight in your end result.

“They did what?! Even after I told them not to?! Well, I’lljust teach them a thing or two!”

Hold on just a doggone minute. You are having a knee-jerkreaction. Somebody has done something you told them specif-ically not to do. And now it’s come to your attention. Yourimmediate reaction is to takethem to task for it. But…

You are reacting fromemotions and with insuffi-cient information. Knee-jerkreactions are common andunderstandable, but shouldalways be avoided. Emotionis rarely a good element in decision making. Never make adecision when you are mad at someone. Never make a deci-sion when you are overly happy with someone. Wait and allowthe emotion to pass and then gather information and analyze it.

We rarely have all the information we need in these cir-cumstances, either. If we allow our emotions to rule, we forgetthat the first step in the decision-making process is to gather

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Politics are often unsavory, and especially unsavory

inside organizations. Avoid allowing political motivations to

play a role in your decision making.


38Avoid the Proverbial Knee-Jerk Reaction

Assignment

You’ve seen these be-fore. Remember what theyare like.

58


information. But if you allow yourself a knee-jerk reaction, youoperate only with the initial information that caused that reac-tion. There’s always more information available than we haveinitially.

In our previous example, investigate first. You may welldiscover that there was a very good reason someone violatedyour guidance. They may even deserve a commendation, not ahollering.

Group think is a phenomenon in group consensus situationsin which the group avoids conflict. In doing so, it fails to proper-ly question information, to critically analyze data and potentialalternatives, and to reach decisions without vital discussion.

Groups that are too homogeneous (too much alike) oftenresult in group think.

The problem, of course, is that group think is dishonest.Oh, not intentionally. These groups don’t set out to engage ingroup think. It just happens because everyone is so in tune witheach other that they don’t question any of the information theyare gathering. They don’t effectively analyze alternative solu-tions; rather, they gravitate to one alternative because it “seems”right. Then they justify that outcome without really examiningthe others.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Recognize your knee-jerk emotional reactions for what

they are and calm down first before taking action.

39Avoid Group Think

59

How can you tell if yourgroup is engaging in groupthink? The first indicator isthat there are no alternativeinformation sources fromoutside the group. Second,there is little argument or con-flict. Everyone just agreeswith everyone else. No dis-agreement. No debate. No

factions aligned to promote one solution on another.When this happens, your group is engaged in group think,

and any decision it makes is likely to be a poor one at best.

The truth is that overly homogeneous groups that engagein group think, even unknowingly, are manipulating the decisionprocess to their advantage. They are so alike in their thinkingthat they ignore other facts that may disagree with their facts,ignore other alternatives that may not be as advantageous tothem as their option, and make decisions that tend to benefitthem as a group.

Assignment

Watch group think hap-pening around you, inmeetings you attend and inad hoc or regular workgroups you participate inregularly.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRecognize group think and avoid it. Restructure the

group if necessary.

40Group Think Is Manipulation—

It’s Not Consensus


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As a resul t , theyhave not only hijacked thedecision-making process,they have also manipulat-ed the decision in theirfavor and possibly to thedetriment of the organiza-t ion, or at least othergroups in the organization.

This is really dishonestdecision making and abso-lutely must be avoided. History is replete with examples ofgroup think. The decline of IBM Corporation in the early 1980sis a great example. These employees and executives thoughtalike, worked alike, even dressed alike. They got trapped ingroup think.

In making the decision on whom to involve, remember thatit will depend greatly on where in the organization the outcomeswill be felt. Generally speaking, there are three “layers” of anyorganization.

Assignment

You’ve probably seengroup think in action. Iden-tify one decision thatresulted from group thinkand remember how itturned out.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpiloguePractice consensus decision making and avoid group

think.

41Remember the Organizational

“Layers” Involved

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The first is at the lowestlevel, with the immediate su-pervisor of a group of people.Decisions here usually onlyinvolve those people andtheir work processes, sothese decisions rarely in-volve others outside thissmall group.

The second layer in-cludes decisions that involve

more than one group and perhaps people in multiple depart-ments and even locations. These decisions require morecoordination, research, consultation, and even participation.

The third layer involves the organization as a whole—everyone in it and every process. These are complex decisionsthat will ultimately involve all key managers and the senior lead-ership team of the organization.

Who should be involved in a decision can often depend onthe layer it affects.

This is one of the major barriers to decision making; peopleare resistant to change.

Assignment

Examine your organi-zation and see if you canidentify these layers so youcan be prepared to usethem appropriately in deci-sion making.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueUnderstanding the layers means knowing who needs to

be involved.


42Whoa! You’re Challenging the Status Quo?

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This isn’t rocket science. We all know people are uncom-fortable with change. Every research project discovers this.Recognize that if your decision has the potential to make signif-icant change in the organization, or for some of its people, youare going to get resistance, not just to the decision implementa-tion, but also to the decision itself.

People are comfortable with the status quo. They like howthings are going now. They are afraid of change. Change meansuncertainty. Change means new and/or different. Change is achallenge to their currentstatus.

Recognize that as youinvestigate and create al-ternative solutions inpreparation for making adecision, if the status quo ispotentially threatened, peo-ple in the organization will beresistant. Sometimes they areresistant enough to providebad or biased information.,perhaps resistant enough toprovide biased recommenda-tions and opinions.

Recognize the behaviors of resistance and weigh that asyou evaluate your input and make your decision. Then, recog-nize that you will have barriers to overcome as you “sell” yourdecision and get it implemented inside the organization.

Assignment

Learn to recognize re-sistance that results from achallenge to the status quo.Double-check information;gather lots of opinion andrecommendations from awide variety of people;weigh the information andrecommendations carefully.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpiloguePeople don’t like change, so they will not necessarily

help you make changes.

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Organizations all have a “culture.” Culture is their set ofrules and behavior expectations, their processes for makingthings happen, and their expectations for how people will be-have and how the organization behaves. These are culturalnorms.

Unfortunately, sometimes this culture can be a barrier togood decision making in the same way that challenging thestatus quo can be. An organizational culture may dictate oneset of behaviors that your decision might violate. It might sug-gest that boundaries between union and management areinviolate and you can’t consult with employees on a decisionbecause they are union. It might have a rigid hierarchy of man-

agement that bars you fromtalking with senior managersabout your decision.

These kinds of organiza-tional culture norms cansometimes prevent you fromdoing a good job at decisionmaking because they bar youfrom access to key informa-tion or key people.

When this happens, thebest strategy is to acknowl-

edge the cultural norm and work around it as best you can. Forexample, if your hierarchical organization’s norms suggest thata manager doesn’t have access to a vice president, then workthrough someone else to approach the vice president with thequestions you need answered. If you can’t directly address


43When Culture Stands in the Way

Assignment

Examine your own or-ganization. What are itscultural norms? Are any ofthem potential barriers togood decision making?How would you get aroundthose barriers?

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some employees for any reason, find someone who can act asyour surrogate. If you don’t normally have access to certaininformation in the organization, either ask for permission to ac-cess it and justify your need, or find someone who does have thataccess and recruit him or her to obtain the information for you.

Ambiguity is the state of not knowing everything you needto understand something. As we investigate to determine whatinformation is important forus to have in making ourdecision, we are in a stateof ambiguity because wedon’t know everything weneed to know yet. Thus, weinvestigate.

In group consensus pro-cesses, the members of thegroup must have a toler-ance for this ambiguity whilethe group investigates.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhile cultural norms in organizations can be significant

barriers to good decision making, with effort, these barriers

can be overcome without upsetting the apple cart.

44Ambiguity—Applying the Law of

Co-orientation

Assignment

Your task in calling anygroup together to make aconsensus agreement is toensure that the informationdiscovered is shared witheveryone in the group as itcomes to its agreement.

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Moreover, the investigators must provide their informationto everyone in the group. That is co-orientation, a situation inwhich everyone in the group is armed with the same informa-tion everyone else has.

This leads to a co-orientation consensus. This means thegroup not only has all the accurate information, but has reachedagreement on the decision or solution. Your task, as the groupfacilitator or leader who brought the group together, is to en-sure that everyone shares all their information so co-orientationis achieved.

Rarely does a winner-take-all mentality win friends andinfluence people. To get others to buy into a decision, think“mutually beneficial.”

Leaders in industries such as government, pharmaceuti-cals, land development, and utilities often find themselves tryingto reach consensus decisions with groups that can range fromthe adversarial to the downright hostile. Those who are suc-cessful in partnering with community and activist groups havelearned to find the win-win, the decision that provides an equal-ly beneficial result to all parties involved.

This win-win approach can be applied also to interdepart-mental decisions. After all, internal decisions are likely to involve

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAccuracy and completeness of information plus agree-

ment leads to co-orientation.

45Look for the Win-Win Result


66


people from different divi-sions and departments withslightly varying agendas,needs, and sensitivities.

But you can’t come toa win-win result flying by theseat of your pants. It takesforethought, honesty, trans-parency, patience, andreasonable expectations. Italso takes compromise—awillingness to give in orderto get.

But how do you getthere? Again, the magic bul-let can be found in doingyour homework.

So, there is the simple, and there is the complex. When itcomes to decisions, they run the gamut. And some decisionsrequire you to get creative and pull out all the stops. That’sright—you’ll have to develop a strategic plan. That means youhave to make decisions about decisions, and possibly even makedecisions within decisions.

Assignment

Start with understandingthe agenda, needs, and sen-sitivities of the other partiesat the table. There is no bet-ter starting place for awin-win decision than know-ing where people are comingfrom. The more you canlearn about the intentions andneeds of others involved, themore likely you are to walkaway with a win-win in yourpocket—and people’s re-spect to boot.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueTransform a winner-takes-all mentality into a win-win

solution that makes all parties happy.

46Decisions That Require a Strategy

67

Is your head spinningyet? As you’ve probablyguessed, decisions that re-quire a strategy are usuallyamong the complex. Forexample, corporations makedecisions all the time on howthey’ll influence govern-ment or consumerdecisions.

Think about it. Justabout every decision wemake is about influencingsomeone else’s decision,whether that is to vote a cer-tain way, buy a specificbrand, join a particular group,or take a given action. Andthe higher the stakes, themore strategic thinking you’llhave to muster.

In fact, the whole con-cept of win-win is aboutdeveloping a strategy before you ever get to the decision-mak-ing table. You could call it a road map, helping you maneuverthrough the interpersonal nuances that can stymie group deci-sion making, and delay critical decisions from getting off theground.

So what goes into developing a strategic plan? Research,analysis, and evaluation. Wow! Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’tit? It is, but mustering this kind of thinking is powerful in comingto educated and well-planned decisions. And this type of plan-ning differentiates the wheat from the chaff in decision making.

Assignment

Do some digging forinformation that shines lighton the situation, the playersinvolved, and what eachparty wants to get out of thedecision. Then developyour action plan: think aboutwhat direction you’ll take,what tactics you’ll need toinfluence the situation orproject, who you’ll need tohave in your court, and thetime line to move forwardwith implementing yourplan. Then last, but never,never least, is a plan forhow you’ll evaluate the re-sults of your decision.


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We have all experienced this before, so we know it’s trueeven without all the studies that have demonstrated its veraci-ty. There comes a point in group discussions (or even in anindividual investigation) where little more will be learned, andwhat is learned will not besignificant. Another pointwill be reached when thegroup discussion has comearound to the same issues fora second or third time. Noth-ing new will emerge andthere will be little to showfor additional discussion.

The group, or its leader(probably you), will need torecognize when this point ofdiminishing returns has been reached and move from discus-sion to decision making. To continue will be to waste people’stime and achieve almost nothing. And it delays the decision.

This point is almost always reached when 90 percent ofthe information needed to make a decision is known, and all ofthe alternatives and their arguments have been determined anddiscussed at least twice. After this point, the group will floun-der around and accomplish little.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen the decision goes beyond the simple, muster your

creative thinking skills and pull out the big gun in your decision-

making arsenal: strategic planning.

47The Law of Diminishing Returns

Assignment

You have been ingroups that reach thispoint of diminishing re-turns before. Rememberwhat happened then?How inefficient and timewasting it was?

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At this point, the group and/or its leader must move to thedecision and focus on obtaining that decision. Some techniquesinclude setting a time at which point the decision must be made;establishing a voting schedule, or even creating an advocatefor each alternative and have them present and debate amongthemselves for the rest of the group.

“Yes, but what if…?”

How many times have you heard that? You are in a decision-making group and a few people keep coming up with the whatifs. And they can keep com-ing up with new onesforever. The group, or itsleader, needs to recognizethat some important what ifsare necessary for alternativedevelopment. But to dealwith every little “what if” isa barrier to consensus anddecision making.

All too often, groupmembers will come up with

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRemember that once the point of diminishing returns

has been reached, the group’s effectiveness is significantly

reduced. It’s time to make the decision.

48Banishing the “What Ifs”

Assignment

As you recognizethese extraneous “whatifs” beginning to surface ingroup discussion, move tostop them before theycause problems.


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completely irrelevant “what ifs”—like, “What if Johnny doesn’tlike the solution?” Unless Johnny is the president of the com-pany, his concerns are probably not relevant to the decision. Sodon’t let these keep coming up. They’ll keep you from gettingto the decision.

Create a mechanism to identify each important alternative—each important “what if” and then banish the rest from thegroup discussion. Convince the group that those alternative sit-uations have all been addressed and others are simply notrelevant.

As you investigate, gather information, create alternatives,analyze those alternatives, and come to a decision, keep anopen mind to possibilities youmay not have considered be-fore you started the process.

Avoid allowing precon-ceived notions about how tosolve a problem or what is bestfor the organization to color yourresearch and your analysis—and ultimately your judgmentand decision. Be open to newideas. Be open to new factorsyou might not have considered.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueConstant “what ifs” will keep the group distracted and

off course to a good, viable decision.

49Keep an Open Mind

Assignment

Be open-mindedabout information andalternatives. Rememberthat you are looking forthe best, not the mostappropriate, decision.

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For new factors, look for such things as you examine the prob-lem, challenge, or opportunity.

The reason you use this process is to get the best informa-tion and the finest recommendations available. In doing so, beopen to new ideas, new thinking, and new approaches you your-self may not have considered. In group consensus decisionmaking, remember that everyone’s ideas are valid, and thatthere may well be good ideas lurking in the most unusual ofplaces. Be open to those.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood ideas sometimes live in unusual places. Look for

them.


We all have assumptionsabout lots of things. Truthfully,we can’t effectively operatewithout assumptions.

However, in decision-making processes, we want tolet go of all of our assumptions—especially any that have anybearing on the decision we needto make. If it is a group consen-sus effort, everyone in thegroup needs to let go of theirassumptions.

50Let Go of Assumptions

Assignment

Identify your assump-tions about the organization,its people, its goals andobjectives, and everythingelse, and open yourself tonew information. Makenew assumptions during thedecision-making process—don’t rely on old ones.

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Assumptions are the things we simply take for granted astruths. We simply accept them without questioning them. Usu-ally, we’re right. Usually, our assumptions are based onknowledge and personal experience, and they are valid.

But when making important decisions, we need to let thoseassumptions go and assume nothing. In fact, we should evenquestion any assumption that comes up and determine itsvalidity. Don’t ever assume anything is true until you have val-idated its truthfulness.

After all, making a decision based on a faulty assumptionleads to a faulty decision.

Fear is the mind killer. Fear of decision making, fear of aparticular decision, fear of taking a risk, fear of involving oth-ers, fear of not making a good decision. Fear can be a terriblebarrier to good decision making.

When it comes time to make a decision, you must let go ofany fears you have. The organization and its people are de-pending upon you to make a good decision, but fear of thatdecision will impair your ability to do so.

Fear of the decision can easily cause you to make a baddecision. Fear of the outcome of a decision can easily lead you

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRemember what “assume” spells. Assumptions can make

an “a__” of “u” and “me.”

51Let Go of Fear

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to make the wrong decision,because you are afraid ofthe consequences of yourdecision.

Fear kills thinking pro-cesses, taints informationwith inappropriate values,precludes you from consid-ering potential solutions, and keeps you from doing a good jobat the process of making a decision.

After gathering information about the situation, challenge,or opportunity, your next task is to create some potential alter-native solutions (the decision). In doing so, be open and receptiveto many different possibilities.

Look for the new and the innovative. Look for the creativeapproaches that may lead to enhanced outcomes. Be open todifferent ideas and different approaches than have been usedin the past.

Then analyze them all to determine which solution is theright solution. In doing so, again, be open to fresh approachesand creative solutions that might lead to outcomes.

Assignment

When faced with a de-cision-making situation, thefirst thing you must do is ban-ish fear from the process.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueFear is the decision killer. Don’t let it in.

52See the Possibilities


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But remember, too, thatyour decision will lead to out-comes, which lead toresults. So visualize as muchas possible those potentialoutcomes for each of yourpossible solutions. This visu-alization will help you choosewhich solution is the rightdecision.

As in any organization,when decisions have to bemade, there is a high likelihoodof conflict, both during thedecision-making process andafter. However, this likelihoodof conflict cannot be a barrierto decision making.

In fact, some conflict ishealthy for the decision-making process itself. If youare making the decision alone,getting conflicting opinions and

Assignment

Be open to the new andcreative. The fresh ideas.But remember to be focusedon outcomes and results.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue History has demonstrated time and again that fresh ideas

and creative solutions often result in outcomes well beyond

those originally intended.

53Don’t Be Afraid of Conflict

Assignment

Recall decisions thatinvolved organizational orpersonal conflict. Note thosethat were used and con-trolled to provide healthydiscussion to the processand those that were allowedto get personal and becomedetrimental to the process.

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recommendations provides you with alternatives and differentthinking. That’s useful. If this decision will be a group consen-sus process, then conflict within the group is a good thing aswell, so long as it is controlled and focused on the decision andnot the personal relationships. Again, conflict (disagreement)should be perceived as healthy and not negative.

Don’t fear conflict; encourage it and control it to help youmake the decision or allow the group to make a good decision.

Almost every decision will require change in some way.And change is the natural catalyst for conflict in organizations.So expect change and expect conflict.

Now we have to discussthe nature of change. As youpresent change to your group,your employees, or your organi-zation, note that change—whilenot always good—is usually ahealthy process for all organi-zations. After all, if ThomasEdison had not continuallychanged the various filamentsin his light bulbs (even after hisassistants suggested he was

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAnticipate conflict during decision making and use it to

enhance, not detract from, the process.

54Change Is a Natural Catalyst for Conflict

Assignment

Review changes inorganizations you havebeen a part of in thepast. What has been theeffect? How was i thandled?


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wasting his time), we may not have electric incandescent lightstoday.

So keep in mind that change is usually good, but often trau-matic, for organization’s and the people within them. As a result,change generates conflict. The key is to anticipate that conflictand manage it positively. Use the conflict to inform your deci-sion making.

Progress in almost every endeavor and field has come fromchanges. Changes lead to progress. Lack of change leads tonear-certain death for compa-nies and organizations. Sochange is almost always apositive.

Today almost everyonewho wears a watch has a dig-ital, quartz movement. Nomain springs and fewer mech-anisms have led to a morereliable and accurate time-piece. Do you know whoinvented the quartz movementwatch? The Swiss! Yes, the makers of fine watches inventedthe quartz movement watch. But when the managers of the

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDecisions almost always mean change, and change leads

to conflict. Manage it.

55Change Is the Fuel of Progress

Assignment

Review changes inother businesses you arefamiliar with and seewhat happened to theirorganizations as a resultof those changes.

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watch company saw a watch without a mainspring, they re-jected it as unnecessary. But they still showed it around at tradeshows.

Folks at Timex saw this new kind of watch and changedthe industry forever. In just a few decades, the Swiss wentfrom owning more than 85 percent of the market in watches tolosing most of that business to Timex and new upstarts. Today,Swiss watchmakers have only about 10 percent of the watchmarket.

The Swiss saw a change and rejected it. Timex else sawthat same change and history was made. So embrace change.

As you explore information and options in any decision-making situation, remember that you want people to give youtheir honest and accurate information and recommendations.So when they tell you something you don’t really want to hear,or say that an idea is dumb, remember that they are reacting tothe idea or the information—not you.

Don’t take these comments personally. They are not at-tacks on you. They are not criticisms of you personally. Theyare just other people’s honest assessments of the situation orthe idea.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueChange leads to growth. Lack of change leads to stagna-

tion and death.

56Don’t Take It Personally


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If you take these thingspersonally, you risk damagingthe decision-making processand you certainly risk damag-ing your relationships with thepeople you are asking.

It ain’t about you, it’s aboutthe solution.

On the other hand, don’tmake it personal when you askpeople for their input. If youdo, you are setting yourself upfor failure. Each decision youare called upon to make shouldbe made impartially and with-out your personal stake investedin the outcome.

If you make it personal,others will notice, and will notgive you honest information,opinions, or feedback. They,

Assignment

Remember whensomeone you know tooksomething personallywhen all you were doingwas giving them your hon-est opinion about an ideaor a solution?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRemain objective about the decision and the process.

Don’t take things personally.

57Don’t Make It Personal

Assignment

Do you rememberwhen a colleague tooksomething you said toopersonally? Did youmean it that way? Prob-ably not. Remember thiscircumstance and let it beyour guide.

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too, are conscious of the relationship they maintain with you,and will be unwilling to damage that relationship by saying some-thing you will react to negatively or reject.

If you allow this to happen, you will not get good informa-tion or recommendations, and your decision is likely to be flawedas a result. Then you really will suffer from the decision.

If conflict is inevitable, then how do you handle those whodisagree? Remember we acknowledge that it’s not personal—for them or for us, so disagreement may well be a positive.

At some point, disagreement should change to acceptance.Total agreement is not required, even in a consensus situation.Remember that consensus requires only that the group acceptthe decision as a whole.

In handling those who disagree, make certain you do a fewkey things:

� Make certain their voices have been heard—thatyou have given them an opportunity to presenttheir positions.

� Make certain that you (or the group) have en-gaged with them via questions and discussion, sothey believe they had a fair hearing.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueStay objective. The decision is not about you; it’s about

the best solution for the organization.

58Handling Those Who Disagree


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� Make certain all oftheir questions andconcerns have beenaddressed.

� Remember thatthey need to acceptthe decision, notnecessarily agree with it.

A final note: Do not change you mind just because youwant to avoid conflict with someone else.

While we have discussed this item before, let’s be clear:the decision must be based on the facts in the case and themerits of the solution. It must be the best solution for the great-est number.

This requires that you (or your group) be objective in eval-uating information and courses of action.

This requires that you be thorough in your investigationsand thorough in you analysis of the potential outcomes of eachalternative.

Assignment

Practice listening anddiscussion techniques tohandle those who disagree.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIn most cases, if handled correctly, acceptance often

morphs into agreement through time if the decision returns

a positive result.

59Base Your Decision on the Merits of the

Proposal or Solution

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This requires that youweigh in the balance all al-ternatives and select the bestone based on its merits—notemotion, not politics, not per-sonal preferences, not for theadvantage of any individualgroup.

Sometimes we discover a solution that will clearly work ear-ly in our investigations. Groups do this as well. Then the inclinationis to cry victory, select that solution, and move on.

While the solution (decision) might well be acceptable, it’scertainly not the best decision because you have not yet devel-oped nor reviewed any other possibilities. Selecting the first

option that seems to solve theproblem denies the opportu-nity to discover that theremight be other options outthere that would solve theproblem even better.

It’s human nature to dis-cover a fix and then implement

Assignment

Review the materialswe have discussed to en-sure you understand thevalue of objectivity.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYou are attempting to reach the best solution, not the

acceptable solution.

60Resist the Urge to Go With the First

Option on the Table

Assignment

Constantly remindyourself that there is alwaysmore than one way to solveany problem.


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it to come to a quick decision that will clearly work and settleon that decision. But you must resist that temptation. That solu-tion might be right, but there might be much better options outthere just waiting to be discovered. Take the time to make theright decision, not the easy decision.

As you enter into you research and investigation phase ofdecision making, you start discovering information and facts.Sometimes these can be very solid and compelling facts thatcome to light early in the process. Other times, we think wehave very quickly discovered the key information and want tomove right to a decisionbased on this preliminary andimportant data.

But wait; don’t rush thisprocess. Never presumethat, just because you havesome really key and impor-tant information early inyour decision-making pro-cess that suggests the right decision, there is not a valuable aset of facts out there yet to be discovered.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe goal is to make the best decision, not the quickest

decision.

61Resist the Urge to Go With Very

Limited Facts

Assignment

Remind yourself thatevery decision is importantto someone, and every de-cision should be researchedthoroughly and well.

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Don’t presume that because you came up with two verygood solutions early in the process that there is not a bettersolution yet to be discovered.

Don’t shortcut this process. Follow it through. Researchand investigate thoroughly. Talk to everyone who should beinvolved—everyone. Then decide.

Some problems seem to require multiple levels of decision—perhaps one that you can make and then two that your bosshas to make, and yet another that a group or team needs tomake. Sometimes these levels can seem daunting and almostinsurmountable.

They are not; they are just difficult. But they can be navi-gated with some careful planning.

The easiest way to han-dle these kinds of multipledecisions at different levelsis to create an ad hoc teamwith the key decision mak-ers involved. Create a singleprocess that examines theproblem from all levels, ex-plores the solutions at each

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueNever shortcut the process. Look for every solution, not

just the quick and easy ones.

62Resist the Urge to Dismiss Problems

That Require Dynamic Levels of Decisions

Assignment

Review other suchmultilevel decisions youhave experienced through-out the years. How werethey handled?


84


level, and discusses the possible solutions and how they inter-act with each other.

This process is more difficult and more time consuming.But don’t avoid it just because it seems too tough to handle.

Moviemaker Spike Lee made a film early in his careercalled Do the Right Thing, which was greeted with highacclaim.

In decision making, we always have to keep in mind thatdoing the right thing is our goal. We need to do it for everyoneinvolved. We need to makethe best decision that can bemade. That decision needsto effectively and efficient-ly solve the problem, meetthe challenge, or take ad-vantage of the opportunity.

It needs to benefit asmany people as possible andharm as few as possible.

And it needs to be accomplished in a reasonable and prac-tical time frame.

When we make decisions, we must “do the right thing.”

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueNever avoid a decision that has to be made, no matter

how complex or difficult. They only get more complex and

difficult over time.

63Do What’s Right!

Assignment

Review your ethics andresponsibilities. Rememberthem when it comes timeto make decisions.

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We seem to talk about integrity a lot these days. But there’sprobably a reason for that: a lack of integrity at too many levelsby too many people.

So what is integrity? Wikipedia describes it as: “the basing ofone’s actions on a consistent framework of principles.”

Decisions must be made based on your personal and pro-fessional framework ofguiding principles for lifebehavior, such as your per-sonal ethics, and yourprofessional standards of be-havior. If you believe thateveryone should be treatedequally, then that principleshould infuse every decisionyou make.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRemember that as decision makers we have responsibil-

ities to everyone else involved in the process. It’s important

to get it right.

64Walking WIth Integrity

Assignment

Make sure you have aclear understanding of yourpersonal life principles.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIntegrity is expected and, once lost, is difficult to regain.

Behave according to your professional standards and you’ll

be well on your way to good decision making.


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All too often you’ve seen this. A manager has a decision tomake but fails to make it. He delays it indefinitely, or puts it offbecause she is not ready, doesn’t have enough information, andhasn’t evaluated all the potential solutions and alternatives. Andthe decision never gets made.

We need to remember that this lack of a decision is a deci-sion. And it’s a bad decision. It clearly communicates to

everyone involved that the is-sue is not sufficiently importantto this manager for him or herto actually get a decision made.Others will see that as a decision.

And it will damage the or-ganization, the manager’scredibility, and the morale ofthe people involved.

Yes, there are exceptions.Sometimes not making a deci-sion is an intentional decision

to allow the situation to continue. If you are going to do that,communicate it that way. Don’t just let it sit and fester.

65No Decision Is a Decision

Assignment

You probably re-member a situation whena manager simply failedto make a decision thatneeded to be made. Itended badly, didn’t it?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDon’t leave decisions unmade unless it is intentional,

and exceptional.

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This is a decision-making technique you can use when twoalternative courses of action appear to be equally attractive orpositive and you need to decide between the two. This tech-nique suggests that if the positives are equal, focus on thenegatives.

To use this method, list all the negative points or draw-backs to each alternative. The one with the fewest negatives isprobably the best solution.

You see, when we find two solutions of equal benefit, weoften lose sight of the negatives. This method forces us to fo-cus on the whole decision, negatives included.

So where did Buridan’sAss come from? It’s an oldfable that places an ass be-tween two equally largebales of hay. The ass can’tdecide which bale to turnand eat from because theyare both so attractive. Be-cause of its indecision, theass starves to death in frontof a wealth of hay.

66Don’t Be a Buridan’s Ass

Assignment

Recall the tale ofBuridan’s Ass. It will re-mind you when you needto use this method.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueSometimes focusing on the negatives lets us eliminate

one of two equally good-looking alternatives.


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Somewhere during the process of decision making, we of-ten get overwhelmed. There is a lot of information, and we getlots of recommendations. We’ve had lots of group meetingswith lots of discussion, and sometimes we just feel like theproblem will overwhelm us.

This often happens because we become so immersed inthe decision-making process that we lose sight of the goal. We

get numbed by the facts,information, statistics, rec-ommendations, discussions,and so on.

When this happens, stepback and take a break. Re-view everything you havedone. Review all your infor-mation. Visit with a mentor

and discuss what you have learned. Sometimes a solid reviewof everything you have learned and a discussion with an impar-tial outside mentor can help bring clarity to the decision.

67Take a Step Backward to Review

Assignment

Remember to conducta personal review whenyou get too close to the is-sue; keep your mentorshandy to help.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue A general review of all your information is often the final

step in making the decision.

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There are some decisions that seem rushed, and that’s be-cause they are.

We need to keep in mind that not every decision needs tobe made today, or even tomorrow.

Yet, sometimes the process gets moving so quickly andwith such energy that is seems to get away from us. When thathappens, we risk a bad decision simply because it is rushed.

If you see this happening, hit the brakes—hard! Stop theprocess, even for a short period of time, to review the processand the status. Evaluate again the time frame this decision needsto be made within. If there is more time, then you can slowdown the process. If thereis not more time, then youcan reorganize the processto allow you to better con-trol it, so you get everythingdone without it getting awayfrom you.

If it does get away fromyou and a decision gets made without proper due process, thenit’s likely you’ll have other decisions to make down the road—decisions on how to fix the consequences of this decision!

68Sometimes You Need to Use Brakes

Assignment

Keep an eye on theprocess to make certain it’snot getting out of control.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueA rushed, uncontrolled, and uncoordinated decision

equals of a bad decision.


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Okay, so you’re ready to face the music of your decision.Where do you begin?

Start with a trip down memory lane: What goals and objec-tives did you set as a result of your decisions? How were yougoing to measure success?

If you made these determinations upfront, as part of yourstrategic-planning process, you will have a turnkey measurement

to determine if your outcomeswere aligned with what you setout to do in the first place.

Be careful of mistaking out-comes with outputs. The latteris easy to measure, such as howmany units of new product youpushed into the market. But anoutcome is how much revenueyou recouped from product sales.

According to Dr. RobertKaplan and Dr. David Norton, founders of the Balanced Scorecardtheory, this tendency to measure what’s easy is a weakness in manyorganizations. As a result, they tend to measure output, such as howmany product units were pushed into the market in a given timeframe. But remember, the outcome is the result of the outputs.

69Comparing Outcomes With Goals

and Objectives

Assignment

Compare the resultsof your decisions to youroriginal goals and objectivesto determine if your deci-sion created the outcomesyou originally planned.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThe goals and objectives that originally guided your deci-

sion are the litmus factors for truly evaluating success or failure.

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You can become mentally fatigued when making decisions,and that can lead to mental blocks that stifle your thinking andleave you feeling frustrated.

But there are a number of techniques you can use to over-come mental blocks. Most of those techniques encourage youto rest or have fun. Yes, that’s right! If you’re feeling mentallyfatigued or just fresh out of ideas, stop! Step away from thedecision-making table—now!

If you’re mentally fatigued,you’ve overdone it. To over-come the block, you need achange of scenery, activity, per-spective, or just some goodold-fashioned rest and relax-ation. By shifting the brain’sfocus, you use the differentparts of your brain. For instance,if you’ve been crunching num-bers to come to a criticalfinancial decision, you’ve beenusing the left side of your brain. And if you’ve developed ablock you just can’t push through, that’s your left side yelling“uncle!”

You may need to step away from the decision for awhileand give the right side of your brain a workout, get a differentset of juices pumping. Think about parenting for a moment.Parenting is always easier when there are two. When the kidswear one parent down, the other can step in and take over,bringing fresh energy, ideas, and strategies to the situation. Yourbrain is like dual parenting—two sides that can work as a tag team.

70Overcoming Mental Decision Blocks

Assignment

Read on for a num-ber of techniques that helpyou tap into your internaltag team. Try one, try two,or try them all. But learnwhat options you havewhen you’ve pushed yourmind to the limit.


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Yep! That’s right. Go have fun! When your thinking pro-cess is tapped out, get up and go have a good time.

If you’re at work, go find a favorite coworker and have alighthearted chat. No talking business though, unless it’s to good-naturedly poke fun at the situation. Or, you could close youroffice door, close the blinds, put on your favorite music, anddance up a storm. Yes! People really do these things—andthey work! Sometimes letting yourself go and being a little sillycan unlock something in you.After all, it takes a lot ofenergy and brainpower toalways be “on.”

If you’re home, thedancing thing is even morelikely, but you could also spend some time reading a good book.Or, you could catch that favorite flick you’ve been waiting tosee, or pop in your favorite DVD. The point is to stop and letyourself be entertained.

Get the family in on the act. If it’s quitting time at the of-fice, call your spouse and meet for dinner somewhere. Or orderpizza and enjoy a ferocious family Scrabble tournament.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIf you’re feeling mentally fatigued, step away from the

decision-making table and go for a change of scenery, activ-

ity, perspective, or just some good old rest and relaxation.

71Go Have Fun!

Assignment

Go have fun!

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It doesn’t matter what you choose to do, as long as it’sgood, clean fun. In a short time you’ll see how it’s also produc-tive fun. You’ll return to that tough decision refreshed and withrenewed vigor to tackle and conquer it. And when you’ve donethat, feel free to reward yourself with a little victory dance!

Sweating through a tough decision? Then throw on yourworkout clothes and start sweating for real.

A 2004 study conducted by researchers at the Universityof Illinois shows that exercise can improve brain activity inpeople of all ages, from children to senior adults.

So if you’re struggling with a mental block, get yourselfmoving. A brisk walk can do wonders for clearing your head.Heck, you can even take thedog along—if you must multi-task. Or, if you’re into running,roller blading, or playing tennis,get going. Just do something toget your blood pumping, pushmore oxygen through your sys-tem, refresh and reinvigorateyour brain cells.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAll work and no play make you a dull-minded person!

72Sweat It Out!

Assignment

Stop trying to sweatthrough mental fatigue!Instead, get up and exer-cise your way to a clearerhead and more powerfulsense of self.


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Exercising can do more for your mind than just improveyour oxygen levels. It can also give you a sense of being phys-ically powerful. Let’s face it: when you’re mentally fatigued,you can start to feel powerless. In fact, the feeling of power-lessness is the root cause of frustration.

If you’ve been running on all four cylinders of brainpower,then slam on the breaks and go mindless—by doing somethingthat doesn’t use much brainpower at all.

That could be washing the dishes, vacuuming, cleaning yourdesk, or straightening your files. The point is to choose some-thing that you can do on autopilot.

Stay clear of activities thatrequire you to make choicesor analyze anything. To gomindless means to do some-thing you’re so familiar withyou could do it in your sleep.

Scientists have found thatswitching from heavy-dutythinking to more routine tasksis similar to flipping a circuit breaker. You go from grappling inthe dark with a decision to suddenly finding the solution bathedin a whole new light.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWork through a mental block with a good physical

workout.

73Go Mindless!

Assignment

Clean your desk,wash the dishes, or dosomething routine thatdoesn’t require you tothink about it.

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In fact, the sense of accomplishment you get from com-pleting a routine task can restart your confidence, dissolve yourfrustration, and clear your head. And the best part about goingmindless is that you don’t have to go mindless for long. A halfhour of switching gears can be enough for most people to givetheir brains a rest and get back into the action.

Sometimes nothing will break through the haze of mentalfatigue except rest—or a good night’s sleep.

If you’re finding yourself snapping at others, your patiencethinning, and your body dragging, you’re fighting a losing battle.Give it a rest!

How much rest you need really depends on the situation. Ifyou’re not too far gone, a half hour looking out of your officewindow could be enough torecharge your batteries. But ifyou’ve been tossing a decisionaround in your head and ana-lyzing scenario after scenariofor hours, then call it quits forthe day as soon as possible. Gohome, kick your feet up, havea good meal, possibly a glassof wine, watch a good movie,and go to bed.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen you’ve hit a mental block, power down your brain

and switch to something more routine and mindless.

74Give It a Rest!

Assignment

Take a rest from theproblem. It will rechargeyou mentally, physically,emotionally, and spiritually.


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In fact, giving it a rest—a real rest—means you forbidyourself to even think about the decision until you get back intothe office the next day.

Wallowing in a decision does not get you closer to over-coming mental fatigue; it only exacerbates it. Why make lifetough on yourself by continuing to push further than you canmentally go at the time? If you’re tapped out, you’re tappedout.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen you’re too far gone with mental fatigue, give your-

self a rest. Face the fact squarely; when you’re tapped out,

you’re tapped out.

When you’ve come to a mental block on the road to adecision, take a side trip into a little theory.

Now, if you’re the type that is put off by the word “theory,”thinking it is something only useful in academia but has no placein the day-to-day reality of business, you need to change yourthinking.

It’s from theory that some of mankind’s greatest achieve-ments have germinated. Space travel. It was once just a theory.A cure for tuberculosis. It was once a theory. Invitro fertiliza-tion for childless couples. It was also once a mere theory.

All of these theories have been realized today, and all be-cause someone took time to consider them and put them intopractice.

75Try Some Theory

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Still put off by the wordtheory? Then try this example.It was during the Apollo 13mission that the theory of re-booting the ship’s computersystem saved the astronauts’lives. This was the first time acomputer was rebooted. Ifsomeone had not taken a sidetrip into theory, and used it tomake a critical decision on that fateful mission, lives wouldhave been lost—and who knows if the U.S. space programwould have survived until today.

The lesson here is that theory is preparation for possibility.

You are not done once thedecision is made, so don’t restcomfortably.

Now you need to commu-nicate your decision to othersand “sell” the decision. Yourtask changes from one of de-cision maker to decisionimplementer. And the first step


Assignment

When you’re con-fronted with a mentalblock, get out of the tried-and-true and take a littleadventure in theory.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood decision makers embrace theory as the prepara-

tion of possibility.

76Who’s That Cheerleader in the Cute Outfit?

Assignment

Begin honing yourcommunication skills.You need to communi-cate the decision.

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in that process is to communicate the decision in the best pos-sible terms.

That makes you a cheerleader. You are the one who madethe decision, or headed up the group who made the decision, soit is incumbent upon you to communicate that decision toothers. And you know you made a good decision, so you needto communicate that decision positively.

So you become the cheerleader for the decision. You haveto “sell” the decision to everyone else.

If you made the decision yourself (autocratic method) thenyou are alone in this process. If you lead a group to consensus,then you have the group to aid you in this process. But now youare the sales force for the decision, and there are some keythings you need to accomplish:

� Make certain the de-cision is communicatedto everyone at thesame time.

� Make certain every-one affected gets theword.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueA decision that is not communicated well is a decision

that may not be implemented effectively.

77You Can Be a Cheerleader

Assignment

Keep a list of thekey points so you canreinforce them on oth-er communica t ionoccasions.

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� Make certain you are thorough in your presenta-tion of the details about what the problem wasand why the solution was selected.

� Make certain you communicate most of this per-sonally, not indirectly via letters and newsletters.

� Make certain you discuss the consequences ofthe decision and the expected outcomes.

� Highlight the positive and address the negative(if any).

As a decision maker your-self, you need to recognizeothers have similar responsibil-ities. If you want them tosupport your decisions, youhave to be supportive of theirdecisions as well.

When a fellow managermakes and announces a deci-sion, be sure to support him or

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueA decision that is badly communicated will not be well

received, and may well result in lowered morale and decreased

productivity.

78Being Supportive of Other

Decision Makers

Assignment

Make sure you havegood relationships withother managers and de-cision makers in yourorganization and you sup-port their decisions.


100


her publicly and offer any assistance he or she might need inimplementation. Do that visibly so others will notice. Help yourcolleague implement the decision.

Why? Because when you make decisions, you want theirsupport as well. Having your fellow managers and decisionmakers aiding you in implementation can make all the differ-ence in the world in the decision’s ultimate effectiveness. Butif you don’t help, don’t expect help from them.

If you are inexperienced at decision making, observe andlearn from others. Watch how they go about the process ofmaking decisions, and watch the results and outcomes.

If you have some experience yourself, but need help, relyon more experienced or oth-er managers to share theirexperiences with you.

There are few problems,challenges, or opportunitiesthat have not happened insome way in the past. Thatmeans there are people out there who have experience withthem. Try to tap into that experience and learn from it.

One way to do that is to have a couple of good professionalmentors available to talk to when you face key decisions.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueImplementing a decision effectively requires help. Make

certain your fellow decision makers will help.

79Learn From Others’ Experiences

Assignment

Keep mentors and otherexperienced decision makersavailable for counsel.

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As you gather information and get others’ opinions, remem-ber that you are the honest broker at this point. Any opinion is agood opinion. Any recommendation is a good recommendation.While you might not eventually decide to use any of these opin-ions or recommendations, they are always given to help.

Be respectful of the time and effort others take to provideyou with their opinions on your decision. After all, you have

asked and you will probablyask again in the future. Ifthey think you are not tak-ing their opinions seriously,they will not be so helpful inthe future.

And just because youmight not make the decision

the way another has recommended this time, it doesn’t meanyou might not do so in the future.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpiloguePart of learning how to make good decisions comes from

learning from others’ experiences.

80Respecting Differences of Opinion

Assignment

You can rememberwhen someone asked youropinion and then ignored it.Did it feel good?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRespect the recommendations and opinions of others.

They are always valuable.


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Remember that often your decisions will affect other deci-sion makers in some way. While you should, as we havediscussed, always consult with other decision makers, the deci-sion is yours to make. But if it has an affect on other decisionmakers, then you have some additional steps to take.

First, once the decision is made, inform them first and briefthem on why the decision was made that way. Second, consid-er their comments and observations. It’s your final line ofdefense. Finally, considertheir concerns and make ac-commodations as you can,especially if your decisionhas an affect on them ortheir responsibilities.

Remember: these peo-ple are important to yoursuccess with this decision.Take care of them and their concerns. If you need to makesome minor modifications to your decision, consider that as away of accommodating others in your organization. You will beseen as a team player as a result, and be trusted by other deci-sion makers as a consequence.

81Handling Other Decision Makers

Assignment

Think about othersonce the decision is made,especially fellow decisionmakers.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueOther decision makers are important to you. Handle them

effectively.

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Decisions affect lots of people: your employees, your boss,decision makers and divisions of your organization, and anyonewho does business with you or your organization.

Your decision may have an affect on these people. As amanager, recall that you have a responsibility not only to con-sider them as you make the decision, but also to considercommunicating with them once the decision has been made.And you must do this effectively, not just by direction.

One way to think about this is to “sell” your decision toothers. Not sell as in actually making them want to buy it, butsell in the sense of explaining why the decision was made, theway it was made, and why the expected outcomes of the deci-sion will be better for the organization. Along the way, point outwhy the outcomes will be generally better for everyoneinvolved.

This requires good communication skills, but the most im-portant skill is the willingness to address everyone honestly anddirectly. Speak personallywith employees. Meet withfellow managers. Briefyour boss personally andfirst. Provide people outsideyour organization with theinformation in the most ap-propriate way available;consult your public relationsor sales personnel on this one.

82Handling Those Affected by the Decision

Assignment

Recall when changeswere made in other orga-nizations and you never gotthe word? It came as a sur-prise. Did you like that?


104


If there is a group that you cannot ignore, it’s your staff oryour employees. After all, you consulted with them while mak-ing the decision, and they know something is coming. And moreoften than not, they will be the ones who will have to implementthe decision.

So, handle this communication well and appropriately.Speak to them personally asa group. Be detailed in yourexplanation of how youcame to the decision. Re-mind them you consultedwith them. Explain clearlyhow the decision will bene-fit the organization (andthem, if it will).

Finally, make certainyou present them with their specific roles in helping to imple-ment the decision. Ultimately, this is where the rubber meetsthe road. Your employees will be the ones to implement thisdecision, and they need to have your guidance on just how todo that. Be as detailed as necessary. Involve them, if you can,in the actual implementation process. Remember: they are theones on the front lines of your organization, making your products

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueInform everyone fully and completely once the decision

is made.

83Handling Your Own Staff

Assignment

Recall a decision madewithout subsequent detailedinstructions on how to im-plement it. Did it work?

105

or serving your customers. They can be invaluable resourcesin making this decision successful.

When communicating the decision to others, the real au-thoritarian style would be to take the army sergeant approach:“Okay, that’s my decision. I don’t care if you don’t like it, justdo it.”

That might work for the Army sergeant (I doubt it worksvery often!), but it will not work for most of us. Instead of“telling” people what to do, we should be asking them to sup-port the decision willingly. That’s the difference between “tellassertive,” when we simply tell people the decision and expectthem to execute it, and “ask assertive,” when we ask them toparticipate in executing the decision.

One of the biggest dif-ferences is that ask-assertivepeople will not only briefeveryone on the decision, butalso explain how and whythe decision was made.Then they will ask everyoneto help make it work by will-ingly executing the decision.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEmployees are your decision implementers, so make sure

they are part of the execution process.

84Be “Ask Assertive,” Not “Tell Assertive”

Assignment

Recall decisions youhad forced on you. Wereyou enthusiastic aboutthem?


106


Authoritarians will use tell assertive style, not explain the whyand how, expect everyone to like it, and enthusiastically exe-cute the decision.

But we know from long years of experience and researchthat people are much more willing to execute a decision if theyknow why and how the decision was made, and if they areasked to step forward and help make that decision work.

Consider, as you make your decision and as you determinehow it is to be executed, your position as manager. You are alsoa role model. People will look to you and your behaviors asmodels of how to be a good employee of the organization.

Thus, once a decision is made, don’t just tell people aboutit, model any behaviors it involves personally. Set the standard,and allow others to watch you make this decision happen.

If you decide, for exam-ple, to accept any returnfrom customers no matterwhat the reason (and assum-ing this is a change from theusual 20-questions routinecustomers get), then spendthe first day on the front lineshandling all the returns.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueThose who use the authoritarian style usually run into op-

position to the decision. As a result, it’s often not executed well.

85Show Them, Don’t Tell Them

Assignment

Remember those “doas I say, not as I do” man-agers? Want to be one ofthem?

107

Show your staff how to handle returns with the new behaviorssimply by exhibiting them yourself in front of them.

Even CEOs don’t always have the final decision. Often,they must follow the direction of their board, stockholders, gov-

ernment, and sometimes eventhe public.

So, if you find yourself hav-ing to defer the final decisionto someone else or a group, re-sist the temptation to take it asan insult to your competency.Remember that rarely do themost powerful players havecarte blanche to make criticaldecisions without a higher au-thority’s approval.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t play an influential role inthe final decision. You can be the person that frames the issue,researches the situation, and provides the pros and cons, andother “intelligence” to the final decision maker.

In doing this, you position yourself as a leader on the issue,if not an expert. Following this approach, it is more likely than

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRole modeling is an important function of managers. Be

one.

.

86When You Don’t Have the Final Decision

Assignment

Determine the levelof influence you couldhave regarding a problemor issue by consideringwhat knowledge and ex-pertise you can lend tothe situation.


108


not that your input and opinion on the matter will be valued andheard. If you’ve done your homework, it will show—and itcould earn you a place at the table when the final decision ismade.

Influence can sometimes be a more powerful card to holdthan final decision-making authority.

Experts describe influence in many ways. But one view issimilar: influence is a skill of leadership. In fact, it’s been saidthat influence is the greatest of all human skills.

Influence is about moving people to action or change. Andthose who have influence have something more powerful thanpower itself.

Power is one muscle people flex to start change. Often,that means flexing status or authority, but influence is differentfrom power because it’s more carrot than stick, and more sus-tainable and lasting over time.

In most cases, power is hard influence, meaning that peo-ple feel forced into taking action or making a change. Withhard influence, people come to a set of behaviors or actions outof fear of a consequence, such as “I might lose my job.”

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEven when you don’t have the final decision, you can

leverage your knowledge and leadership on an issue to play

an influential role in the final outcome.

87Power Versus Influence

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But soft influence, whichis the most powerful and sus-tainable over the long haul,drives action or a change inpeople’s behavior based on itsown merits. In other words,soft influence uses ration andreason over rank or status. Thetechniques of good decisionmaking are all grounded in softinfluence.

Remember back to a time when someone was trying topersuade you to believe their way of thinking? Were they suc-cessful at getting you to voluntarily buy in? Or did they have topull rank?

With so many organizations using consensus gathering tocome to decisions, the need to use reason over rank is moreimportant than ever. And the forced go-along-to-get-along ap-proach doesn’t stand a chance in consensus gathering.

Assignment

To practice soft in-fluence, you will need tolisten, gather information,weigh the pros and consof a situation, and makea reasonable case for thedecision at hand.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueSoft influence is the power of ration and reason over

rank and status.

88Practicing Reason Over Rank

for Better Decisions


110


When we take the time to help others see how our thinkingmakes sense in a given situation, we have significantly betterodds of being successful. Often, people pull rank because theyhave lost patience in trying to get others to see their way ofthinking; or they have not given their proposed idea the fore-thought to anticipate questions, find gaps in their thinkingand fill them, or to carefully, yet succinctly, articulate theirviewpoint.

Pulling rank is usually an outcrop of frustration, and it usu-ally sows resentment and resistance. And through time, those

feelings compound with peo-ple and can destroy yourcredibility with others.

But reason is the resultof sound thinking and confi-dence in that thinking, whichusually reaps buy-in and sup-port. In short, reason brings

partnership, which builds up the emotional bank account withyour colleagues and superiors.

A win-win approach can make you a winner in selling yourideas. When people believe you have their interests at heart,and you are open about your own, you set the stage for trust.Remember that people buy in to ideas and people they trust.

Assignment

Use ration and reason-ing to develop partnershipsin decision making.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueReason takes time and quality thinking, but it trumps

rank in group decision making.

89Win-Win Is an Easy Sell

111

If you’ve come to the table determined to find a win-win,your focus will be squarely on that goal, rather than pushingyour own ideas. That meansyou will need to take a pageout of author Stephen Covey’sThe 7 Habits of Highly Effec-tive People and “seek first tounderstand.” Simply put, youwill need to focus on others be-fore you can “seek to beunderstood,” and start lobby-ing your own ideas.

Yet ironically, when youshow you genuinely want tohelp others in the group get what they want, you’ll find thatmost people are willing to give you what you want. Yes, it seemscounterintuitive, but if you have reasonable requests and realis-tic expectations, you will be pleasantly surprised at howaccommodating others are willing to be—and how easily youcan accomplish a win-win.

Warning! What you’re about to read can make you a high-ly successful decision maker. But it takes professional courageand dedication to learning.

Assignment

Take a lesson fromgood salespeople, whoknow that learning whattheir customers need andfulfilling those needs isthe most successful routeto making the sale.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIf you apply the same practice in decision making, you’ll

be a winner at getting others to buy in to your ideas.

90Evaluating Decisions


112


After your decisions have been implemented, you’ll needto evaluate them. Were they good decisions, bad decisions, orsomewhere in between? Did you get the result you plannedon? Or did results fall short of the goal?

Facing the truth aboutour decisions takes courage,and that kind of bravery isnot as prevalent in organi-zations as you might think.Looking our decisionssquare in the eye after thefact is scary, because wedon’t want to see any short-comings or failures.

But by evaluating the outcome of our decisions, we learnhow to be better the next time around. We learn from successwhat worked, and from failure what didn’t. We also learn fromthose results what falls into the range of mediocrity.

If we fail in this critical step of decision-making, we mayfind ourselves left out of opportunity all together, down the road.

Assignment

From the onset of yourdecision-making efforts,have a plan on how you’llevaluate the success of thatdecision.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Author and poet Maya Angelou once said: “There are

no mistakes, only lessons.” And that’s exactly how you should

view the outcome of your decisions.

113

In most decision-making situations, you are often asked tonot only make a decision about the what, but also about thewho. Who will execute the decision? Who will manage theeffort? Who will report to whom about what?

When you look at the success or failure of your decision,also look at how well the people you placed into positions exe-cuted their roles. Did you select the right people for the rightjobs? Did they meet expectations? Were they provided withthe tools to execute the decision successfully? Did the put the

energy and intellectual effortinto the outcome that wasappropriate?

People are critical tomaking decisions work.When you evaluate outcomes,evaluate your decisions in lightof the people you placed inpositions to affect the deci-sion’s outcomes. Don’t

discount their efforts. People can often make a bad decision asuccess through outstanding effort, or make a great decision failthrough lack of effort on incompetence.

91Evaluation Also Means Looking at People

Assignment

Go back and reviewsome old decisions—oneseither you or someone elsemade. What can you learn?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpiloguePeople are important to every decision you are involved in

making. They often mean success or failure. Choose wisely!


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When you make good decisions, you set yourself up forsuccess again and again. Each time you make a successfuldecision, and the outcomes prove it, you have a model to followand experience to reflect back on when presented with futuredecisions.

But good decisions come about through good planning,knowing how to create a win-win through soft influence, andbeing able to evaluate how successful a decision was com-pared with the goals and objectives first established.

Frankly, if you master the elements of good decision mak-ing, and later delegation (which is the implementation ofdecisions), you’ll prove toyourself and others that youare true leadership materi-al. You won’t have to tellanyone, or brag, or flashyour resume around. Youand the people around youwill see. In short, the results will speak for themselves.

A successful track record of good judgment is built onedecision at a time. And each one that delivers the expectedresult brings more opportunity to be included in more decisionmaking. With so many professionals today clamoring to be “atthe table,” it is—more often than not—the proven leaders thatget invited.

92Good Decisions Today Are Tomorrow’s

Successes Replayed

Assignment

Learn and practice theideas presented in this book.

115

When a decision has been a success, note what made it so,revel in it, and then get ready for the next one. Remember,good leaders have a track record of good decisions, and theyknow that one good decision does not a success make. Instead,it is the accumulation ofmultiple good decisions thatgive them the confidenceand knowledge to keep mak-ing them again and again.

But though you will cer-tainly want to strive toalways make the right deci-sion, the fact is no one isever 100 percent. Let’s faceit; even professional baseball players strive for a batting aver-age of only 30 to 40 percent—and they make the big bucks.

If you serve in a decision-making role long enough, you willstumble. It is inevitable. And just as you would want to revelfor a short time in a successful decision, you don’t want towallow in the failures. They are going to happen.

The best way to handle failed decisions is to treat them likethe successes: note what made them failures, learn from them,and get ready for the next one. And if you apply what you learnto that next one, you will greatly reduce the risk of repeatingthe past.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueMaster the elements of good decision making and you’ll

prove yourself worthy of being called leadership material.

93Moving On—From Sucess and Failure

Assignment

Whether your decisionwas ultimately a success orfailure, you need to learnfrom both, and keep both inhealthy perspective.


116


Once the decisions have been made, it’s time to get towork. But you can’t do it all yourself. And if you think you can,you’re wrong. In fact, doing it all yourself can burn you out, dullyour decision-making skills, and make you the weak link in theteam’s drive for success.

You need to delegate! But just what is delegation?Delegation is sharing the load. It’s about communicating

the vision for success, setting clear direction, and then assign-ing responsibilities based onthe project needs and youremployees’ abilities.

Whether you’re theCEO of a Fortune 500 com-pany, a small-businessowner or a homemaker, youcan put delegation to workfor you. Smart CEOs dele-gate the operation of thebusiness to their vice presidents, and expect them to do thesame with their managers, and so on. Successful small-businessowners may work more hands-on than a corporate CEO, butthey also know how to spread responsibilities among their

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Just as you want to revel for a short time in the limelight

of a good decision, you also don’t want to wallow in the

disappointment of a failed one. Learn, grow—and move on!

94Defining Delegation

Assignment

Read the ideas on del-egation and learn thedifference between work-ing hard and working smart.

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employees. And balanced homemakers know how to get thefamily in on the act of managing the household.

It really doesn’t matter what size organization you are with,or if your with an organization at all: when it’s time to get thework done, it’s time to delegate.

Delegation and decision making are both equally importantwhen it comes to getting things done quickly and successfully,whether at the office or at home. But they are not the same.

Decision making is about determining the direction you’regoing to take. Delegation is about developing the road map andselecting the vehicles you’ll use to reach your destination.

In short, decision making is the what, while delegation isthe how. Of course, even when you’re delegating, you’ll haveto make decisions along the way, such as to whom and whatyou’ll delegate. But the overarching decision, what you’llachieve, must be determined before you can delegate any ofthe work at hand.

Yet decision making and delegation share two things incommon: authority and accountability. For your decisions to bevalid, you must have been given the authority to make them.And you’re also responsible for the outcomes of your decisions.

The same is true when delegating. For people to followyour direction, they must see you as having the proper authority

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen it’s time to get the work done, you need to

delegate!

95Delegation Versus Decision Making


118


to do the delegating. Andyou’ll be responsible for theresults your team achieves,based on how and to whomyou’ve delegated. Thoughsome key decisions may beyours and yours alone, del-egation is never a one-manshow.

So now that you know what delegation is, let’s talk aboutwhat it is not.

Delegation is not abdicating your authority or your respon-sibility to be accountable. Nor is it about pushing off unfavorabletasks onto subordinate employees. It is also not flexing your“boss muscle” to show that you’re large and in charge andhave free reign to order others around.

Delegation is also not about setting others up to fail by dele-gating tasks to them that you know to be far beyond theircapabilities. Neither is delegation about playing favorites and givingthe spotlight tasks consistently to only one or two employees,while leaving the others with the unrecognized grunt work.

Unloading, shuffling tasks off to employees when you’reoverwhelmed or bored, is not effective delegation either. And

Assignment

Learn the differencebetween decision makingand delegation and you’ll beoff to a good start in theright direction.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhile decision making is the what, and can sometimes

be a road you travel alone, delegation is the how, and it’s

never a one-man show.

96What Delegation Is Not

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it’s not about flying by theseat of your pants, meaningif you’re going to delegate,you better have a plan andyour employees need to ful-ly understand it.

But just as delegation isnot about giving up authori-ty and accountability, it’s also not about giving up power andcontrol. And finally, delegation is not a sign of weakness, oryour inability to do it all. In fact, if you’re trying to do it all, youare sure to fail—and your team right along with you.

Effective delegation does not occur in a vacuum. Your or-ganization or household culture has a big influence on howeffectively you can delegate.

For example, some organizations praise managers for em-powering their employees and encourage them to reward andrecognize initiative—an environment that is ripe for delegating.Yet, some organizations encourage micromanagement and mar-tyrdom among their leaders, creating an environment thatscreams: “If you want it done right, do it yourself.”

Assignment

Make certain you un-derstand what delegation isnot. That will save youtrouble later.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation is not about giving up your authority, power,

control, accountability, or your responsibility to help your

employees succeed.

97Organizational Culture—Are You Set Up

to Succeed?


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But also look beyond the management mentality in yourorganization to that of the rank-and-file employees. Are em-ployees motivated and driven to take initiative? Or is yourorganization dominated by a bargaining unit, such as a union,that discourages employees from doing anything beyond theirimmediate job description.

For you to fully bring delegation to your work, you have tobe in a workplace that will allow you to succeed. If employeesare discouraged fromstretching and growingbeyond their current capa-bilities, or if your managementdoes not trust the workforce,it will be difficult to practicethe more ideal techniques ofdelegation.

But even if your com-pany’s culture is less thanoptimal for delegating, practicing even some degree of delega-tion is better than none at all.

Because management sets the example and sculpts thework environment, it is important to take a look around you—to

Assignment

Know your organiza-tion’s culture so you candetermine how you willneed to approach delega-tion as a whole.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueHigh-performance work cultures are prime for delega-

tion. But even if yours is less than ideal, some degree of

delegation will still make you more effective than not delegat-

ing at all.

98A Closer Look at Delegation

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your management peers to theright and left of you, and tothose above and below you.

Do those to the left and theright model delegation? Arethey open to delegating to oneanother, and to one another’sstaff members? This is knownas sideways delegation, and it’scompletely acceptable wheremanagement works as teams,rather than in department silos.

Also consider if managersbelow you are encouraged todelegate as well, and if uppermanagement rewards gooddelegation practices. If the an-swer is yes to either of these, itis very likely you can be confident that your management willsupport you in your effort to delegate work.

But don’t stop there. Take a look around at the men andwomen in your management ranks. Does your company senddifferent signals about delegation to men versus women, andvice versa? In some organizations, male managers are ex-pected to delegate, but female managers are the recipientsof delegated work from their male counterparts. However,the reverse can also be true, in which male managers canbe criticized by female superiors for delegating work.

Assignment

If your company’smanagement culture sup-ports delegation throughencouragement, recogni-tion, and equality, thenread on and get to dele-gating. But if you seesome gaps or imbalancesin how your managementviews delegation, read onand consider carefullyhow to proceed.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYour company’s management sets the tone for delegation.

Do your homework and find the right formula for delegating—

one that will work in your unique company culture.


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If you thought delegating was only one dimensional, thinkagain. Delegation can be an equal-opportunity practice, mean-ing you can delegate sideways and upward, in addition todownward.

Say what? Delegating sideways and upward? You meandelegating to my boss and Joe the marketing manager in theoffice next door? Yep!

Again, it will take somehomework on your part todetermine if sideways andupward delegation areacceptable in your work cul-ture. If you find they are,get with it! But remember,delegation is never aboutshuffling work off on some-one else, and sideways andupward delegating are no different.

So how do you delegate to your management peers or toyour boss? Think about who is most capable of getting the jobdone quickly. For instance, if you’re struggling with a decisionthat seems outside of your experience, consult with your boss.Her experience may give you insight that can drastically re-duce the thought needed to arrive at a final conclusion. Thesame with your management peers. They may have reports,analysis, and insights that can help you come to a decision quickly.

99Delegating Sideways and Upward

Assignment

Look around you todetermine when and wheresideways and upward del-egation are appropriate andfeasible.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueView delegation as an equal-opportunity practice and

delegate sideways and upward.

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Why Delgate?

The ability to delegate is the litmus test of good leadership.Managers that can delegate well will separate themselves fromthe management pack—and stand out as organizational leaders.Why is that, you ask? Because when delegation is done right itshares opportunity, provides a sense of achievement, and en-ables others to develop themselves through new experiences.

Let’s start with the notion of sharing opportunity. Good lead-ers need to be focused on achieving the big picture, setting thedirection, and ensuring employees have what they need to suc-ceed. And part of succeeding is having opportunity—the chanceto contribute to the big pic-ture, to make a difference.Delegation provides oppor-tunities for your employeesto be part of something big-ger than themselves.

The contributions ofeach individual add up, andwith good leadership at thehelm, they collectively leadto a sense of accomplish-ment for the whole group. That sense of achievement is a morepowerful motivator than money. That’s right! Study after studyhas shown that money is a fleeting motivator, but a sense of ac-complishment is the highest-sustaining motivator for employees.

Delegation also offers a chance for self-development. It’s aknown fact that we learn best through our direct experiences.When you provide this opportunity, it can be a gift that keeps ongiving throughout your employees’ lives, and it can pay big divi-dends for your reputation as a leader and a professional.

100

Assignment

Delegate responsibili-ties to your employees and,in turn, provide them withexperiences to grow andstretch themselves as pro-fessionals and people.


124


Giving up power is one of the common barriers to gooddelegation—and it is the most irrational. Refusing to delegateactually makes you powerless.

Power does not come from hoarding the work. In fact,thinking you can do it all, and acting along those lines, fails toshow that you can lead. Andif you’re a manager, you’reexpected to lead.

True power in leader-ship doesn’t come frompersonally accomplishingthe work. It comes fromyour ability to develop yourstaff and motivate them toachieve strategic ends. Itcomes from aligning people’s capabilities with the tasks at hand,and using work opportunities to build their confidence, projectafter project.

When you think of delegation, think of a ship captain. Rarelydoes the captain row the boat. His job is to see out across thehorizon, set the course, and ensure the boat is moving in theright direction toward the charted destination.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegating can provide opportunity, a sense of achieve-

ment, a chance for employees to develop themselves, and a

prime opportunity for you to stand out as a true leader.

Assignment

Remember this! Yourthinking and discipline is thereal power source behindyour team’s success.

101But I’ll Be Giving Up Power!

125

It is not the power behind the oars or the ship’s wheel thatgets the boat to where it is supposed to go. It is the thinking anddiscipline—the leadership—that makes it happen.

Time is at a premium for everyone today. Let’s face it—24 hours is just not enough time to get it all done. And withbusinesses today pressed to do more with less, employees arestretched to the maximum.

But delegation can beyour ticket for getting moretime to get things done. Forexample, you may have fourmeetings scheduled in oneday, but you still have tomeet the deadline forcompleting the conferencemarketing plan. If this is enough to make your heart start rac-ing and your head swimming—stop!

That’s right. With all that you have to do and in such littletime, stop—but just long enough to ask yourself if you reallyhave to be at the meetings? Can one of your staff membersattend one or two of the meetings and brief you afterward? Orcan a coworker attend on your behalf?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueRefusing to delegate makes you powerless because true

power in leadership doesn’t come from personally accom-

plishing the work.

102Get More Time to Get More Done

Assignment

Pick those tasks thatabsolutely must have yourattention and delegate therest.


126


It is true that 80 percent of success is just showing up. Butyou have to balance that against another adage: pick your bat-tles. The same is true in prioritizing your work.

Have you ever heard yourself say: “I just need time to getmy hands around this?” Or felt you had so much to do youcouldn’t focus long enough to give decisions quality thought?

Well, you’re not alone. In a world where everyone is ex-pected to do more with less, it is easy to feel like your attentionis pulled in several differentdirections. In fact, if you hadthe time to think straight,and good information towork from, you could findbetter ways to do evenmore with less. Right?

Once again, delegationcan be the cure for thisthought-depleting disease ofdoing more with less. How?By delegating, you push de-cisions to those who are

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegating effectively means you have to put your focus

where it should truly be, a practice that can give you more

time to get more done—and all from the same 24 hours.

103Make Quick, Quality Decisions

Assignment

Delegate select decision-making responsibilities andtasks to the right people,and give yourself the luxu-ry of delivering quicker,quality decisions that couldbuy you greater efficiency,effectiveness, and moretime!

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closest to the work and who are often very familiar with pro-cesses and practices that can hinder your team’s ability to domore with less. Relying on those who are closest to the work tomake key decisions based on expectations and direction you’veestablished, can result in quicker and better quality decisions.

But that’s not the only benefit. Delegating decisions andresponsibilities to those on the front lines allows you more timeto think. Yes—delegating will give you time to stop and think,review critical reports and plans, and hold crucial conversa-tions with your management peers and superiors.

In management, success depends on the ability to get re-sults through people. But to get the best results, you have tounite your employees.

Delegation provides an excellent opportunity to harnessemployees’ talents, expertise, interests, and enthusiasm toachieve a common goal. In short, delegation is a group thing.

But delegation is about much more than just handing outassignments and responsibilities. You have to understand thatall people—including your employees—want to feel a sense ofpurpose, to be valued, and to be part of something bigger thanthemselves.

Delegation can fulfill each of these needs when you assignproject tasks and responsibilities based on team members’ varying

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegating gives you quicker and better decision-making

power to find better ways to do even more with less.

104Employees Unite!


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expertise and talents. Thisshows you trust them, youwant their involvement, andrecognize what they eachhave to offer. It also sendsthe same message to otherson the team and outside ofthe team.

When you demonstrateyour employees are valuedand appreciated you willincrease their overall com-mitment to whatever it isyou’re working to achieve.

If you approach delegation as a group thing, you’re morelikely to get greater commitment from your employees. Andcommitment has always been the true differentiator betweenwinning and losing.

By pushing decisions to the front lines, employees becomepart of the process—instead of having the process imposed onthem. And let’s face it, no one likes to have something mandat-ed to them. In fact, participation is a cardinal rule in changemanagement. Leave employees out of the decision to implement

Assignment

Delegation is all aboutinclusion, and aligning em-ployees to a common goal.Tap into what motivates anddrives them, and play to thetouch points of each em-ployee. If you do this, you’llnot only have mastered del-egation, but you’ll likelytransform your team to all-around stellar performers.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueHelen Keller once said, “Alone we achieve little, but to-

gether we can achieve much.” Delegation is a group thing.

105Encourage Employee Commitment

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a new change, and you’lllikely have a modest revolton your hands, at best.

But give them an activerole that shows you valuetheir knowledge and expe-rience, and you’ll likelygenerate enthusiastic dedi-cation that could drive youto results beyond yourexpectations.

If you’ve always thought of delegation as just a way tohelp you get more done, then here is an opportunity to expandyour thinking.

Delegation provides you with the opportunity to practiceservant leadership, which is using your authority and responsi-bility to serve those who work for you. You see, delegation isnot just about serving your needs as the manager—it is alsoabout growing your employees personally and professionally.Good leaders learn this quickly in their careers.

Assignment

Remember this! Allpeople want to be part ofsomething greater thanthemselves. With delega-tion, you can give youremployees that opportuni-ty everyday.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGive employees an active role in key decisions and tasks

and you’ll generate enthusiastic commitment that could de-

liver success beyond your expectations.

106Teach a Man to Fish


130


When you give employees an active role, you give them anopportunity to learn, and learning gives them lifelong skills and

a foundation of experienceupon which they can contin-ue to build their careers. Inessence, you can use dele-gation to teach them to fishfor a lifetime.

But you don’t have to bea philanthropist to embracethe advantages of servant

leadership. Teaching your employees to fish, through delega-tion, is an investment that will deliver success to yourorganization both in the short and long term.

What they learn through delegation can be applied to bringgreater efficiencies and effectiveness to the job, and elevatesthe employee’s experience from which you can continue tobuild. In marketing, this is known as the efficiency curve, inwhich the organization increases profits because employeesuse their learning to make more product or deliver better ser-vices at lower and lower operational costs over time.

Assignment

Using delegation toteach your employees tofish is a win-win situationall the way around.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueTake a servant-leadership approach to delegation, using

it as an opportunity to teach your employees to fish for them-

selves professionally and personally.

131

Do you know your management style? If not, find out.Some management styles are more conducive to delegatingthan others. But also be prepared to adjust your managementstyle depending on the employee to which you’re delegating.

For example, is your management style authoritarian, mean-ing you determine the who, what, when, and how of the work,with little prior input from employees? This is known as a tell-assertive style of management in which there is little employeeparticipation in the decision-making phase of the task.

Or is your style more of that of a team leader, meaning yougather input from staff and encourage them to participate inthe decision-making process? This is a more ask-assertive styleof management.

Good leaders learn to vary their management styles, andthus delegating approaches, based on an employee’s level ofexperience, knowledge, teamwork skills, and readiness to ac-cept supervision.

Employees with high levels of experience and knowledge,who work well with othersand readily accept their su-pervision, will work moreeffectively under a team-leader management style.And they are a prime groupto whom you can delegatetasks and decisions.

However, employeeswith limited experience andknowledge, or who have

107Know Your Management Style

Assignment

Know your manage-ment style and be preparedto adjust it when delegatingto employees with differinglevels of experience, knowl-edge, teamwork skills, andacceptance of supervision.


132


difficulty working in a team or accepting supervision, are moreeffectively managed through a tell-assertive style. They needcloser supervision and direction. You will need to carefully con-sider what tasks to delegate to this group, and may delaydelegating any decision-making responsibilities until teamworkand acceptance of supervision improve.

To delegate effectively, you’ll need well-developed coach-ing skills. But what is a coach?

A coach in the workplace is just like a coach on the court.She assesses her team’s individual skills and how they worktogether as a group, determines who is the best fit for complet-ing specifics tasks and making relevant decisions. But that’sjust the beginning.

To coach effectively,you’ll need to be clear onwhat you expect when youremployee undertakes aproject or decision, and re-view practices andprocedures that will help himbe successful along the way.You’ll even want to review

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood leaders vary their management and delegation styles

based on their employees’ experiences.

108Develop Your Coaching Skills

Assignment

Remember this! Coach-ing requires tremendousforethought and interpersonalskills, but the outcome of bothis effective delegation.

133

possible problem scenarios and how the employee should han-dle those. And finally, you’ll want to observe and give correctiveinput along the way to keep the employee on track.

And don’t skip this final step of giving corrective input. Itmay be uncomfortable to provide constructive criticism, but it’sabsolutely necessary. As basketball coaching great John Woodensays: “A coach is someone who can give correction withoutcausing resentment.” When corrective input is given with theclear intent to help someone succeed, it is also a demonstrationof good coaching skills.

Do your employees have to like you for delegation to workwithin your team? Not necessarily.

“Like” is a fleeting state of mind. It is just not possible tomaintain popularity with your employees in every situation orwith every single individual. To strive for that scenario is to setyourself up for failure—and the mission of your organization aswell. After all, if you end up trying to please everyone, youplease no one. And losing faith with your boss, your stockhold-ers, or consumers in exchange for popularity among youremployees can severely cripple your company.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueCoaching is an investment. If you give it, you will reap

the dividends.

109They Like Me! They Really Like Me!


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But developing a goodrapport with your employ-ees encourages trust andloyalty. In fact, you’ll needthat trust and loyalty for del-egation to work effectivelywithin your team. Your em-ployees have to trust that you’re fair and consistent in dealingwith issues and team conflicts. They also will need to feel con-fident that you will loyally back them if something beyond theircontrol goes wrong.

In short, employees are more apt to “like” you if you’re au-thentic, fair, and consistent—all the ingredients of true integrity.

If you find you are popular among your employees, andthat popularity has been earned through your integrity, you’lllikely find delegation easy to implement.

Human resource experts have found that employees’ mo-tivation and job satisfaction are tied directly to the relationshipwith their supervisor. And happy employees tend to be commit-ted, enthusiastic, loyal, and eager to learn and grow. These arethe attitude ingredients your employees need for delegation towork effectively.

Assignment

Focus on earning youremployees’ respect, ratherthan their popular vote.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYou will need your employees’ trust and loyalty—

elements of respect—to effectively delegate.

110Popularity Is a Plus

135

It is worth taking the time to assess your level of popularityamong your employees. An anonymous survey is an excellentway to gauge what your employees think about you as a leader.

But what if you don’t get high marks from employees?View it as an opportunity, a personal and professional chal-lenge, to identify wherethere may be gaps in yourintegrity—consistency, fair-ness, authenticity—anddevelop a plan to fix them.Remember the words of thepoet and author Maya An-gelou: “When I knew better,I did better.”

Want to increase employee satisfaction? Then get busydelegating!

Delegation is a clear act of trust if handled effectively.That show of trust is also a show of support. And sometimesshowing an employee you support him can turn a poor relation-ship into a better one, and a good relationship into a great one.

Often it is mistrust that separates us from one another. Butentire communities can be transformed when we let down our

Assignment

Strive to develop a hap-py team, because happyemployees tend to be com-mitted, enthusiastic, loyal,and eager to learn and grow.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAn employee’s level of motivation is directly correlated

to the working relationship with his supervisor.

111Delegate to Improve Relationships


136


defenses and show a littlefaith in one another. Thesame can be true in leadingemployees—and delegationcan provide an excellentopportunity.

But how do you getstarted, particularly withsomeone in which you havelimited confidence? As au-thor and self-help guru Stephen Covey says, start from a pointof agreement. With an employee, it can be one strength youboth agree the employee demonstrates.

Select a limited task or decision that calls for that strengthand delegate it to the employee. Then build from there, recog-nizing and rewarding the employee each time a new task iscompleted to your expectations.

Authority and responsibility are similar, yet different. Andwhen it comes to delegating, you need to know where to drawthe line.

Authority is what your organization has bestowed upon you toget the job done. You give direction, and those placed under yourauthority are obligated to follow as part of their employment.

Assignment

Practice delegation andover time you’ll find that itcan be the catalyst for re-versing poor employeerelationships and increasingteam morale overall.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation is an excellent way to develop better employ-

ee relationships.

112Authority Versus Responsibility

137

But authority can also include responsibilities such as sign-ing off on budget expenditures, hiring additional staff or contracthelp, or approving a project to move forward.

You may delegate some of your authority, such as if you’reon vacation or out of the office on business. For example, youmay delegate staff management to an employee that you trustto make decisions as youwould when you’re awayfrom the office.

Delegating authoritymeans you’re handing overa whole set of responsibili-ties encompassed within aspecified level of authority.This authority may bedelegated on a long- orshort-term basis.

But delegating responsibilities is more about assigning ac-countability for given tasks, often without the benefit of authority.For example, you may ask an employee to attend a weeklymeeting on your behalf, but reserve your authority to make anycommitments as a result of the meeting.

Assignment

Before delegating,make sure you know thedifference between whatis authority and what isresponsibility.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Whether you delegate authority or responsibility, you’re

ultimately accountable for the success or failure of the outcomes.


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Would you drive across country without knowing whereyou were going? Of course not! Even if you’re not sure ofwhat route you’ll take, you certainly want to know your desti-nation. Otherwise, how would you ever know when you’vearrived?

The same is true when it comes to delegation.To get the most out of delegation, show your employees

the vision. Help them see what could be as a result of theirefforts. For example, if yourgoal is to launch a new prod-uct within the next year, thenshow your employees whatthat launch will look like andwhat it could bring to the or-ganization, such as increasedrevenues, high profits, larg-er bonuses for the team, andso on.

And remember, vision is not exclusive to the Fortune 500company. The same can be applied to a small business or fam-ily dynamic. A vision for a small business might be to increaseproductivity by 15 percent, with the pay-off being increasedrevenue that will help to provide insurance benefits to employ-ees for the first time. For a family, the vision could be a largerhome or dream vacation, which can be both a vision and areward combined.

Because delegation is ultimately about sharing responsibil-ities and motivating others to carry them out in a way that getsresults and inspires confidence, you’ll need to help people seeyour vision.

113Show Them the Vision and the Rewards

Assignment

To delegate effective-ly, begin by showing peoplethe destination, and settingthe vision of success.

139

Rarely is any endeavor successful without a plan. ChristopherColumbus may not have known the final outcome of his voyagewhen he left the shores of Europe, but he certainly had a planfor making the journey nonetheless.

And delegation requires no less of you. All great achieve-ments require thinking, analyzing, and preparing. Whendelegating, you’ll need to assess your team; determine to whomyou will delegate what tasks, responsibilities, and decisions; howyou will get your team’s buy-in and commitment; how you willset expectations and measure performance; and how youwill keep your team motivated until the mission has beenaccomplished.

Also, if it’s the first time you are delegating to an employee,plan for it to take time. You will likely need to give detaileddirection the first timearound, and the employeemay have a number of ques-tions up front and throughoutthe process.

You will also need toplan for possible failure.After all, delegating is a risk.What will you do if a team

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueShowing your employees the vision is to give them a view

of what their efforts can create.

114Have a Game Plan

Assignment

Having a game plan willhelp you think through thesequestions and be preparedfor the journey.


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member is not performing up to expectations? How will youadjust course if delegated decisions move the project offtrack?How will you provide feedback and realign expectations, re-sources, and so on?

But you will also need to plan for success. How will yourecognize and reward your team members? How will you buildon their experience? How will you harness the team’s successand use it to drive future projects?

So, to whom should you delegate responsibilities and au-thority? It is probably the most important question you will askyourself in preparing to delegate.

Yet when it comes to authority and responsibility, you’reaccountable for both. And that’s why it is crucial for you todelegate both carefully. When delegating authority, you want tochoose someone with experience, knowledge, maturity, andgood interpersonal skills who is loyal and committed to the visionyou’ve established for the team or project. In short, it shouldcertainly be someone you trust, both in competency and character.

However, when delegating responsibilities, you’ll likely needsomeone with the right skills and knowledge for a specific taskor set of tasks. Experience, loyalty, and commitment may notalways be absolute necessities when delegating responsibilitiesalone. In other words, you may only need to trust the employee’s

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Before delegating, have a plan in place that is founded

on solid thinking, analysis, and preparation.

115The “Who” and “What” of Delegation

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technical competency. But interpersonal skills may not play animportant role in the task.

Regardless, however,whether you are delegatingresponsibilities or authority, youmust trust that the person willfollow all ethical, legal, andcompany policies. Successfuldelegation has no room forrenegades. After all, you areaccountable in the end.

Once you’ve determined what you want to delegate, re-sponsibilities or authority, or both, you must focus on the who.After all, it’s your backside on the line if you make a wrongchoice.

First, resist the urge to delegate the majority of the work tothe go-getter on the team. Delegating most of the work, orworse, everything, to one person is a recipe for trouble. It setsyour go-getter up for burnout and possible resentment fromother team members who may feel that you’re playing favorites.

Remember: Delegation is a group thing. And that meansyou have to share the opportunity and use it to develop your

Assignment

Determine if you’redelegating responsibilities orauthority—or both. Thenchoose carefully who is rightfor the job, because in theend, you are accountable.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIt is crucial that you delegate both authority and respon-

sibility carefully.

116Assessing the Team


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team as a whole. To do that,start with assessing eachteam member. Use perfor-mance reviews to objectivelyanalyze team members’strengths and weaknesses,their depth of expertise, andtheir interest. Also use per-formance reviews, alongwith other observations you

and others have made, to determine employees’ developmentareas, such as what skills and experiences they need to helpthem grow.

After you’ve collected your input, list out the qualificationsfor each employee, ranging from the technical to the interper-sonal, and compare them with the qualifications required forthe responsibilities or authority you plan to delegate. The em-ployee who has the most matched qualifications is likely to beyour best choice.

This type of assessment may seem like a lot of work, but itis an investment that will pay off in the long run.

Selling the work requires you to get tuned into WIIFM(What’s In It For Me) for your employees.

Assignment

Assess employees forthe job based on their pastperformance, their skillsand expertise, and their po-tential for growth.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAssess the team carefully, because it’s your backside on

the line if you make a wrong decision.

117Selling the Work

143

Though we would like to believe that people get behind avision and join the mission out of pure altruism, that’s just notthe case. They need motivation, and nothing motivates peoplelike knowing what they have to gain from the work you’retrying to sell.

Will it result in a promotion? Will it mean more money? Inshort, what’s the benefit to the employee? Now the Machia-

vellians out there would saythat’s easy to sell to the em-ployee: “You’ll have a job!”But coercion and manage-ment by fear gets younowhere in the long run.Throughout time, it onlybuilds resentment.

Before you approachthe team member about the

task or responsibility you’re delegating to him, make a list ofbenefits you believe the employee will gain from taking on theresponsibility. Will it help gain her exposure to senior manage-ment? Will it help him grow into a division he has been eyeingfor awhile? Will it help her develop confidence in an area ofwork in which she is unsure?

The list you develop really depends on your knowledge ofthe employee and what motivates him. But if you’ve done yourhomework in assessing the team (Idea 116), then you shouldhave good “intelligence” into how to sell the work with eachindividual employee.

Assignment

To sell the work, gettuned into WIIFM witheach of your employees—know what motivates eachof them individually.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueBuy-in, not coercion, is the only way to successfully

motivate employees.


144


Before you can sell even one employee on the task or re-sponsibility you’re delegating, you must be convinced yourselfthat the person can handle the job.

If you’ve assessed your team thoroughly, you should haveno doubt you’ve made the best choice with the resources youhave available to you. And frankly, that is the best any managercan do in a given situation.

Trust in your assess-ment and selection of whoshould take on the task orresponsibility, then makeyour optimism obvious.Directly spell it out to theemployee: “John, I’ve cho-sen you for this role becauseI think you have the bestknowledge and skill sets to handle this particular task.”

Sincerely showing your confidence in the employee, andyour optimism about how he will handle the job, will have apowerful impact on the outcome of the task. As a manager,you have a lot to gain because your employees’ success dem-onstrates you can effectively lead people to get results.

118Make Your Optimism Obvious

Assignment

Directly tell your em-ployees why they werechosen for the task orresponsibility.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Knowing what made an employee stand out for an

opportunity can be a big motivator in getting the task done,

and done right.

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Pay attention to this chapter, because setting expectationsis the line in the sand between success and failure in delega-tion. So before you delegate, you will need to have this informationdown solid.

First and foremost, whendelegating, do not assume thatyour employees know whatand how you want them toapproach the task or respon-sibilities at hand. You mustmake it clear.

Define what role theemployee should play in re-lationship to the rest of the team, outline the key responsibilitiesyou want accomplished, when you expect those to be complet-ed, the level of authority the person will have, and what resultsyou want to see. If the project or responsibility will be ongoingor long term, define what key milestones you want to see ac-complished and, again, by what time frame and with what interimresults.

To what detail you share your expectations depends on thetask or responsibility you are delegating, and the competencylevel of the employee. Employees with higher levels of provencompetency and knowledge will likely need the essentials, andmay feel micromanaged if given fine details. These types ofemployees need room to use their own judgment and creativity,but with clear expectations of leeway and limitations.

119Set Expectations

Assignment

Be clear! Do not as-sume your employeesknow what and how youwant a task completed.


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However, employees with little experience and limited com-petency will need the fine details. You will have to cover moreground with these employees. But if they have detailed directionon the first task and prove to apply it correctly, they will need lessand less fine detail and more essentials with future tasks.

It’s been said that if it weren’t for the deadline, nothingwould get accomplished. Just look at people filing their taxes.State revenue agencies find that half to one-third of their citi-zens don’t file taxes until the last minute. And of course, we allremember pulling all-nightersto get that term paper fin-ished, though we knewabout it the first day of thesemester.

Let’s face it; it is humannature to procrastinate.That’s why you need to seta time line when you delegate, so employees are very clear onwhat you expect in terms of meeting key milestones and deadlines.

With all the day-to-day distractions that employees experi-ence, including yourself, it’s very easy to let projectslinger—sometimes progressing from something that could havetaken a few hours, to something that now takes days. Or it

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYou must set expectations and ensure they are clearly

understood.

120Set a Time Line

Assignment

Don’t let projects lin-ger. Set key milestones anddeadlines.

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could be a project that was supposed to take only a few days,and now weeks—or even months later—it’s still creeping alongto the finish line.

It happens. But sharing a set time line that spells out whoshould be completing specific tasks by specific dates, and hold-ing people’s feet to the fire about it, is crucial to managing whatyou’re delegating—but without micromanaging.

Your work doesn’t end after you’ve handed out responsi-bilities and tasks. In fact, it’s just beginning. Following up withyour employees—and finding the right balance of follow-up—is key to successfully delegating.

Follow-up should be something you’ve established whenyou set expectations, meaning you’ve made it clear that you’llbe holding regular one-on-one sessions with each employeeabout how he is progressing.

These follow-up meetings help you keep tabs on what’sbeen accomplished; what barriers the employee might be fac-ing, particularly if collaborating with another division or a difficultcoworker; what coaching the employee needs; and so forth.They also allow you an opportunity, or enhanced opportunity, tobuild a stronger rapport with your team members. In fact, so-cial psychology research has found that mere exposure buildstrust and likeability. So, in addition to keeping progress on track,

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEstablishing a clear timeline, communicating it, and moni-

toring progress toward it, is crucial to delegating success.


121Follow Up

148


you give yourself and youremployee an opportunity tobuild a stronger rapport anda better working relationship.

But follow-up has to bethat—follow-up, and notmicromanaging. If you’rehovering over your employ-ee or questioning every move, you’ll be resented. To avoid thisfrom happening, set follow-up meetings weekly, depending onthe task or responsibility. Then use that time to listen; let theemployee lead the discussion and ask questions. Taking thisapproach, your comments and responses are more likely to beperceived as helpful guidance. And if everything is moving alongon schedule and as expected, follow-up is a good time to givepraise and encouragement.

Assuming you’ve done the employee assessment discussedearlier, you should have confidence in the competency of thepeople you’ve selected to take on the designated tasks andresponsibilities.

But that may not be the case with the employee. Don’t besurprised if you get push-back from an employee about taking

Assignment

Hold regular follow-upmeetings to keep employ-ees and projects on track.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueFollowing up with whom you’ve delegated tasks or

responsibilities is a critical monitoring system, but also an

opportunity to build rapport, provide coaching, and encour-

age your employees.

122Confidence in Competence

149

on a given job. And don’t take that push-back as a sign theemployee is refusing or trying to wiggle her way out of work.Your employee could suffer from a lack of confidence in hisown competency in a certain skill set or job knowledge.

When assigning tasks or responsibilities, review the em-ployee’s accomplishments with her, and be very clear aboutwhy you believe that history of success makes her the best

person to take on the roleyou have in mind. You canalso use it as an opportunityto show how the task or re-sponsibility will enhance hisexisting competency.

Also, acknowledgewhat skills the employeemay be short on. This is notto emphasize the shortcom-

ings, but rather to assure the employee that you have reasonableexpectations of him and realize that finance, for example, maynot be his forte. But nonetheless, you believe he can success-fully accomplish the task based on the skills and knowledge hebrings to the job. Follow-up meetings will allow you to givecontinued encouragement and reinforce your confidence in him.

Assignment

Explain why you chosethe employee for the dele-gated task, making it clearwhat he can both gain andgive from and to the project.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegating, founded on thorough employee assessment

and with regular follow-up, can help to build an employee’s

confidence in himself—making him ready to tackle more chal-

lenging projects down the road.


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Just as you may have to fight the fear of giving up powerwith delegation, you may also have to fight the fear of mistrust.If you don’t, you’ll find yourself micromanaging instead ofdelegating.

Doing a thorough assessment of your team is the first stepin being sure you’ve made the right decisions in determining towhom you should delegate which responsibilities. If you’ve takenthe time to assess and given it quality thought, you should beable to stop second-guessing yourself. You’ve made the bestdecision with the best information you have available. No one

could do more.But if you find yourself

still having feelings of mistrusteven after you’ve done yourhomework in assessing yourteam, ask yourself why. Arethere any facts or observa-tions about the person thatsupports your mistrust? Or isit just a strong intuition?

Of course we all haveto go with the gut sometimes, so don’t dismiss a strong intuition,either. If you truly don’t trust someone’s capabilities, attitude,or loyalty, then don’t delegate to him. You’ll find yourself watch-ing over his shoulder and doubting your own judgment.

But if your mistrust stems from your lack of confidence inyour ability to delegate properly, then start small. Break theproject down into manageable portions and give them out insuccession, assigning the next task after the first has been

123Fight the Fear of Mistrust

Assignment

Dig down underneathyour feelings of mistrustand pinpoint what is stirringthat nagging, gnawing feel-ing. It could be a lack oftrust in your own judgment.

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completed to your satisfaction. This step-by-step approach willhelp to build your confidence in your employee and your ownjudgment.

Handing off the smaller tasks that have limited affect iseasy, but what about the big decisions, such as managing theproject budget or hiring an outside consultant? Is that some-thing you should delegate?

It depends. Remember,how you decide to delegateauthority is different fromhow you decide to delegateresponsibilities. And whenyou delegate the big deci-sions, you’re delegatingsome of your authority.

Delegating authoritymeans you’re handing over

a whole set of responsibilities. You can’t just hand that over toanyone. It has to be someone who you trust in competency andcharacter. That is a person you know, beyond a reasonabledoubt, that will think like you think, and in whom you have con-fidence regarding knowledge and judgment.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue A thorough team assessment helps you fight the fear of

mistrust in your employees.

124The Big Decisions

Assignment

When delegating thebigger decisions, don’t beafraid—just do your home-work in selecting the rightdelegates.


152


EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegating the bigger decisions means delegating some

of your authority, and that requires a careful strategy in de-

termining who is best for the job.

Just as it is easy to delegate the small, low-impact tasks orresponsibilities, it is also easy to give in to the fear of delegatinglarger decisions.

Learning to delegate is fraught with fears. In fact, it canfeel like a minefield of fear. Everywhere you turn, you see

something that could blowup. And going wrong whendelegating the bigger deci-sions can set off a chainreaction that could land youin the unemployment line.

So, you should proceedwith caution when rolling thebig dice. But proceeding withcaution can still move you for-

ward. If you find yourself holding onto the big decisions, and that isholding you back from achieving greater success, then get someperspective. Or better stated, put big decisions in perspective.

What do you consider big decisions? Make a list. Thenlabel them A, B, C, and so on. Start at the very bottom of the

125Fight the Fear of Delegating

the Bigger Decisions

Assignment

To get over your fear ofdelegating the bigger deci-sions, put them in perspectiveand start conquering themone step at a time.

153


list and ask yourself if this big decision is small enough to giveto your most trusted team member. If so, then take the leap—by sharing your vision, setting expectations, and following up.

To help avoid the fears and second-guessing that can comewith delegation, make a list that combines your expectationsand the time line of when you expect them to be met. This issometimes called mapping. But whatever it is called, it is agood idea for anyone who delegates—beginners or those vet-erans who just want to improve at it.

Outlining how you want an employee to tackle a delegatedtask or responsibility, or a big decision, provides a documented“schematic”—a road mapgoing forward, a checklistalong the way, and a refer-ence for the future.

An outline of what youspecifically want done canalso serve as a guide foryour follow-up meetings,giving those discussionsboth a framework and focal

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen it comes to delegating the bigger decisions, you

may have to do it trembling, but by God, do it! Just do it right!

126Outline Specifically What You Want Done

Assignment

Create an outline thatspecifically lays out yourexpectations and a time lineto keep your employees ontrack.

154


point. In short, use it as your agenda for keeping those discus-sions focused on progress, not failure.

Along with setting expectations with individual employees,you also need to set expectations with other team membersand those that interact with your team. This will help to avoidconflict and unnecessary barriers once the employee begins tocarry out the delegated task or responsibility.

Researchers have found that despite popular belief, it isnot personalities or styles that are at the root of conflict in orga-nizations. Instead, it is role ambiguity and role encroachmentthat sparks most territorial fires in-house.

When roles are unclear, people can unintentionally collide.And when it happens to rivals on a team, it can be like flinthitting rock. Sparks fly! The same can happen when role en-croachment occurs. Just think of driving in traffic and a cararbitrarily weaves into your lane, cutting you off. That’s a rec-ipe for road rage—or worse. That same frustration can beplayed out in the workplace when roles are not clear.

To keep the internal traffic moving smoothly, be sure tospread the word about what you’ve delegated, to whom, andwhy. Consider it part of setting expectations. You expect oth-ers to respect the role you’ve assigned to an individual employee

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEvery good plan needs a road map, and a delegation out-

line can do just that in getting your team where it needs to go.

127Spread the Word

155

and to work collaborativelyor cooperatively, dependingon the situation, as the des-ignee carries out that role.

But don’t stop with yourimmediate team. If others inthe organization will beaffected by the decisionyou’ve made, be sure to inform them as well. This tells othersthe designee has your support and backing. Others will be lesslikely to act as possible road blocks if they understand the em-ployee is not acting arbitrarily.

When toddlers are learning to walk, parents learn quicklyto hang back when they stumble. Children tend to right them-selves and get back on course.

The same is true when delegating to others. If you seesmoke, don’t immediately assume there is fire. Jumping to therescue too soon can dampen an employee’s confidence in him-self, and spark what could become smoldering resentmenttoward you.

So how do you hold back when you fear success could bein danger? Think expectations, time line, and follow-up. Call it

Assignment

Be sure to inform oth-ers of what you’ve delegatedto whom and why.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueExplaining what and why you’ve delegated will greatly

reduce the risks of conflict within your immediate team and in

other areas of the organization.

128Don’t Jump at the First Sign of Trouble


156


the ABCs, or rather theETFs, of delegation. Whensetting expectations, be clearon what you want done andhow you generally would likeit to be done. As part of that,explain how you would liketo see concerns handled, atwhat stage you would like toknow about them, and towhat detail. But also ask theemployee to bring one or twopossible solutions to you aswell.

If you’re following up atregular intervals, you’ll like-ly head off most problemsbefore they arise.

Poet and author Maya Angelou once said, “There are nomistakes, only lessons.” If you’re going to be successful at

Assignment

Use the EFT approach.It allows employees to beproactive in bringing prob-lems and solutions to youaccording to your expecta-tions, enabling them to saveface, and demonstrate theycan right themselves and getback on course. Not onlywill this sustain their confi-dence in themselves, it willalso enhance their confi-dence in you as a steadfast,nonreactive leader.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueIf you follow the ETFs of delegation—expectations, time line,

and follow-up—you will help your employees tackle concerns be-

fore they become problems, without the boss stepping in.

129Continue to Move Forward Even When

Problems Arise

157

delegating, you must have this attitude. It is not an option; it ismandatory.

No one, and no situation, is perfect. And in fact, imperfec-tion can lead to some amazing discoveries. Think of penicillin,for example. Obstacles and failures can open doors that no oneever thought possible.

When problems arise regarding delegated work, think ofthem as lessons or opportunities. It could be a lesson that pro-vides insight into an employee’s approach to interacting withothers, or a lesson to you that you need to communicate moreclearly and specifically.

Or the problem could be an opportunity. In multinationalmanufacturing organizations, when a problem arises in one plant,

it can be the result of a flawedprocess. And it is likely thatprocess is followed in all oth-er plants around the world.Detecting it in one can savethe company millions of dol-lars in lost product—or evenbetter, workers’ or consum-ers’ lives.

If you help your employ-ees see the lesson or

opportunity in the problem, and guide them in overcoming it,they will have greater confidence in their ability to recover fromsetbacks and move forward.

Assignment

Just as you’ll need tomove on from successfuland failed decisions, youwill also need to learn fromproblems that arise in dele-gating work, too.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen you see opportunity to learn and grow in prob-

lems with delegation, you give yourself and your team the

chance to become better and wiser.


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If you have been following the advice in this book up untilnow, you have discovered that leaders who delegate well workcollaboratively with their employees, empowering them andmaintaining a dialogue throughout the process.

So what better partner to have in a dialogue than someonewho is closest to the work, and the problems that go with it?After all, your employees are on the front line. They can seewhat is coming at them and can often see why or how.

Tap into this expertise, by all means! Don’t let where some-one sits in the organizational chart prevent you from seekingtheir input.

When setting expecta-tions for the delegated task,make it clear that you wantyour employee to bring solu-tions to the table, and that youvalue her input on how theproblems should be addressed.

One leader in a Midwestpharmaceutical company hasa banner outside her door that says: “Got solution?” She expects thatemployees who bring a problem to her have some options in hand toresolve it. She may not always agree with their suggestions, but theiropinions lead every conversation about resolving problems.

130Have Employees Help Resolve Problems

Assignment

Tap into your employees’front line expertise to helpresolve problems. Let themknow you value their input.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Leaders who delegate well work collaboratively with their

employees—even in solving problems.

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Perfectionists beware!You could find delegationdifficult. If you delegatewith the expectation thateverything will be done pre-cisely as you’ve planned anddirected, you’re setting your-self up for disappointment.

If you’re going to dele-gate, you’re going to haveto cast perfection to thewayside and instead focus on what success looks like. If thedelegate achieves the results you want, and does it ethicallyand within the parameters of the law and company policy, thenchalk it up to a win. It’s okay if there are a few minor bumpsand glitches along the way. They build character—and honeproblem-solving skills.

And if you’re someone who holds to the viewpoint that “ifyou want anything done right, you better do it yourself,” you’regoing to need an attitude adjustment to be successful at delega-tion. Let’s face it; no one will do things exactly as you would dothem. In fact, it’s diverse thinking and styles that often makethe strongest teams.

131Perfection Not Necessary

Assignment

If you’re prone to per-fection, change yourperception. Strive for ex-cellence instead. After all,perfection is much likebeauty—it is in the eye ofthe beholder.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen delegating, cast perfection aside and aim for

excellence instead.


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When you delegate well, you deliver a whole range of ben-efits to your organization.

First, the organization gets more from you, such as betteruse of your skills and talents, better prioritization, better decisionmaking, and better steward-ship of its resources.

The organization alsogets smarter results. Byleveraging the diverse ex-pertise, talents, skills, andcreativity of your team mem-bers, you can find betterways to approach projects,or tackle recurring problemsthat could affect other ar-eas of the organization.

Ultimately, your compa-ny also gets smarter, more competent employees. In the end,delegation helps to make an organization more efficient andeffective. And what CEO or business owner could refuse thoserewards?

132Organizational Rewards of Delegating

Assignment

See delegating as offer-ing someone an opportunityto develop and grow, tohone her skills and knowl-edge, and channel thatrefined competency backinto making the organiza-tion stronger and better.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Delegation delivers a number of returns to the organiza-

tion, such as smarter management, more competent, focused

employees, and more efficient and effective operations.

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The list of what you can gain personally and professionallyfrom delegation is long.

At the top of the list is a sense of relief from being over-loaded, overworked, and overwhelmed. Coping with thesefeelings over an extended period of time can lead to all kinds ofhealth and emotional issues. They can also dull your thinking,your enthusiasm, and your dedication. But delegation can bethe antidote.

Also on the list is an engaged, focused team that runs like awell-oiled machine to the point you just have to wind it up andlet it go (keeping the ETFsin mind, of course). Gooddelegation can reward youwith a team that is engaged,empowered, loyal, capable,and focused on results. Foryou that means a sense ofaccomplishment each dayand a healthy self-esteemfor all.

These are the rewards of true leaders, those who knowhow to unite people, bring out the best in them, and channeltheir talents, energies, and expertise in a collective direction.Yes! Delegation, done right, can help do all that!

133Your Rewards for Delegating

Assignment

Take account of theimmediate and long-termrewards you can get fromdelegating successfully.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation, done well, can reap personal and profes-

sional rewards that go far beyond—and outlive—the fleeting

pleasures of a promotion or pay raise.


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Ever had that gnawing feeling that wakes you at 2 a.m.,sending you bolt upright in a cold sweat, with your to-do listrunning frantically through your mind? If you have, you know itcan be anxiety at its best—or worst.

If you’re experiencing the 2 a.m. jolt, you’re likely suffer-ing from a case of the three Os: overworked, overloaded, andoverwhelmed. Dealing with them individually can be stressful,

but dealing with them in com-bination can be paralyzing.

Delegation can sooththis ailment.

One of the key rewardsof delegation is relief from thethree Os. Sharing the work-load among your teammembers can be like open-ing a release valve, relievingyou of pent-up pressure thatcan dull your thinking and di-minish your decision making.

And when you use delegation to let go of that pressure,you turn it into opportunity for others around you. In short, yourrelief could be someone else’s chance to shine, grow, and learn.

134You Get Relieved of Workload

Assignment

Instead of being knee-deep in tasks, usedelegation to share oppor-tunity and practice yourleadership skills of planning,monitoring, and coachingyour team to success.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Delegation can relieve you of the day-to-day workload,

freeing you up to refine your leadership skills.

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When you delegate effectively, you turn employees intoteam players. You give them each a piece of the action, a chanceto get on the court and play, show their stuff, and share in thevictory.

You also give them a chance for insight and input. Becauseeffective delegation demands follow-up and open communica-tion between you and your employees, your team members geta direct line into your thinking, what you want to accomplish,and how you want it accomplished. Believe it or not, all em-ployees want this. Theywant to know how to pleasethe boss, and how they canbe part of the bigger picture.

But delegation alsogives you access to yourvery own think tank—youremployees! Encouragingtheir input as part of com-pleting their delegated tasks and responsibilities gives you accessto scores of ideas and solutions. When you get into the swingof delegating regularly, you’ll find you no longer have to sit insolitude wracking your brain for answers.

135Greater Team Involvement

Assignment

Tap into your employ-ees’ thoughts—and saveyourself wear and tear onyour own mind, and nerves.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation provides a ready-made opportunity to get

your team involved, allowing you to better connect with your

employees and tap into their collective brain power.


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In delegating, you give your employees skin in the game.You align them with a higher purpose—the big picture. Whenyou share your vision with your employees, and then help themunderstand how a delegated task or responsibility can contrib-ute to the bigger picture, you set the stage for better results.

And practicing the ETFs of delegation ensures you get thosebetter results. By setting expectations, you make it clear whatyou want the end game to look like. In establishing a time line,you make it clear when you want those results to come to frui-tion, and when you regularly follow up, you get to see the processof those results blossoming from expectations into reality.

When employees are included in achieving the big picturethrough delegation, they are much more likely to be dedicatedto the end game. And theyare less likely to be distract-ed or deterred by potentialproblems and barriers. In-stead, they tend to be morehopeful, more confident, andmore committed.

136Better Results

Assignment

Use delegation to helpencourage dedication tobetter results as a whole.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueBy delegating, you give your employees skin in the game,

and ownership in achieving the overall purpose, which con-

tributes to better results in the end.

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Got a team that bickers and gossips? If so, delegation canhelp curb this behavior—or keep your team from developing it.

A team that squabbles and gossips is in need of engagingwork, better focus, and collective commitment to a larger pur-pose. Delegation can help to fill these needs and bring yourteam together as a loyal,smart-working, confident,and dedicated group.

When you’re sharingthe workload, you’re ensur-ing others have enough todo. And by assessing theteam thoroughly, as part ofdelegating effectively, youcan ensure you’re assigningwork that is challenging andthought provoking accordingto each employee’s skill lev-el and development needs.

Effective delegation also requires that you make it clearwho is assigned which tasks and responsibilities, avoiding roleambiguity and role encroachment—the top reasons for conflictin organizations. Delegation also helps to unite your employees,again giving them a stake in the larger purpose of the work athand.

137Increased Team Loyalty

Assignment

Team loyalty is a natu-ral result of engaging, butchallenging work that getspeople focused and contrib-uting to a higher mission.You can give your team allof these by learning how todelegate.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueCreate a loyal, smart-working, confident, and dedicated

team through effective delegation.

Quick Ideas 136 and 137

166


When marketers determine pricing for an organization’s prod-ucts, they take into account workers’ capabilities in manufacturingthat product and factor in the workforce’s efficiency. But asworkers become better at producing the product through time,pricing will start to fall, as the company can manufacture highervolumes of product at an increasingly more efficient rate.

Confusing? Okay, let’stake an example from thecomputer industry. A decadeago, it was not unusual topay $2,500 for a basic desk-top computer. Today, youcan find quality desktopcomputers with significant-ly more features andmemory than their prede-cessors—and for less than$600. Why? The industry’sworkforce has increased itscapabilities in manufacturingpersonal computers to the point where they are efficient enough toproduce more at the same, or less, cost than they did a decade ago.

As a result, the computer industry is now able to offercomputers at a more affordable price, so that more people canafford to buy them. And that means higher sales revenue andpotentially higher profits.

The point is that as people are exposed to new ways ofworking and become more capable over time, they bring great-er value to the company—and can even help it expand intonew markets.

138Enhanced Capabilities

Assignment

When you delegate,you give your employees theopportunity to becomemore capable. As they rou-tinely stretch and flex theircapability muscles overtime, the more efficient andvaluable they become toyou and to the organization.

167

One of the greatest rewards of delegation is improvedself-esteem—for you and your employees. Self-esteem canbe a double-edged sword. When it’s high, much is possible. Butwhen it’s low, it can do a lot of damage.

Self-esteem can either buoy people to new heights ofachievement or, when it’s lacking, can hold them back fromusing their talents and living up to their highest potential. ErmaBombeck once said, “When I stand before God at the end ofmy life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talentleft, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’”

When you delegate engaging and challenging work to youremployees, you give them the opportunity to live up to theirpotential. Each time youremployees succeed in a del-egated task or responsibility,they get a chance to affirmtheir own abilities and worth.

As a leader, you get thesame opportunity. Eachtime you delegate effective-ly, and lead an employee to success, you confirm your leadershipskills both for yourself, with your team members, and with yoursuperiors and peers.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation creates enhanced capabilities, and that can

translate into organizational rewards in the short- and long-

term future.

139Enhanced Self-Esteem

Assignment

Use delegation to plantthe seeds of greatness inyour employees, and thencultivate them.


168


Accomplishments, individually, are the building blocks ofgreat things—and a true sense of fulfillment.

Just as each task completed successfully leads to a sus-tained, healthy self-esteem, the same is true with day-to-day

accomplishments. But itstarts with a vision, a snap-shot of a bigger picture, ahigher purpose or mission.And good delegation pro-vides this from the start.

When employees arefocused on a common goalor purpose, they are lesslikely to fall victim to days

filled with frenetic activity and, instead, channel their thinking,energy, and teamwork in one collective direction. This, whenframed with clear expectations, time lines, and open communi-cation with each other and the boss, creates fertile ground foraccomplishment.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEach time your employees succeed in a delegated task or

responsibility, they get a chance to affirm their own abilities

and worth. Each time you lead an employee to success with a

delegated task, you confirm your leadership skills to yourself

and those around you.

140Enhanced Sense of Accomplishment

Assignment

Use each accomplish-ment to build confidenceand encourage employeesto keep moving ahead to-ward the ultimate goal.

169

In delegating effectively, you give employees a clear pic-ture of what you’re all working toward, how and what youwant accomplished, and the time frame in which you want itdone. And every follow-up conversation gives you an opportu-nity to note large and small accomplishments along the way.

Booker T. Washington once said, “Few things help an indi-vidual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let himknow that you trust him.”

This is never more true than when delegating to someone.In fact, trust is a core principle of good delegation. Yes, trustingsomeone with key responsibilities, tasks, and authority meanstaking some risk. But all businesses face some risk—it can’tbe avoided. Yet, if you follow the ETFs of delegation, you cangreatly reduce the risks involved and venture to trust thosearound you.

And showing someone that you trust him can be like aspark that fuels his motivation and gets him moving in the rightdirection. Think about a time when someone put her trust inyou with a special task. Didn’t it feel good to know that some-one had confidence in you? Didn’t you strive to give your verybest, because he believed in you?

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueAccomplishments, both large and small, are the build-

ing blocks of great things—and ultimately lead to a true sense

of fulfillment.

141The Importance of Trust


170


When you trust youremployees to carry outdelegated tasks and respon-sibilities, you give them muchmore than direction and work.You show them you believein them. And that kind of in-vestment can garner returnsthat are sometimes beyond measure in people’s lives.

Okay, you’ve done your team assessment and establishedyour expectations, but you’re still feeling uneasy about turninga team member loose with the task.

It happens. In fact, this is where the rubber meets the roadin defining leaders from managers. Good leaders ensure theirpeople are always set up to succeed. But how do you do that?Charles Merrill, Founder of Merrill Lynch, said it best: “Get thebest people and train them well.”

Sometimes employees need some form of training beforethey can launch full-steam ahead. That can be either formal orinformal training. Some people learn best by taking a class orworking through an online program, while others learn best bywatching and practicing.

Assignment

Remember this! Theeffects of good delegationreally can be profound.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueTrust is a core principle of good delegation, and showing

people you trust them can be like lighting a spark that fuels

their motivation and gets them moving in the right direction.

142Provide Training

171

However, some tasksrequire more formalized ed-ucation. This is why it is soimportant to assess yourteam and have a game plan(see Idea 114) in place be-fore you delegate. Bothprocesses help you thinkthrough factors such astraining, education, and soforth. If an employee will need further formal education, it couldtake some time before she is properly knowledgeable and pre-pared to take on the task.

So what do you do when the project you’ve delegated ismoving along nicely, and then your employee leading it hits apatch where he is out of his league in terms of knowledge orexpertise?

If coaching during follow-up sessions does not help, andyou see your employee struggling or becoming frustrated, youneed to step in and determine if additional training is needed.

It is important not to let your employee’s frustration over-ride his confidence. Take matters into hand immediately. But

Assignment

In the end, it is up toyou to ensure your employ-ees have the tools they needto properly complete the jobyou have assigned to them.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueGood leaders ensure their people are always set up to

succeed. When delegating, follow the advice of Charles

Merrill: “Get the best people and train them well.”

143Training for Trouble


172


work together with youremployee to determine thebest course of action. Forexample, does he need toattend a formal training ona specific topic, or wouldriding along with a sales rep-resentative for a week givehim the insight and knowl-edge he needs?

Sometimes mere expo-sure is enough to help roundout the rough edges when anemployee hits a difficult patch.But it could take time in a formal training program, instead.

Look for opportunities to recognize your employees public-ly when they meet your expectations with the delegated tasksand responsibilities.

This could be something ranging from a team award to apat on the back in front of your boss. But take the time to findout how your employee likes to be recognized for a job well

Assignment

Working with youremployee to determinewhere he is struggling canhelp bring the best solutionto light. Partnering in thisvein also will allow youremployee to maintain own-ership of the task, and helpkeep his confidence in tact.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueBe prepared to step back and provide training if an em-

ployee finds himself struggling along the way. Taking this

step quickly is important to avoid letting your employee’s

frustration override his self-confidence.

144Celebrate Success

173

done. Some people feel embarrassed by group displays of ap-preciation, and some just aren’t particularly motivated by money.In fact, the overachievers in your group are more likely to bemotivated by being given even more responsibility and chal-lenge. But if you ask each employee when you’re establishingexpectations, the E in the ETFs of delegation, you’ll know for

certain—and then you canput it to use.

And don’t just wait forthe big accomplishments.Celebrate even the small vic-tories along the way. Goodleaders look for reasons toapplaud their employees,even if it’s just for having agood attitude.

In the process of celebrating success, reward it! Some orga-nizations budget to reward success, such as through a bonus programor merit pay increases. Others encourage their leaders to givemore nominal rewards, such as movie tickets or a day off.

Nonprofits and government organizations sometimes haveto find other means of rewarding their employees due toshoestring budgets and ethical policies.

Assignment

It is the small steps thatadd up to the big ones, so lookfor ways to recognize youremployees as they progressin completing their delegat-ed tasks and responsibilities.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueWhen delegating, remember the words of business guru

Tom Peters: “Celebrate what you want to see more of.”

145Reward Success


174


Michele, a supervisor working for a government agency inthe Midwest has her hands tied by state policy when it comesto giving employees a bonus or even taking them to lunch onthe agency’s dime. So, she looks for other ways to reward andrecognize, such as a round high-five from the team during astaff meeting to acknowledge someone’s good performance.

Or she leaves employeesvoice mails to start theirday, recognizing them fora job well done, and shemails them cards withwords of praise for a spe-cific achievement.

However, almost allorganizations have a perfor-mance review process, andthat presents a great oppor-

tunity to reward success. That reward can be either in wordsof praise that goes into the person’s personnel file for thefuture, or if the success is consistent over time or significant, itcould warrant a pay increase.

Your encouragement is the crucial fuel to keep your teamchugging along in the right direction. We often think it is disci-pline that keeps people on the straight and narrow, but as German

Assignment

Learn what types ofperformance incentives areavailable through your or-ganization, and then putyour imagination to workrewarding success!

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueReward employees when they are successful at delegated

tasks and responsibilities.

146Be Encouraging

175

poet Johann Wolfgang VonGoethe once said: “Correctiondoes much, but encourage-ment does more.”

For delegation to be suc-cessful, you must encourageyour team—day in and dayout. Celebrating and re-warding success are alsonecessary, but to get therepeople often must be en-couraged through the bumpsand bruises they experiencealong the way. For example,encourage your employeewhen he has weathered arough interaction with atough colleague. Or help afrustrated employee lookback and see how far she’s come with a project or task.

Encouragement does cost you, however. It costs you time,listening, compassion, understanding, and caring. But the in-vestment can reap huge rewards.

Assignment

The philosopher Ovidonce said, “the spirited horse,which will try to win the raceof its own accord, will runeven faster if encouraged.”The translation of that is sim-ple: If you invest in theday-to-day care and concernfor your team, they will workharder and more intelligent-ly, and they will give youtheir respect and loyalty thatwill last for years.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEncouragement is the day-to-day fuel that drives your

team to success in the end.


176


Though it’s highly underrated in our American culture, lis-tening is the most powerful tool of leadership—and it is absolutelynecessary at all stages of the delegation process. But it is par-ticularly important in your efforts to encourage your staff.

Few people would turn away a chance to have the boss trulylisten to their ideas and concerns. After all, it’s a chance to beunderstood by the very person that determines their livelihood—and all people, in even the smallest things, want to be understood.

But the type of listening that makes delegation successfulgoes beyond the traditionalsteps of hearing, askingquestions for clarity, affirm-ing what you’ve heard, andthen responding. To suc-cessfully delegate, you needto become an engaged lis-tener. That means getting toknow your employees, know what makes them tick, what con-cerns them, and what their aspirations are. Get to know howthey came to be on your team, and where they want to go inthe future. In essence, have a conversation with them.

Being an engaged listener requires you to get to know peopleas people, and not merely delegates for the work at hand. Not onlywill the time and energy you invest be an encouragement to youremployees, but you’ll also gain knowledge and rapport that willpay off long after the delegated task is completed.

147Be More Than a Good Listener

Assignment

Be an engaged listen-er through every step of thedelegation process.

177

We can all thank Homer for giving us Mentor, a characterin his epic tale The Odyssey, who personifies that relationshipwhere hindsight, insight, and foresight often are passed fromthe older and wiser to the younger and less experienced.

We all need mentors in our lives. Sometimes they are grand-parents or older family members, a teacher or college professor, ora colleague that knows the ropes and can help us learn them, too.Whoever a mentor may be ina given situation, we needthem both personally andprofessionally.

And each time you del-egate a task, you have theopportunity to mentor some-one. You don’t have toassign any official labels toit, or make a formal an-nouncement that you’ll now be “mentoring” your staff.

When you set expectations at the onset of delegation, youhave an opportunity to mentor. When you empower your em-ployees to develop solutions and solve problems, you have anopportunity to mentor. When you hold regular follow-up ses-sions to monitor the delegated task, you have an opportunity tomentor.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueScreenwriter Wilson Mizner has good advice for dele-

gating managers: “A good listener is not only popular

everywhere, but after awhile he gets to know something.”

148Be a Mentor

Assignment

All you have to do is lis-ten, encourage, coach, andlisten, encourage andcoach, and—well, you getthe idea.


178


Go beyond being a source of work assignments and, in-stead, become a resource for your employees.

That means you not only make information available, butyou actively seek it out and readily share it with others. Youalso align that information with your team members’ develop-ment needs and delegatedassignments. Being a re-source means you act as awell of knowledge that oth-ers can go to when they havequestions, or just want toknow more on a particulartopic.

And no, that does notmean you have to have all theanswers to all the questions.

Being a resource simplymeans having enoughknowledge to lead people to the answers. Perhaps you knowof a good book or course that can give more insight and infor-mation on a particular topic. If you belong to a professionalorganization, you can share publications and articles with yourteam to expose them to other voices in the industry on an issue

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogue Mentoring is a natural part of delegating effectively.

149Be a Resource

Assignment

Build and maintain acatalogue of informationand a network of knowl-edgeable professionals tohelp you set up your teamto succeed in the tasks andresponsibilities you delegateto them.

179

they are dealing with—or need to be ready to deal with downthe road.

Or maybe you know of someone, or someone who knowssomeone, who works in a specific field and would be willing toshare her expertise with your employees.

If you’ve made it thisfar in the book, then youknow that delegation is apretty big responsibility—and it requires so much morefrom you than merely han-dling out work assignments.

Delegation is about tak-ing charge of yourself, yourpriorities, your time, yourmanagement style, your re-actions, and your resources.And it’s implementing deci-sions intelligently, and in a way that compounds your team’seffectiveness and efficiency for future projects and tasks.

So, when you delegate, don’t just doll out responsibilities;remember that you need a game plan that describes the vision,shows others how they can contribute to it, aligns team talents

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueYou don’t have to have all the answers to be a resource;

you simply need to have enough knowledge to lead people to

the answers.

150Don’t Delegate and Forget!

Assignment

Remember this! In thegrander scheme of life, dele-gation is about growingyourself and those aroundyou—challenging all to reach,stretch, and come closer witheach opportunity to live up totheir fullest potential.


180


and interests with the work at hand, sets expectations, keepspeople on task, and creates opportunity for dialogue that buildsrapport and team loyalty along the way.

If you haven’t already started to put the delegation tech-niques described here into practice yet, what are you waitingfor? Your team is depending on you, and so is you organization.

Start taking the steps outlined in this book to first makebetter decisions, and then to implement them effectively throughdelegation. The more you practice them, the better you’ll be-come through time. If you haven’t started trying them on forsize already, the clock is ticking and opportunity is passing you by.

Practice the delegation techniques each day, in small in-crements, until they becomea habit. Within weeks you’llfind you’re getting moredone, with better results,and with better relationshipsto boot. If you follow thepath laid out among thesepages, throughout the next

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation is about implementing decisions in a way that

grows yourself and others—and your organization.

151Make Delegation a Standard

Operating Procedure

Assignment

Remember, delegation isabout uniting people, talents,skills, and knowledge towork smarter, not harder.

181

few months you’ll find that you’ve made delegating effectivelya standard operating procedure in how you get work done.

EpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueEpilogueDelegation takes practice, but if you take the time and

make the effort, you’ll find over time it will become a stan-

dard operating procedure in working smarter.


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183

Index

Index

acceptance of supervision, 131accomplishment, sense of, 168ad hoc team, creating an, 83advancement, personal, 24advice, taking advantage of, 46alone, making decisions, 24analyze, how to, 15approach,

servant-leadership,130approach, win-win, 34, 110-111approaches, using different, 73ask assertive, 105-106asking questions, techniques

for, 40-41assertive,

ask, 105-106tell, 105-106

assumptions,decisions and, 72letting go of, 71

authoritarian decision, 32authoritarian style, 32, 106authority,

decision-making, 108delegating, 137

having, to makedecisions, 20

versus responsibility,136-137

bad decision, risking a, 89behavior,

expected, 63standards of, 85

bigger decisions, fighting fearof, 152-153

block, how to overcome amental, 93

blocks, mental decision, 91boss, delegating to your, 20brainstorm exercise, 49Buridan’s Ass, 87capabilities, enhancing, 166change,

resisting, 61the importance of,

76-77coaching skills, developing

your, 132-133colleagues, consulting with,

47-48commitment, encourage, 128

184


communication skills, honingyour, 97

conflict,catalysts for, 75-76how to approach, 74

cons, weighing pros and, 51consensus decision making, 28-30

goals and, 29objectives and, 29when to use, 31

consensus versus groupthink, 59-60

consensus,co-orientation, 65getting a, 28group, 64

consulting key players, 27consulting, recommendations

when, 27co-orientation consensus, 65co-orientation, applying the

law of, 64-65counsel, taking advantage of, 46criticism, how to handle, 77cultural norms, 63culture,

organization, 63organizational, 119-120

decision makers, being supportive of other, 99-100

decision making,consensus, 28-30delegating versus,

117-118

decision,authoritarian, 32quality of a, 16shared, 26stepping away from

the, 91who makes the, 18-19

decision-making skills, 17decisions,

delegating bigger,151-152

ego-driven, 55evaluating, 111-112joint, 24major, 17making quality, 126-127making quick, 126-127past, 15political, 56recent, 16resisting impulse, 22strategy and, 66

delegate,group, 127refusing to, 125

delegatingauthority, 137responsibility, 137work, leaders who, 158

delegating,decision making

versus, 117-118improving relationships

and, 135-136organizational rewards

of, 160-161

185

Index

reasons for, 123-124sideways, 122upward, 122

delegation responsibilities, 140delegation,

defining, 116-117EFTs of, 156, 169expectations of, 156follow-up of, 156leadership and, 129management and,

120-121rewards after, 138-139the everyday process

of, 180-181the what of, 140-141the who of, 140-141time line of, 156vision from, 138-139workload and, 161

disagreements, how tohandle, 79-80

ego, making decisions from, 55emotions, action-driven, 42employee commitment, 128employees,

eager, 135follow up with, 147-148

encouragement, how to give,174-175

evaluation, decisions and, 113exercise, brainstorming, 49expectations,

going above, 129meeting, 113

experiences, learning fromothers’, 100

experts, consulting with, 47-48failure, moving on from, 115-116family, quality time with the, 92fatigue, mental, 91, 96fear, letting go of, 72-73feedback, asking for, 79female, male counterparts

versus, 121final decision, when you

don’t have the, 107-108fitting in, how to be good at, 23focused, staying, 37follow up, employees and,

147-148gain, personal, 56game plan, having a, 139-140goals,

how to achieve, 17-18how to reach potential, 16outcomes and, 90

gratitude, 133the importance of, 147

group delegating, 127group think,

avoiding, 58consensus versus,

59-60manipulation and, 59-60

IBM Corporation, 60imperfection, importance of, 157influence, power versus, 108-109

186


informed decisions, 47input,

asking for, 78giving corrective, 133seeking, 45

insecurity, personal, 42insight, valuing others’, 48integrity,

definition of, 85ingredients of, 134losing, 85

involvement, greater team, 163key players, consulting, 27knee-jerk reaction, avoiding

the, 57-58layers, identifying organization,

60-61leadership,

delegation and, 129true power in, 124

listening skills, research and, 39listening,

active, 39different types of,

176-177how to practice, 38importance of, 40

loyalty, increasing team, 165male, female counterparts

versus, 121management, delegation and,

120-121manager, being a good, 18managers, becoming a resource to, 23managing by objective, 36

manipulation, group thinkand, 59-60

mediating, importance of, 28mental block, how to over

come a, 93mental fatigue, 91, 96mentor, how to be a, 177-178mentors, consulting with, 47-48mile stones, setting key, 146mistakes, learning from, 52mistrust, fighting, 150-151moderating, importance of, 28motivated decision, 49motivation, recognizing, 23negative, focusing on the, 88norms, cultural, 63objective, managing by, 36objectives,

consensus decisionmaking and, 29

how to achieve, 17-18outcomes and, 90

open mind, keeping an, 70opinion, respecting difference

of, 101optimism, importance of, 144options, importance of having, 43organization politics, 32organization,

culture in an, 63layers of a, 60-61problems in the, 16role in your, 15|taking risks in an, 54

187

Index

organizational culture, 119-120organizational rewards ofdelegating, 160-161outcome,

being responsible foran, 20

getting a positive, 56having a personal

stake in the, 21having a stake in the, 30leveraging risk for

an, 54outcomes, achieving desired, 15outlining, importance of, 153past decisions, 15personal

gain, 56insecurity, 42review, 88

personal, making things, 78political, avoid decisions that

are, 56politics,

internal, 56organization, 32

popularity, advantages of, 134positive outcome, getting a, 56possibilities, seeing the, 73power,

giving up, 124influence versus,

108-109presentation, being thorough

in your, 99

prestige, decisions to gain,22-23

prioritizing, importance of, 44problem, defining a, 35problems, resolving, 158procrastination, avoiding, 146progress, decisions for, 16promoted, decisions to get, 24pros, weighing cons and, 51quality decisions, 126-127questions, techniques for

asking, 40-41quick decisions, 126-127rank,

importance of, 109pulling, 110

rapport, developing a good, 134rationale, importance of, 43reaction,

knee-jerk, 42relationships, improving, 135-136remedies, decisions as, 16reputation, saving a damaged, 21research,

doing, 82listening skills and, 39starting, 38

resource, how to be a, 178-179responsibilities, delegation, 140responsibility versus authority,

136-137responsibility, delegating, 137rest, getting enough, 95-96

188


result, win-win, 65review, personal, 88rewards,

delegation and, 138-139organizational, 160-161

risk,definition of, 53embracing, 53outcomes and, 54

roles, unclear, 154satisfaction, improving

employee, 135self-esteem, enhanced, 167-168servant-leadership approach, 130skills,

acknowledging, 149decision-making, 17developing yourcoaching, 132-133teamwork, 131

solutions, alternative, 15staff, handling a, 104statement, declarative, 36status quo,

being comfortablewith, 62

challenging, 61-62staying focused, 37strategic plan, developing a, 67strategy, decisions that require, 66stress, build up of, 18style,

authoritarian, 32, 106tell-assertive, 131

success,celebrating, 172-173decisions and, 114having a plan for, 140moving on from, 115-116rewarding, 173-174risking, 53

supervising, responsibility in, 24-25supervision, acceptance of, 131support, offering, 99-100talking, how to do less, 38tasks, delegated, 148team

involvement, 163loyalty, increasing, 165members, analyzing, 142

team, assessing the, 141teamwork skills, 131tell assertive, 105-106tell-assertive style, 131think, avoiding group, 58time line, setting a, 146trade-offs, solutions and, 29training, provide, 170trouble, training for, 171trust, importance of, 169vision, delegation and, 138-139what ifs, banishing the, 69-70win-win approach, 34, 110-111win-win result, looking for

the, 65work, selling the, 142-143workload, relieving, 161

189

About the Authors

About the Authors

Robert E. Dittmer, APRBob Dittmer has more than 35 years experience in public

relations, marketing, and higher education.He currently serves as a faculty member of the Indiana

University School of Journalism, culminating more than 15 yearsas an adjunct faculty member with colleges and universitiesaround the country in both graduate and undergraduate pro-grams. He teaches public relations courses, is responsible formanaging the public relations sequence, and serves as the mar-keting and retention officer for the school.

He also has served as the director of media relations forboth an American government organization with responsibili-ties for all of Europe, as well as for a major NATO organizationwith responsibilities for public information worldwide. Bob hasmore than 15 years experience in public relations and advertis-ing agencies, working with a wide variety of clients in bothbusiness-to-business and business-to-consumer arenas. He isalso an author and literary agent.

With a B.A. from John Carroll University, an M.A. fromMarshall University, and accreditation from the Public RelationsSociety of America (PRSA), he is also dedicated to his profes-sion. He was the 1998 president of the Hoosier (Indiana)Chapter, PRSA. He also served as 1999 chair of PRSA’sNational Association Section and as chair of PRSA’s East CentralDistrict in 2001 (five states) and remains on the Board ofDirectors of the Hoosier Chapter. Bob was elected to mem-bership in the Indianapolis Public Relations Society in 1998.

190


Bob has spent years managing governmental and businessunits worldwide, including owning his own consultancy. Through-out the years he has collected the experiences, thoughts, andideas he and others have developed to solve the managementchallenges we all face daily. He is the author of 151 QuickIdeas to Manage Your Time. He is currently at work cowrit-ing another book on writing.

Bob and his wife, Susan, live in Indianapolis.

Stephanie M. McFarland, APRStephanie McFarland’s management career began more

than 20 years ago, supervising employees for her family’s busi-ness. While most 16-year-olds were “hanging out,” she washome doing payroll to ensure employees could receive theirpaychecks on Friday.

Through the past 18 years, Stephanie has managed projects,teams, and departments in multinational, Fortune 500, govern-ment, consultancy, and nonprofit organizations. She had providedpublic relations management counseling to more than 20 clientsand employers in industries ranging from electric utilities to phar-maceuticals. Her personal philosophy of management hasevolved over the years from merely culling employees to “getthe job done,” to discovering what makes them tick and seek-ing out ways to develop them for their current roles and beyond.

Stephanie is a certified crisis consultant and an accreditedpublic relations professional with the Public Relations Societyof America. She holds her B.A. in English from IndianaUniversity and her master’s of science in communication man-agement from Syracuse University in New York.

In addition, Stephanie is an adjunct faculty member of theIndiana University School of Journalism in Indianapolis, whereshe teaches public relations management courses to undergrad-uate and graduate students.

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About the Authors

Her management experience has earned her numerousawards in advertising and public relations.

She lives just outside of Indianapolis with her husband,6-year-old daughter, and their two dogs, Sebastian and Baxter.

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