Decision Time

It seems like I learn best from mistakes. It's not that I want to make them so that I can learn from them, it just seems like I need them to learn.

Recently, I have been learning allot (interpretation: I have been screwing up a lot lately).

As a leader, we are pulled so many ways when making a decision.

• We have faithfulness to the "mission" (that might be a statement, the Kingdom, or just some intrinsic value that we hold),
• We have the people we lead (their feelings, their opinions, etc)
• We have the ultimate good of the organization.

Sometimes, 2 of them are pulling the same way... the other seems like it pulls the opposite way just to make things difficult.

Here was the lesson I learned... maybe you wont have to make the mistake to learn it now (good luck with that)

Make decisions FOR the people in your organization...
make decisions WITH key leaders.

So often we can get bogged down trying to make decisions that will please our constituency - THAT NEVER WORKS!

A friend (who at this very moment I am grieving his moving) once said to me... "choose who you will lose" what he meant was that to choose to please the people you have will likely cost you the people you are trying to reach - to choose the people you want to reach may lose you the people you already have. We need to ask ourselves "who are we hear to reach?"

But at times, we get overzealous with the power entrusted us.

We make decisions FOR our organizations and roll over some of the key people and ideas that keep us heading in the right direction.

Think about this: What if a decision seems right to me, but lacks ultimate wisdom in direction, timing or execution?

The answer to this issue is surrounding yourself with key leaders who will provide a sounding board for your decision making process.

There are a couple of key terms in there. KEY - then need to be people who BUY IN to the mission and vision of the organization. They can't be people who are just loud with their opinion. LEADERS - they need to be people who aren't afraid to make waves. It is of paramount importance that these people be willing to stay the course even if it costs you momentum, people or even money.

Here are some questions for thought and discussion:

• How intentional is your mission/vision?
• Are you actively protecting the mission, or do you allow fragmentation because you lack the guts? (if you don't have the guts, how can you expect the people you lead to?)
• Who are the KEY LEADERS in your life and mission? Will they speak the truth? Have they "bought in" to the mission or are they leaders because you don't have the guts to take them out of the circle?
• Is is ok to "make do" with a less than competent leader in a key role until the right time comes along to replace him or will that hurt in the long run?
• What is your grid for decision making (who has a voice, how is it processed/communicated, when (how quickly) is it made)?