Making tough decisions are never fun. As a manager, however, one must make those tough calls when they arise. My father has never been afraid to make tough decisions which, I believe, shows what a strong leader he is.
At my dad’s credit union, they have a four person marketing department, plus an on-site graphic designer. At credit unions of comparable size, the marketing departments consist of one full-time employee. After hearing this, I asked my dad, “Why do you have four marketers and one graphic designer? Why not outsource the graphic design, at least?” He told me that if it was his department that it would be reduced to the essentials. For now, it is not his department and will remain over-staffed. To me, it seems like a simple decision but I do not have personal ties with these people. In this scenario, the manager wants to keep all the marketers on board even though four people are doing the job that one can handle. At what point does a manager need to put the business before the feelings of the people who are not essential to the operations of the firm? It is hard to make that unpopular decision but sometimes it is necessary.
As stated in my previous post, my dad is a great coach and does not resort to termination if it is not necessary; however, if termination is necessary, he is not afraid to make that unpopular decision. My dad said that he learned to handle letting someone go after he lost his job in 2008. He realized that the way he went about it before then was not the best way to do things. He did not go into specifics, but I suspect he goes about it with a little more compassion than he used to.
The lesson to be learned here is that one should not be afraid to make a hard decision, especially when it is the right choice. My dad told me that when you do have to make an unpopular decision, “Make the decision you think is right and then own it. Take responsibility for the consequences and hold to what you believe is right”. For me, owning a decision and taking responsibility for its consequences is way harder than making the initial decision. It is all too easy to make a tough choice and then brush it under the rug when you see the consequences of that decision. As managers, we are responsible for not only making those choices, but what happens after those decisions.
Jack, very interesting read on how to handle the tough decision you are faced within the work place. It is helpful to have a dad who can give you multiple examples of how he has handled difficult decisions and how he has learned from them. Great post.
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