Editorial
Welcome to Courage Coach, where expert columnist Karin Hurt answers readers' tough leadership challenges with practical tools and techniques you can use right away. Have a question for her? Drop her a line!
Dear Courage Coach,
I’m so frustrated. My boss just can’t seem to make a decision. Not big ones, not small ones. Nope. No decisions.
Every decision takes way longer than it should. I share a strong business case (honestly some of the decisions are no brainers), and then the decision sits, and sits and sits.
I’m not sure exactly what’s going on here. Whether he’s afraid of making a wrong decision, or if he’s an overthinker. Either way we’re wasting time and I need some advice on how to deal with him.
What should I do?
Signed,
Exhausted by the Indecision.
Dear EBTI,
First, let me say I know how frustrating this is. Been there. If you’re trying to move fast, there’s nothing more frustrating than a boss who slows you down.
Let’s get you some help to be the courageous leader you want your boss to be.
7 Ways to Help Your Boss Make a Decision
Here are seven ways to get your indecisive boss more comfortable with making a decision.
1. Ask Strategic Questions
Your first move is to understand why your boss can’t decide. It could be that they’re dealing with issues they can’t talk about yet, or managing multiple, challenging stakeholders. Or, they might be a perfectionist, paralyzed by fear.
One of the biggest mistakes I see managers make when pushing their boss for a decision is that they do too much talking.
If you’re met with resistance, stop selling and start asking questions to understand why your boss is stuck.
- How do you think this change would impact the customer experience?
- Have you ever tried anything like this before? How did it go?
- What’s driving your hesitation?
- Who else needs to be involved in such decisions?
- What do you think would happen if we implemented this approach?
- Am I overlooking anything here?
- What do you think your boss would be concerned about here?
- Are there any political issues I might be overlooking?
2. Provide a Clear Path Forward
When presenting an idea to an indecisive boss, don’t just talk conceptually. Be crystal clear on what your idea would take to implement: specifically, who would need to do what by when and how you will measure success?
Indecisive managers are often afraid of change because it just sounds like too much work. Show how moving forward with your plan is easier than sticking with the status quo.
Related Article: How Can I Help My Team Deal With Constantly Changing Priorities?
3. Make it Reversible
One of the biggest reasons for decision paralysis is that it feels so permanent. Find a way to let them taste the impact of the decision in a way that can be easily reversed.
Got a new process? Try it with one team. Worried about the customer experience? Try your idea out with a small subset of customers and carefully monitor the experience.
It’s a lot easier to sell in a pilot than to convince a risk-averse decision-maker to make a “permanent” change.
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4. Include Others
If your boss needs to socialize the idea with others, offer to tag along. Chances are, if he’s afraid to make a decision, he’s equally afraid of expressing his opinion to his boss or other stakeholders.
Offer to support him with an enthusiastic, “Awesome, I’d love to join a quick call to help you socialize the idea." Or, "What can I do to support you as you're communicating this idea?"
5. Talk About the Pattern
If this is an ongoing problem it might be time to have a genuine conversation with your boss about why he struggles to make a decision.
It might be time for an I.N.S.P.I.R.E. conversation.
I-Initiate: I really care about the success of this project and in doing everything I can to support you and the team.
N-Notice: I've noticed you are really struggling with this decision.
S-Support: For example...
P-Probe: What's going on?
I-Invite: What can I do to make this easier?
R- Review: What I hear you saying is...(recap what you’ve heard the issue is).
E-Enforce: Depending on what they say next, confirm next steps. For example, if they tell you they need another three weeks, you might say, “Great! I’ll check in with you then.”
6. Get Specific in Your Ask
In our new book, Powerful Phrases for Dealing With Workplace Conflict, we share a few powerful phrases to help your boss make a decision after you’ve tried all the things.
“I see two options for what to do next (explain option A and option B). I recommend we go with option A because _______(recap your rationale concisely here). Are you good with that?
“I’m concerned if we don’t decide by ____ (date) we’ll face this consequence _____ (describe consequence). Can we schedule a time to make the final call?”
7. Keep Trying
Keep grounded in confident humility. This isn’t about you or your boss, it’s about doing the right thing. There’s nothing more convincing than someone passionate about doing the right things for the right reasons.
Give your indecisive boss a chance to sleep on it, and try again.
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