Making difficult decisions.

IN MY COACHING WORK WITH leaders, I have found effective decision-making to be one of the most rewarding subjects on which to focus. Effective decisions provide highly leveraged returns on improved performance. So this month I am going to describe some of the common issues and tools for decision-making that clients have found useful and actionable.

The primary hurdle newer leaders have to get over when making decisions is the assumption that they can and should decide in a vacuum. While it is a leader's task to ultimately make the call, those that do so without including key stakeholders and staff in the process invite revolution and resistance. Even those who disagree with the ultimate direction set by a leader will be more likely to be enrolled in the decision if they feel that their view has been heard and recognized as viable.

Another foundational distinction to solid decision-making is to understand the nature of the decision to be made. Here is a classification system for decisions and some guidelines for each type:

Lesser of Evils. Two or more unpleasant or even clearly wrong alternatives with no other options on the table. In this situation, define the criteria for making the decision and use that as your guide. Build a scenario based on the outcome of each option and make the decision based on the least onerous set of outcomes. Here you literally want to define the lesser of evils.

Right vs. Wrong. When a clearly right path is obvious but the implications are not pleasant. We unfortunately see the results of poor choices in this scenario every day in the business and legal press. One of the toughest tests in leadership is taking action or making a decision that is not either ego or balance-sheet enhancing. If you have any doubts, think of the phrase "As reported in today's Wall Street Journal ...".

Multiple Rights. These are the toughest choices to make and require a solid consensus to sustain. Typical scenarios make the decision between:

* Truth and Loyalty. Your boss is proposing a change and you want to support him, but your analysis tells you it is not the right direction for the company.

* Justice and Mercy. A key vendor has let you down and you must decide whether to change suppliers.

* Self and Community. You have been asked to focus your team on a project that needs doing, but is not interesting, visible or career-enhancing.

* Short Term and Long Term. Do you cut badly needed training in customer service to reduce expenses to make the quarterly numbers?

There are no obvious answers in these scenarios,

Which is why they tend to incite such incendiary response. Here is a practical process for making decisions where the question is a matter of multiple "right" possibilities.

* Get all stakeholders involved. Even if you are clearly the executive to make the call, you need to understand the internal implications of your decision as well as the external ones.

* Be certain that everyone speaks his mind. An open discussion meeting does little if it only forces dissension underground. There are a number of ways to encourage full participation; however, what is critical is that everyone be clear. I recommend using an experienced facilitator who can bring group decision tools to bear.

* Negotiate a consensus. Working with the fully expressed opinions of all concerned, let the group negotiate as far as they can and then disclose their response and reasoning for the proposed decision.

This process gives a leader more than his internal assessments to rely on when making a tough decision. It provides critical thinking from all stakeholders and an understanding of how people will respond internally as well. Perhaps more useful is that the discussion often surfaces the critical negotiation points needed to gain wider support. Done skillfully--and with courage to hear dissent--it also helps build support for what may not be a unanimous decision.

I. Barry Goldberg is managing director of Entelechy Partners, a change leadership consultancy and leadership coaching firm headquartered in Little Rock. You can reach him at [e-mail].