How a Resilient Leader Makes Decisions

Resilience begins the moment you decide you will move on in response to an unexpected situation. Decision is the first step of resilience. Nurturing the resilient leader begins with understanding what it takes to make a decision – especially in the moment.

Four factors contribute to effective decision-making: experience, observation, imagination, and confidence to act.

Experiencing the sea

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Draw first from your experience

Leaders begin with skills and knowledge about decision-making. When the unexpected occurs, they call on what they know about the situation. But they also bring knowledge gained through previous decisions, including the memory of what happened, and the implications.

For example, consider that you manage a productive, 10-member team. One team member, Terry, was severely injured in a recent accident. As team leader, you recognize that without him, the team would miss his particular set of skills. You knew you should have been developing backup skills among the other team members, but you just hadn’t gotten around to it. As team leader, you are concerned for the best way to assist the team so it can remain vibrantly productive. Your first response is to recall from your previous experiences to guide you.

You recall that when Sarah left for maternity leave, the team did great! Everyone pitched in, and the team was able to fill in about 80% of her work by working overtime. Productivity wasn’t as high without her, but it was sufficient and no clients were lost. On her return, the team got back on track.

The loss of Terry’s skills is different. His skills are specialized and unique among the team members—and necessary. More time would not fill the gap.

Comparing the two situations makes several points clear to you. Everyone admired Sarah’s commitment to her work. Similarly, everyone values Terry’s contribution.

The team knew when Sarah would return. That meant that the overtime work, although disruptive to personal and family lives, was short-lived. There was no such confidence about the length of Terry’s absence.

Sarah’s absence was prompted by a joyful event. Although the team hopes for Terry’s recovery and return, there is a sadness about his situation.

Based on your experience, you know the team will step up to the challenge. The question is how to fill in the skill gap and keep the team confident without a clear end point?

As you consider your options, you also recall that in another department, such an event meant that a new person was hired to fill the position with no promise of welcoming the original person back. You know you need to have the skills within the team, and you don’t want to give the wrong impression about the disposition of the position. You know that high trust levels are part of the success of your team. Threatening that feels counter-productive. Moreover, bringing in a new person will mean the team still has to do more as they help the new person get up to speed.

Based on your prior experience, you decide to bring in a temporary contractor who is expert in the necessary skills. They will be a direct substitute of Terry’s skills and won’t require additional time for the rest of the team, except perhaps for a brief orientation to how the team works together. The person will remain until Terry is able to return to work. It touches all the aspects of your experience. You pick up the phone and call the agency. Consciously calling on experience is a good guide for the resilient leader.