<< Back To Leadership Unlimited Archive

December 2007

Four Essential Factors for Making Sound Decisions

What factors do you consider when faced with a big decision? A colleague recently shared his decision making formula, and I think it's a good one.

David works in the professional services industry for a
national company, and although he isn't a manager, he is part of a team that includes several other professionals, and others who provide support.

Whenever he's deciding whether to take a particular course of action, David considers four important factors, in descending order of importance: Client, Company, Staff, Me.

It's pretty simple, but it packs power.

David explains that when he's got a tough decision to make, his first question is whether the course of action is good for the client. His company is very client-centric, as he is, and he passionately believes that the first consideration is always what's best for the client.

Without clients, he says, there's no company, no staff, "no job for me or anyone else." That's why an action's impact on the client is always the first consideration.

Although David's concern was external clients, you should also include internal clients in this consideration, especially if you're providing services or products to other parts of the organization.

Putting the client first goes against the conventional wisdom that says profit should be your primary concern, but the "put clients first" philosophy is more in line with George Merck's philosophy.

To paraphrase Merck, the founder of the pharmaceutical company, "Focus on clients, and profit will follow."

Next my colleague looks at the effect the proposed action could have on the company. If the action could in any way adversely affect the company, or its reputation in the community, you just don't do it.

David calls the third consideration "Staff," but you could just as easily call it "Team," or "People." His point here is that he must consider how this action will affect the people on his team.

In David's case, he's talking about his particular team--the other professionals, as well as the people who provide clerical support for the team. He also includes people outside the team who in one way or another contribute to his team's performance, and its service delivery for clients.

If you're the company president or CEO, "staff" includes
everyone in the organization, starting with the senior
leadership team, and cascading throughout the organization to the frontline employees. When your span of control is larger, so is the impact of your decisions.

The final consideration for David is "how this action affects me." He goes on to say, "There are a lot of actions that may benefit me personally, say financially or professionally, but if those actions are bad for the client, for our company, for the rest of the staff on this team, I shouldn't take those actions."

Contrast this with those people who invert the formula, who always put "me" first. The "me first" people usually are good at what they do, but their priorities are backward, and because of their "me first" orientation, they're never team players, let alone client-centric.

They can't be client-centric, because they're too busy being me-centric.

David's formula is great for decision making. It's reminiscent of the credo for Johnson & Johnson. You might recall that J&J created its credo to guide everyone's actions, from top management to the frontline employees.

The credo lists their responsibilities as follows: First to
the doctors, nurses, patients, etc. who use their products; second, to their employees; third, to the communities in which they live and work; last, to their stockholders.

David's formula may not be a credo, but it certainly is a
framework for making decisions. Four factors to consider when faced with an important decision: Clients first; the company second; staff third; and last of all, me.

What framework do you use for making these decisions? How focused are you on the Client, the Company, the Staff? Or is "Me" your primary concern?

Until next edition, keep leading the way!

Copyright (C) 2007 by Terry Wall

 

<<Back To Leadership Unlimited Archive