RSS Feed
Tough Decisions Require Tight Oversight
February 7th, 2012
by Bill Boyajian

When you assume the leadership of any group, project, or endeavor, you have some strategic thinking and planning to do. Some decisions are easy; others are not.

I had a director who took over a major division in the organization. She made some bold decisions and wanted to implement sweeping changes. I reviewed them and was concerned. Her decisions were highly controversial and would most certainly cause traumatic change. That’s when I gave her a key principle to follow: the more controversial and difficult the decision, the more careful the oversight of its implementation must be. And the more challenging the decision, the more time and effort must go into dealing with damage control.

This is a point that escapes most newly appointed leaders. They just assume that because they are leading a work group or project they can implement change, and everything – and everyone — will simply line up to support it. Not so. People will second-guess your decisions if they don’t understand the rationale behind them.

Remember, people will buy in to a shared vision when they understand it and own it. That’s why any major departmental, divisional, or corporate-wide decision must have buy-in from top to bottom. Even then, not all decisions you make are going to be popular or understood by all people. Sometimes you just have to put your head down and plow through them. This is where the principle above comes in handy. Difficult decisions require careful implementation. The more difficult the decision, the more careful your implementation oversight must be, and the more you must be prepared for damage control.



Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“I needed help orchestrating a succession plan for our business. I had heard that Bill Boyajian specialized in assisting owners to transition their business to the next generation. He knows how to bridge the generation gap and deliver what each needs to hear. I would recommend Bill to any business owner who needs advice on succession planning from a trusted outside professional.”

–Charles Denaburg,
Managing Partner,
Levy’s Fine Jewelry
Birmingham, AL

"Our family needed some guidance on business transition and succession planning. We asked Bill Boyajian to help us because we knew we could trust him to tell us what we needed to hear. Bill became a valuable resource for our company and our entire family. He has the ability to meet each of us where we’re at and it has served us very well."

–Ceylon Leitzel
Leitzel Fine Jewelry
Hershey & Myerstown, PA

“We needed a plan to transition our business to a non-family member and we asked Bill Boyajian to help us. His experience in the area has really paid off, but we didn’t expect the added value of putting us together with a financial planner who helped organize our retirement needs. We now have the fundamentals to transition our business successfully, and we have Bill to thank for it.”

–Ernie & Debbie Cummings
Kizer-Cummings Jewelers
Lawrence, KS