Closing a small-town plant that employs hundreds of residents. Firing a key staff member. Acquiring another company. Dissolving a long-time business relationship.
Ninety-five percent of the decisions a CEO makes likely could be made by a reasonably intelligent eighth-grader. But the CEO gets paid for the other 5 percent for making tough calls like the ones I just described.
What exactly is a tough call? It’s a decision you know you should make because it will help you and/or your company, but you often hesitate to make it for a host of reasons—some good and some not so good.
You may be nodding your head as you read, traveling down memory lane to a time when you had to make a tough call. In fact, that’s one way to identify tough calls—you definitely remember them. And every time you think of them, you groan.
That’s just the way it is with a tough call. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed since you made the decision, it still makes you groan.
Every tough call that I’ve made in my life had the following things in common:
- It required much energy, time, and prayer.
The decision didn’t just make me tired; it zapped my strength. And I had to go to God often with one simple request: “Help me, help me, help me.” - It demanded a risk.
If there’s no risk involved, you’re not making a tough call. - It was questioned and criticized.
I’ve never made a tough call that prompted everyone in my company to proclaim, “Oh, what a wise man you are.” I have, however, made tough calls that made them say, “That was one of the stupidest things we’ve ever seen you do.”My point is this: if you make a decision that brings unanimous approval, it wasn’t a tough call.
- It cost me greatly.
Sometimes it cost me financially, sometimes it cost me relationships, and sometimes it only cost me sleep. But trust me, the cost was high.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are often hesitant to make tough calls. But if you’re a leader, you might as well accept the fact that tough calls are part of your job description. They’re not optional; they’re a requirement.
Tough calls will never be painless, but you can make the process a bit easier by following these five steps:
- Do your homework.
Never make a tough call on the spur of the moment. If you do, I guarantee you’ll regret it. Instead, research all your options and the ramifications of each one.Evaluate the decision from the perspectives all the people or groups who might be affected. List the pros and cons. Don’t give due diligence the short shrift.
- Set a deadline.
Why is a deadline necessary? Because when it comes to tough calls, we tend to procrastinate. So set a time limit for your decision and stick to it. - Seek counsel from the right people.
When you’re contemplating a tough call, talk it over with a trusted, objective outsider who knows your business and can help you see things you may have missed in your homework. - Make your decisions on principles and values that you believe in.
That makes your tough calls consistent with who you are, what you teach and what you believe. - Understand the emotions of making the tough call.
Scott Peck was right when he said, “The best decision-makers are those who are willing to suffer the most over decisions but still retain their ability to be decisive.”
Are tough calls worth all the time, energy and agony they involve? Absolutely. Why am I so sure? Because every time I’ve had to make a tough call in my life, it lifted my leadership to a higher level. In other words, it led to a breakthrough.
Read this very carefully: You are only one tough call away from a breakthrough. Isn’t that encouraging? You get a breakthrough by making a call you don’t want to make even though it’s the right thing to do. And when you make that call, you suddenly take yourself, your company or your family to a whole new level.
So go ahead. Make that tough call you’ve been putting off. Then fasten your seatbelt and prepare to rise to new heights.
monthly e-newsletter: Leadership Wired available at www.INJOY.com.
John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.
