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Diverse perspectives: A letter to CEOs 

You should be concerned making decisions on your own. Here’s what to do instead.

By Jeremy Spidell, SVP, Director of Client Engagement

Dear CEO,

I’m writing to tell you that you should be concerned if you’re making important company decisions on your own.

I know, it can be tempting. After all, you’ve had a lot of success in your career. You have years of real-world experience to back up the choices you make. You can confidently justify your thinking to any stakeholder.

While all this is true—you are completely capable of making important business decisions—making those company decisions on your own is not the best way to account for all possible perspectives, mitigate any blind spots, and ensure the best possible outcome for your business. Instead, you should be sourcing diverse perspectives from other members of your company for those strategic business decisions.

Why?

First, there are shifting expectations for today’s CEOs. Twenty years ago, the CEO personality to cultivate was that of a lone-wolf visionary—someone who advanced the company with rigid expectations and little to no input from others. Today, that’s changing. CEOs are still visionaries, but they are no longer expected to command and control. Instead, they are the embodiment of a more collective and collaborative culture. From a decision-making perspective, this approach will help you make more well-rounded decisions and give you the opportunity to empower your employees to be open and honest with their thoughts as they learn from your expertise.

However, there’s a caveat.

Just because you plan to include others in important company decisions doesn’t mean you need to lead by committee. As you consider bringing more people to the decision-making table, I challenge you to focus on one word: intention. Here are three tips to help.

 

1. Be purposeful and varied when asking teammates to contribute their expertise

Not everyone will be the right fit, or have a relevant perspective, for every project. So, take the time you need to really consider whose contribution would add the most value to a project before selecting your panel of trusted advisors.

Keep in mind, you don’t need 15 people on every project. Find a core group that you know will bring diverse viewpoints to the table and go from there. Then, make sure to switch it up so that you are intentional in aligning the people to the project. Sometimes, you’ll keep the conversation at the C-suite level, but in other instances, having a sampling of team members from across your organization could be a better fit. 

2. Find the balance between organizational velocity and strong decision making

Maintaining velocity is important at every organization, which is why it’s not uncommon for CEOs to make decisions on their own.

But let’s put that in perspective.

I want you to think of a situation that would be so dire to your organization you couldn’t slow down, even for a moment, to consult with others on your team. This situation is so bad that there’s no way for you to spare any additional time to consider opinions other than your own. When I challenge myself to think of this same scenario, my first thought is a trademark or compliance issue, but even then, I’d want the input from my operations, HR, and legal teams. Even critical decisions for dire situations need multiple viewpoints; arguably, they may need them more.

Bringing in more people isn’t meant to slow or stop the decision-making process, so be intentional about how much time you devote to fleshing out any given action plan. Yes, there is an upfront time commitment involved, but making a well- thought-out decision the first time around may actually save you time in the long run as the project comes to life. 

3. Mindfully handle the final decision

Once you’ve heard the perspectives of your team, the final decision will ultimately still fall to you. And as any CEO knows, you can’t make everyone happy all the time. You might not be able to accommodate every suggestion or recommendation you’ve heard throughout the collaboration process, but you will still need to find a way to explain your final decision so all the people who contributed their perspectives feel heard and appreciated.

For the people whose ideas you did not choose, you need to be intentional in the way you say no. If you aren't, your team could end up feeling undervalued, which could make them withdraw, or worse, not participate in the future.

It's just as important for the team members whose idea you did select to see how you handle this moment. In the future, it could be their idea that doesn’t move forward, so if they see this as a positive experience for everyone involved, they’ll retain trust in you the next time you ask for their input, rather than disengaging.

Bottom line, it’s important that everyone walks away feeling whole, valued, and connected to the project. Ideally, they understand why you made the decision you did, and they’ve bought in to the ultimate plan, even if their suggestion or perspective didn’t make the final iteration. 

I’ll leave you with this final thought 

You have all the skills necessary to make strategic business decisions all on your own, but you shouldn’t have to. You’ve hired a capable team, presumably for their excellent prior experience, broad knowledge base, and strategic business acumen. Use them. Rely on them. Trust them to help guide you to the best, most comprehensive solution for whatever business challenge you’re tackling.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Spidell
SVP, Director of Client Engagement | Truist Leadership Institute