In an ever-changing world and marketplace, strategy and decision-making are increasingly complex. As a result, leaders who work through an issue with team members can find themselves waffling back and forth between alternate courses of action, all of which have their upsides and downsides.
I had a leader who had a reputation for forgetting that he had already made a decision surrounding specific issues. He was getting older and the age was obvious tipping into a cognitive decline.
It created a very weird competition among various direct reports to work this awkward system.
A "no" decision on some EVP's pet project was not a firm "no" unless there were rivals in the room to hear it who would keep others accountable. Weird, weird, weird.
I had a leader who had a reputation for forgetting that he had already made a decision surrounding specific issues. He was getting older and the age was obvious tipping into a cognitive decline.
It created a very weird competition among various direct reports to work this awkward system.
A "no" decision on some EVP's pet project was not a firm "no" unless there were rivals in the room to hear it who would keep others accountable. Weird, weird, weird.
Written reminders work for you?
It was the 90's -- so sending a follow up email was not something that was commonly available in the organization yet.