29 Sep When Do You Really Don’t Have A Choice?
“Don’t move or I shoot!” were the words I thought I might hear last.
It was January 1, 2009 in Rome, and my manager and I were in the office for year-end close (I know, there are better things to do in Rome to celebrate new year!)
What happened is, the guard who saw us enter the building did not tell the new guard that there were people in the building. As a result, thinking there was no-one in the building, the new guard just turned on all alarms.
Of course, when my manager and I decided to go out for lunch (you can’t have a French and an Italian skip lunch really!), we triggered all alarms and soon found ourselves faced with the guard pointing his gun at us!
Luckily my manager soothed the situation and we were soon at lunch laughing about the situation.
To this day, I remember that situation as being one of the very few in my life where I did not (really) have a choice. It was either I hold or if I did anything else, I risked being shot at.
Although this specific situation was dramatic and extreme, I always keep it in mind when having to make a decision in my leadership role.
Because leaders and everyone else on their teams always have a choice.
In typical leadership or professional situations, we are very rarely confronted with life or death decisions. Making the wrong choice or the wrong decision at times is not life threatening and the most that can happen is, you fail, you make the wrong decision.
It happens. It’s not that bad. There is always a thing to learn from failing at something. I do encourage the people on my team to try, make decisions and I’ll have their back if they fail. This is one strong way to create trust, engagement and commitment in a team.
Next time you need to make a decision, remember there’s nobody in front of you holding you at gunpoint! You’re safe.
How do you cope with failure or making the wrong decision? What have you found useful to support you in accepting failure as part of the process?
#executivecoaching #coaching #pmcoaching #leadershipskills #leadership #leader #leadershipdevelopment #successtips #mindset #team #teamcoaching #choices