Making decisions the leader will support

Reader,

Few things are more frustrating than putting energy into a decision, only to have it reversed by someone above you.

Or watching a team member spend time crafting a plan, only to realize they missed the mark.

When decisions go wrong, it’s easy to fall into unhelpful patterns:

• Bringing every decision to your boss—Why bother if my call won’t be trusted?
• Making decisions in silos—I don’t want to be micromanaged, so I’ll just do it alone.
• Making all the decisions yourself—I don't have time to deal with the fallout from bad decisions.

In this email, we’re tackling why decisions aren’t supported—and how to change that.

Following the recipe.

Decision-making isn’t a single task. It’s a process.

Like baking bread—you need the right ingredients and a reliable way to bring them together to get the result you want.

The skilled baker.

I've been learning to make sourdough from an expert.

What amazes me are all the variables he's constantly adjusting: temperature, time, texture, flour, hydration, folds and stretches...

At first, it was a little overwhelming, because I was such a novice. But over time, I began to understand:

• Why the variables matter—they shape how the bread rises and ferments.
• How the variables work together—time is adjusted according to how warm or cold the kitchen is.
• What the right sequence is—combining ingredients the right way leads to consistent flavor and texture.

The ingredients of aligned decisions.

Just like baking, good decision-making comes down to process.

You need the right ingredients, in the right order, to create decisions your boss—or your team—can support.

So let's unpack what it actually takes to make aligned decisions.

#1 Timely, relevant information.

You might think you have the most timely information, but odds are, you don't.

Change is constant, and new information is always emerging.

Before you make a decision, make sure you've gathered current information to make an informed, aligned choice.

Here's the kind of information you should be considering real-time:

• Purpose—Why does this decision need to be made?
• Desired outcome—What do we hope this decision will achieve?
• Who—Who will it impact and how?
• Costs—What are the financial, time, and resource costs?
• Impact—What is the impact of doing this on other current priorities?
• Stakeholders—How will it land with leadership, employees, clients, vendors, partners, board, investors?

#2 Different vantage points.

Think back to a time your decision got reversed.

Chances are, someone had a completely different view—that completely changed the decision that was needed.

Instead of waiting to be challenged, go seek out those perspectives before you decide.

Talk to people across functions: operations, finance, strategy, customer support, sales, and more.

Then, take time to really think about the decision:

• What matters to your boss and why?
• What do others need to see for this to be a good decision?
• What context and information haven't I considered yet?
• What might make this fail?
• What else could we do?

A word about the controlling leader.

Yes, some leaders micromanage. But most?

They genuinely want to trust their team members to make more decisions. They want to let go.

So why don't they?

First, because bad decisions have real costs—and that cost is usually born by the leader. And second, they don't see signs that other people are willing to step up.

Founders, CEOs, and senior leaders get burned fixing the ripple effects of decisions that missed the mark.

They worry—not because they don’t believe in you—but because they’re the ones who’ll have to carry it if things go wrong.

"Just tell me what you want."

It's a fair question: Why don't leaders just teach you to make decisions the way they would?

It's not that simple.

For most leaders, good decision-making is instinctive. They’ve practiced it so long, they don’t think about how they do it.

And the “right” call is a moving target—shaped by new information, evolving goals, and shifting priorities.

The decision-making recipe.

The good news is, there is a process that leads to better, more supported decisions.

Like baking bread, the order matters. Skip steps, and the end results will suffer.

1. Discovery: Gather your ingredients—timely, relevant information and different perspectives—before you start deciding. If you skip this step, you'll miss something critical.
2. Exploration: Use what you’ve gathered to explore different paths. What are our options? What else is possible?
3. Evaluation: Evaluate each option: cost vs. benefit, effort vs. impact. Challenge your own assumptions—like your boss will.
4. Clarity: Decide. Get clear on the decision you're making and why it’s the best path. Then, share both your conclusion and your thinking.
5. Communication: Share your decision in a way that’s relevant to each person who needs to know. A decision isn't complete until it’s communicated, and not everyone needs the same level of detail.

Here's how great leaders communicate decisions:

Becoming a skilled decision-maker.

It takes maturity to go beyond advocating your perspective. That’s what teammates do—not leaders.

It takes discipline to adopt a higher perspective.

It takes practice to make aligned decisions.

But the more you can weigh the context, costs, and trade-offs from multiple perspectives, the stronger your decisions become.

And the better your decisions, the more leadership opportunities you'll have.

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Please don't hesitate to reply and share your thoughts! I'd love to hear what resonates and what you've learned about making decisions!

Enjoy!

Sara

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