Decisive Leadership: Make the Call

In June 1940, England was facing inevitable surrender to the German army.??Nazi forces occupied France, and the French military had signed an armistice with Hitler.??Many of the French vessels were still at sea during the surrender of France.??Winston Churchill worried the French Navy, the fourth largest Navy globally, would be consumed by the Nazi war machine, giving the Germans complete control of the seas, forcing England to face inevitable defeat.??Churchill had to make one of the most challenging decisions of the war to prevent England from being overrun.??Realizing diplomatic negotiations would likely yield little, and time was not on the side of the English.??Churchill took a decisive and aggressive approach to the situation.??He issued the French Admirals an ultimatum, with three options:

1. Have their fleet become part of the British Navy.

2. Set sail to the French West Indies or the United States and be decommissioned.

3. Refuse and be prepared to be sunk by the British Navy.?

Churchill gave the French three hours to respond.??Promising to send their ships to the bottom of the ocean, the deadline came and went without a response.??On June 3rd, just two weeks removed from being Allies, seven French vessels were sunk, killing 1,297 French sailors.??Churchill made a decisive decision that changed the course of the war.??Until that point, England appeared to be without a strategy or direction.??In one decisive action, Churchill altered that opinion.??

Leadership requires the ability to make hard decisions.??The higher you go, the more complex the decisions are.??If they were easy, they would be made at a lower level.??The most challenging decisions always find their way to the top.??Your decisions will attract criticism.??Treat criticism like a compliment.??As a leader, criticism is part of the job.??

General MacArthur once said, "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others."

In his book,?The Advantage, too many leaders suffer from what Patrick Lencioni refers to as perfection paralysis.??Leaders become paralyzed by the need to make the perfect decision.??This delay can cause confusion for the organization.??At a minimum, it undermines the credibility of the leader.??General Patton once said, "A good plan violently executed today is better than a perfect plan executed next week."

An example of perfection paralysis can be found in the tragic story of United Flight 173, which took off from JFK Airport, heading to Portland, Oregon, on Dec 28th, 1978.??As the flight, loaded with 118 passengers, approached Portland, an indicator light failed to illuminate.??A piston on the main landing gear had given out as the landing gear lowered, damaging the indicator light. As the piston failed, the landing gear fell quickly.??The pilot radioed the tower stating the plane would go into a holding pattern while the issue was investigated.??This was a relatively minor event in the spectrum of things that could go wrong.??The crew could do a visual check and still land, even if the landing gear had failed to drop into place.??The crew discussed the issue at length, following the checklist for just this type of situation.??Captain McBroom maintained a consistent focus on updating the passengers while preparing the crew. The plane continued to circle, preparing for the next move.??Finally, Captain McBroom alerted the tower of their intention to come in for a possible rough landing.??Another plane had recently entered the air space, United 173 yielded to allow the other plant to land first, and then another plane appeared, and again the captain yielded.??At this point, United Flight 173 had been circling for almost two hours, in addition to the flight time from New York to Portland.??Captain McBroom had been paying attention to every gauge and emergency procedure; however, he failed to monitor the fuel gauge.??As Flight 173 started their approach, the first engine failed, and then the second.??The plane was out of fuel.??Captain McBroom radioed the tower that United 173 was going down. The plane ripped through two homes as it crashed to the ground (no one was home).??The lack of fuel meant no fire. However, eight passengers, a flight attendant, and the flight engineer were killed; twenty-four passengers were seriously injured.??

United Flight 173 is an example of leadership failing to make a decision. Captain McBroom was focused; he was calculated. But, he was slow to make the difficult decision.??While ensuring everything was perfect, the captain only made the situation worse.

Nothing about being a leader is easy, especially making difficult decisions.??Leaders need to trust their training, trust their experience and make the call.??Military leaders understand, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.??Regardless, they're ready to make the call and drive the team forward.??Trust your team to support the decision and adjust as needed to ensure success.??Make the call; be a decisive leader.

References:

Team of Teams- Stanley McCrystal

The Advantage- Patrick Lencioni

War- Robert Greene