Maker Sure Your Unpopular Decision is the RIGHT Decision
“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
Dr. Seuss – “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”
“Oh, the Places You’ll Go” is one of my favorite books. It’s also one of the most popular graduation gift books ever. For good reason. Dr. Seuss prophecies to millions that they will go great places, see great things, soar to great heights.
Most of them never do.
The reason being that they simply don’t have the skill set, the knowledge, the courage, the resilience to make such a journey by themselves. This is why they need leadership.
Leadership is taking people to a place they could never get to on their own.
One of the greatest leadership opportunities is to make an unpopular decision. That’s right, the best thing you can do for your followers sometimes is to defy them.
Here’s why.
Unpopular
Because, as the leader, you are not like everyone else.
You are different because:
- you have more insight
- you more experience
- you more ability
You are an expert. It’s your expertise that positions you to bring about progress.
Expertise
Here’s what Seth Godin said about expertise in Linchpin:
Expertise gives you enough insight to reinvent what everyone assumes is truth.
Your expertise forbids you to accept the same truth as everyone else. You want to change things that others don’t think need changing. That’s why you’re misunderstood. That’s why leadership is lonely.
And if you can’t deal with this caveat of leadership you don’t need to put yourself out there. Because, as the leader, you are required to know more than those around you. You’re not a leader if you don’t. You’re just another team member. Maybe a good, productive one. But not a leader.
You need to be that one person that can step forward and guide people to places that they couldn’t have made it to on their own.
David
David did this when he spared King Saul’s life. The account of this story is found in 1 Samuel, chapter 24.
Here’s the backstory:
- David was a fugitive on the run from King Saul.
- David lived in the squalor of caves and was tired of running.
- David had done nothing to deserve King Saul’s wrath. He was unjustly charged.
- Saul was the only thing that stood between David and control of the throne.
A Leadership Decision
Toward the end of the story David gets his shot at making an unpopular leadership decision. Being the skillful tactician that he was, he outmaneuvered Saul and got the drop on him. In fact, David found himself standing over Saul’s sleeping, unguarded body. All he had to do was run a sword through him, gallop back to Jerusalem, and take his rightful seat on the throne.
But he didn’t. Instead, he made a leadership decision. He spared Saul’s life
A No-Brainer
No one else would have made this decision but David. Everyone else was too star struck by the data – the overwhelming cache of data.
- David was God’s new man.
- The manhunt had drawn out for far too long. Everyone wanted to go home.
- God himself had orchestrated this assassination opportunity
- Assassinating Saul cleared a perfect pathway to the throne.
This is why 1 Samuel 24:10 says:
Behold…the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you.
Well yeah!
As you can see, David’s counsel had a laundry list of perfectly sensible reasons to call for Saul’s assassination.
Which is what made this such a leadership decision.
The Qualities of a Leadership Decision
What made this a difference-making decision was not simply that David defied his counsel. In fact, this is often the absolute worst thing to do.
Proverbs 15:22 says it best:
Plans fail for a lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
A big part of leadership is surrounding yourself with people more talented that you. You should listen to these people. Except when you shouldn’t.
Because there are those certain times when you have an insight that absolutely no one else on your team does. Not your smartest. Not your most talented. Not your most experienced.
This quality is what makes you, the leader, invaluable.
A Deeper Look
So what did David see that no-one else did? He saw that the principle of spiritual authority should trump everything else.
1 Samuel 24:10 says:
….‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
So there it is.
David didn’t care what the data said. He didn’t care what the power brokers said. He didn’t even care what his own selfish agenda said. David cared about making the right decision. The decision he truly felt was right…deep down in his gut.
As it turned out, David was right and his counselors were wrong.
Avoiding a Disastrous Decision
It was true, Saul had been anointed king by God Almighty. As such, an attack against him would risk incurring the wrath of God.
We’ll never know what exactly what would have happened had David assassinated Saul. What we do know is that the decision to fear, revere, and honor God’s anointed one brought a special favor and success to David for many years.
Besides, in time, Saul was killed anyway. But not by David. This allowed David to ascend to the throne without having his hands tainted with the blood of his predecessor and mentor.
David made the right decision. The unpopular decision. The leadership decision.
In that particular setting, only David would have made this decision.
Are You Making Progress?
What about you? Are you facing a decision that is popular among your team but one that just doesn’t sit well with you? It could be that you have a bona fide leadership decision on your hands.
Can you stand up in front of your team, your family, your board and respectfully defy them?
Can you stand up to your team and say “I know what the numbers say. I know what popular opinion is. I even know what your desire in this room is. But my answer is ‘no’, we’re going another direction.”
If you don’t do that from time to time you’re not leading.
What kind of experiences have you all had with this? Have you been caught in the conflict of having to reject conventional wisdom because you had insight that others didn’t? What decision did you make? How did it turn out?
I would love to hear your comments.
Love it!